Page 13 of Coal
Again, Thea studies me. I like the fact that she isn’t much shorter than me. It would be easier to kiss her if I didn’t have to bend in half to get to her mouth and then thought, ‘What the fuck? Where did that come from?’
Her next words snap me right back into the moment, and a flash of disappointment goes through me. “He threatened my daughter.”
Snapping out a furious, “What? Why? His own granddaughter?”
Thea smiles and murmurs sadly, “Family doesn’t mean much to father, just your usefulness.”
An angry growl escapes at her words, and my words come out harsher than I intend when I bark out, “Where’s your daughter's father?”
Her brown eyes narrow on mine at my tone, and she pokes a finger in my chest, “Don’t bark at me,a dhuine! If you must know, he’s dead. My father had him killed when he tried to get us away from him,” she tosses her head in her father’s direction.
If his glares had been daggers, Thea would be dead.
Taking hold of the finger that was still pushing against my chest, twining our fingers together so that I’m holding her hand, ignoring thesteel pipe in my jeans that had risen when she snapped back at me, I ask more gently this time, “I think you’d better lay it all out for me, sweetheart, so that I’m clear before I kill the man.”
Kara and Thea snort out laughs at my words, obviously not realising I’m deadly serious. Until she leans forward and, standing on tiptoe, whispers in my ear, “Unfortunately, you can’t kill him yet.”
Raising an eyebrow at her words, I ask, “Yet?”
She bites her lip and nods before answering, “Yet.”
I’m a little disappointed, but we can wait for a bit. “Well, okay then. Tell me why you’re so important to him that he’s threatened your daughter to get you to stay in line.”
Thea squirms a little under my gaze, and her eyes flit over to her sister. They share a look, making me wonder what the hell she did for them.
“Thea,” Kara says in a warning tone.
Thea’s eyes meet her father’s for a minute, and the hate in his eyes shocks me. When her gaze once again meets mine, I can see she’s made a decision but still asks, “How do I know I cantrust you?”
“You don’t, babe. Trust comes with time, but what I can promise is that you and your sisters will be safe with us. The whole reason we’ve come is to get your sisters to safety. None of us condone the selling of people, no matter their gender. When he made the offer, none of us could, in good faith, leave them to their fate. I’d rather have taken them back with us kicking and screaming than leave them here. Because the next person he offered them to might not treat them like the precious gems they are.”
She blinks slightly, as if she can’t believe what I’ve just said. She still doesn’t answer me. Instead, she asks her sister, “Have you contacted Aiden?”
Kara nods. “As soon as they arrived, but I’ve told him there’s no urgency.”
It seemed that Brass and Iron were right; the siblings were tight. We’d not checked Kara for a phone. None of us had seen the need to.
Behind his gag, Kelly is trying to shout, but none of us can understand what he’s saying, nor are we interested in anything he has to tell us. Ignoring him, I turn back to the intriguing woman in front of me. I know straight away thatshe’s made a decision because she straightens her shoulders, throws back her head, and braces, as if she’s wondering how I’m going to take her next words.
“I’m the one that designs and makes all his guns, and I’m also his bomb maker,” she mumbles under her breath.
I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly, but if I had, then I could understand why she was so important to him. “Can you say that again, babe?”
Louder, she states, “I design and make his bombs and guns.”
I smile widely at her words, which has her blinking as if surprised that I’m happy about what she does. “That’s what I thought you said. That’s fucking awesome, babe. Why are you worried about me knowing?”
“Most men aren’t so keen to do business when they hear it’s a woman that’s designing and building their weapons.”
My brothers snort with disgust at her words. We’ve learned over the last year that women think differently to us but are just as deadly as we are, if not more so when it comes to certain situations.
“Then they’re pussies,” I inform her before continuing. “Now that that’s sorted, if we can get your daughter to safety, and as your father offered one of his daughters in marriage to seal any deals we make with him, do you fancy getting married?”
She gapes at me in surprise, blinks, then starts laughing. I think it may have been a little hysterical, but I was overlooking that point.
“What?” she splutters out.
“Babe, I think it was clear in my little speech. To seal this deal, your dickhead father offered me one of his daughters to choose from. Now he may not have put you forward, but you are his daughter, so the deal can go ahead and, quite frankly, there is no way I’d have married either of your sisters with how young they are. I have a feeling being married to you will never be boring. You’ll keep things interesting. He obviously knew he couldn’t part with the best of the three.”
