Page 35 of Villainous Soul

“And what did you get out of this deal besides losing your virginity?”

“Five million dollars.”

“Holy shit,” she said. “Talk about an indecent proposal,”

I felt the tequila sloshing in my stomach and regretted drinking it. “Except he didn’t pay me to sleep with him. He paid me to act as his fiancée.” I thought it best not to mention that we actually got married for the weekend. “And I wasn’t his choice. I was the only person available, and he threatened to ruin the pub if I didn’t say yes. Which seems really stupid now because the pub is already ruined.”

“Oh, Evie, I’m so sorry,” she said, putting her arm around me.

“Don’t be. At least I have the money to pay off Cormac. I just have to figure out a way to do it. If my brothers discover what I’ve done, they will disown me.”

“You’re saving the restaurant for them. They won’t disown you. Though I would leave out the part about sleeping with Keir.”

“You think?” I laughed.

“So, what was it like to be with him? I mean to have a man like him for your first time. At least he knew what he was doing.”

“Um, intense. He’s intense.” I didn’t want to think of him because thinking of him stirred up desires best left in the past. “And he’ll be the first to admit he’s a monster.”

“I bet. But a fucking hot monster.”

The tequila was slowly making its way back up my esophagus. “I think I’m going to be sick,” I said, hurrying to the bathroom.

Claire followed me in as I threw up. “Hey, you can stay here as long as you need.”

I lay down on the bathroom floor as the room began to spin around me. “Thanks.”

“Oh Evie, I’m so sorry.” She pushed the hair off my face and rubbed my back.

“Don’t be. And at least Cormac won’t be my first. Better, it was with a hot monster like Keir than a spoiled boy.”

“It should have been with someone you loved.”

Love.

The word spun through my mind as I lay on the floor, and thoughts of Keir holding me on his bed as he kissed me on the last night turned into a nightmare of devils and gunshots.

* * *

I woke up the next day on Claire’s couch. She must have helped me move at some point during the night.

Shit.

It was already eleven in the morning. Claire had left a note saying she had gone out to run some errands. I took a quick shower and then headed back to the pub. My brothers were going to kill me.

The three of them sat in our family booth, talking, when I arrived.

“We’ve been worried about you,” Patrick said.

I went to put on an apron and stopped short. “Sean, what happened to you.”

My youngest brother was slumped against the wall sporting two black eyes, a split lip, and his left hand was in a splint. “I’m fine. I just fell.”

“Jesus Christ. I can work the bar tonight,” I said, going over to him.

“You need to tell her,” Patrick said, looking grim. “She needs to know the truth.”

Sean shook his head. “No. It’s not her problem.”

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