Page 73 of Villainous Soul

“No, dear, you did not.” He adjusted the black tie around his neck. “Please sit down,” he said, pointing to the seat opposite him.

My heart was beating so fast I thought it would come out of my chest. I sat down and looked at him.

“Would you like a drink?” he asked.

“No.”

“Shame, you might wish you had taken my offer.” He pursed his lips and frowned. “I’m feeling generous at the moment, but that won’t always be the case, and it’s a long flight.”

“Where are you taking me?”

Cormac sat down in a seat on the other side of the aisle and began to rock back and forth, mumbling to himself.

“That will be determined by how much you tell me about that?” He tilted his head toward his son.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Please don’t be obtuse, Evie. He hasn’t been the same since he learned you were married. He keeps going on about some grand fucking monster.”

“I’m not married. Keir just made it up,” I lied. The plane began to taxi down the runway, and for the second time within weeks, I was on a plane being taken to some unknown destination.

A flight attendant handed Donovan a crystal tumbler filled with whiskey. “Are you sure you don’t want a drink? I find it dulls the senses and loosens the tongue. Both grand things.”

“No.”

“Very well, that’s my last offer.” He held up his hand and then pointed at me. “You, my dear, have been a very bad girl. You’ve lied to me, and I don’t like being lied to.”

I remained silent.

“You are married. Marriage certificates are public records. Yours was easy enough to obtain.”

I felt my throat tighten. “It wasn’t a real marriage. It was a ruse.”

“A marriage is a marriage,” he said tightly. “Did you let him fuck you?” He leaned forward, touching my thigh. “Did you spread those pretty legs for him and let him ruin you?”

I blanched at his course words.

“That’s what I thought,” he said, sitting back. “A liar and a whore. It’s written all over your face.”

“It wasn’t like that-”

“Oh,” he interrupted me. “Was it something else? You see, I find that hard to believe. A man like Keir Wilson is out for one thing only. Power. He doesn’t love you. He used you.”

“He’s not that type of man.” But I knew as I said the words he was right. I saw what was inside him. I saw him for the monster he was, and it terrified me.

“Heisthat type of man. I know because I’m that type of man. There is nothing I won’t do to get what I want.”

“So, what do you want with me? I’m no good to you anymore. Like you say, I’m used,” I exclaimed sharply. “If it’s money, I can give you five million dollars. Just leave me and my family alone.”

He laughed. The sound echoed through the small plane. “Five million. You really are the little whore. At least he had the decency to pay you. But I don’t want your filthy money,” he spat. “I want information.” His eyes glanced over to Cormac as he got up and moved to the seat beside me.

“If I tell you what you want to know, will you leave us alone?” I asked, pressing myself into my chair. The smell of his cologne was the only thing separating us.

“That’s a question you’ll have to ask your grandmother.”

My grandmother. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised she was caught up in all this, which meant we were headed to Ireland.

“What do you want to know?”

---