At the moment, I truly wanted to kill Keiran because I loved Dash once upon a time, and it was exactly what he had counted on.
“Falling out of love.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DASH
I COULDN’T DECIDE between kissing Angel or beating her until she was black and blue. It took effort to remember why hitting a woman, particularly the woman standing in front of me, was a bad idea.
The real question was if my need to hurt her was because she was so careless with her life, or because she admitted to not loving me?
Love was something we’d never discussed, but at some point, I believed it was there. I’d never told her because I wasn’t sure it was something I wanted.
I reminded myself it wouldn’t matter, anyway. I was engaged to Rosalyn. Someone I knew I would never love.
“Let’s go.” I gripped her hand in mine and felt the icy stiffness of her fingers leftover from walking through the cold air. It pissed me off more than it should. I shouldn’t care about this girl.
Keiran stood by the truck, watching us with a curious expression. His eyebrow lifted. In that simple gesture, there was a flurry of questions, and I didn’t have any answers.
Tonight, I’d lost ten years off my life. On top of that, I was exhausted, pissed, and horny with no avenue of relief. I shook my head once and he returned it with a nod. It was good that he was still in town. Lake likely wanted to stay behind for Sheldon and help field some of the tension from her ruined wedding day.
I kept my gaze on Willow as I helped her into the truck and promised myself I would make her talk for my sister whose wedding day had been ruined.
I climbed into the truck after Willow was situated while Keiran climbed into the front seat with Fisher. We were only a ten-minute drive from my apartment, but I instructed Fisher to drop Keiran off before taking us to a hotel. By now, the penthouse had been cleaned and restored, but the violation of my home was too fresh to return there. The enemy’s knowledge, whoever they were, knew where I lived, as well. What’s to stop them from returning?
Not knowing who my enemies were made the threat all the more powerful and unpredictable.
We pulled up in front of what was now Keenan and Sheldon’s home half an hour later. Willow was curled into the corner of the opposite side fast asleep, so I took the opportunity to speak with Keiran.
Keiran waited outside the SUV doors, sensing my need to talk while I continued to stare at Willow. I ordered Fisher to remain in the car and quietly shut the door.
“What do we know?”
“Nothing,” I breathed.
“This could be the work of whoever took Kennedy.”
“Why would they go after Willow in my apartment?” I shook my head when the pieces began to form themselves. “No. This doesn’t feel like it’s their work.”
“What are you thinking?”
“That Willow knows more than what she’s saying. She wasn’t surprised at being kidnapped and not to mention, we found her on the street unharmed and free.”
Keiran didn’t immediately reply. I could read the inner turmoil in his eyes as he stared into the night’s distance and the twitch and hardening of his jaw. “We don’t know her anymore, do we?”
“It wouldn’t be by our choice. Either she’s behind it, or she’s involved. Either way, she’s in trouble.”
“So we help her,” Keiran decreed. “But, you have to make a choice.”
“What choice?”
“Between your life and hers if it comes to it.”
“Why do I need to do that?”
“Because we don’t know her anymore. Right now we need to have her best interest at heart until she shows us we are wrong.”
“What do you suppose I do?”
“Forget that you love her and get the information you need. By any means necessary.”
“I don’t want to hurt her.”
“If she’s behind this, she’ll be counting on that.”
I didn’t reply because the myriad of emotions and responses I had all resulted in the same conclusion. Keiran might be right. If I wanted to protect her, I’d have to be ruthless. I leaned my head against the window and gazed up at the stars.
Keiran took my silence as indecision and continued. “Listen, if you need me to stick around, I will. I’ll send Lake back to California. She’s got her finals, but I can stay.”
“I’m not sure I deserve that.” Keiran not only offered to risk his life for me, but he hated being away from Lake. Everyone had worried about the possibility of the two of them working out while holding their breath, waiting for Keiran to hurt her, but it seems we were all wrong. If anything, Keiran had become overly dependent on Lake. She was his anchor. The sole connection to his human side.
“Falling out of love.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DASH
I COULDN’T DECIDE between kissing Angel or beating her until she was black and blue. It took effort to remember why hitting a woman, particularly the woman standing in front of me, was a bad idea.
The real question was if my need to hurt her was because she was so careless with her life, or because she admitted to not loving me?
Love was something we’d never discussed, but at some point, I believed it was there. I’d never told her because I wasn’t sure it was something I wanted.
I reminded myself it wouldn’t matter, anyway. I was engaged to Rosalyn. Someone I knew I would never love.
“Let’s go.” I gripped her hand in mine and felt the icy stiffness of her fingers leftover from walking through the cold air. It pissed me off more than it should. I shouldn’t care about this girl.
Keiran stood by the truck, watching us with a curious expression. His eyebrow lifted. In that simple gesture, there was a flurry of questions, and I didn’t have any answers.
Tonight, I’d lost ten years off my life. On top of that, I was exhausted, pissed, and horny with no avenue of relief. I shook my head once and he returned it with a nod. It was good that he was still in town. Lake likely wanted to stay behind for Sheldon and help field some of the tension from her ruined wedding day.
I kept my gaze on Willow as I helped her into the truck and promised myself I would make her talk for my sister whose wedding day had been ruined.
I climbed into the truck after Willow was situated while Keiran climbed into the front seat with Fisher. We were only a ten-minute drive from my apartment, but I instructed Fisher to drop Keiran off before taking us to a hotel. By now, the penthouse had been cleaned and restored, but the violation of my home was too fresh to return there. The enemy’s knowledge, whoever they were, knew where I lived, as well. What’s to stop them from returning?
Not knowing who my enemies were made the threat all the more powerful and unpredictable.
We pulled up in front of what was now Keenan and Sheldon’s home half an hour later. Willow was curled into the corner of the opposite side fast asleep, so I took the opportunity to speak with Keiran.
Keiran waited outside the SUV doors, sensing my need to talk while I continued to stare at Willow. I ordered Fisher to remain in the car and quietly shut the door.
“What do we know?”
“Nothing,” I breathed.
“This could be the work of whoever took Kennedy.”
“Why would they go after Willow in my apartment?” I shook my head when the pieces began to form themselves. “No. This doesn’t feel like it’s their work.”
“What are you thinking?”
“That Willow knows more than what she’s saying. She wasn’t surprised at being kidnapped and not to mention, we found her on the street unharmed and free.”
Keiran didn’t immediately reply. I could read the inner turmoil in his eyes as he stared into the night’s distance and the twitch and hardening of his jaw. “We don’t know her anymore, do we?”
“It wouldn’t be by our choice. Either she’s behind it, or she’s involved. Either way, she’s in trouble.”
“So we help her,” Keiran decreed. “But, you have to make a choice.”
“What choice?”
“Between your life and hers if it comes to it.”
“Why do I need to do that?”
“Because we don’t know her anymore. Right now we need to have her best interest at heart until she shows us we are wrong.”
“What do you suppose I do?”
“Forget that you love her and get the information you need. By any means necessary.”
“I don’t want to hurt her.”
“If she’s behind this, she’ll be counting on that.”
I didn’t reply because the myriad of emotions and responses I had all resulted in the same conclusion. Keiran might be right. If I wanted to protect her, I’d have to be ruthless. I leaned my head against the window and gazed up at the stars.
Keiran took my silence as indecision and continued. “Listen, if you need me to stick around, I will. I’ll send Lake back to California. She’s got her finals, but I can stay.”
“I’m not sure I deserve that.” Keiran not only offered to risk his life for me, but he hated being away from Lake. Everyone had worried about the possibility of the two of them working out while holding their breath, waiting for Keiran to hurt her, but it seems we were all wrong. If anything, Keiran had become overly dependent on Lake. She was his anchor. The sole connection to his human side.
