She scoffs. “The day I put a band on my finger’s the day pigs fly over the Irish Sea. Now, are you leaving the poor lass stark naked and waiting, or are you going to let us in?”
“You’re not coming in,” I say, reaching for the pile of clothes.
“She might need a friend, though,” Megan says.
“She needs a firm hand is what she needs,” I say, shaking my head. I turn away from them. “For all the nerve.”
I open the door and they’re smart enough not to follow.
“Keep me posted, cousin!” Megan says. The other girls giggle. I almost regret even asking for her help.
I shake my head and slam the door behind me. “Thank you,” I say to the closed door. I don’t want to be a total arse.
It doesn’t take long for Sheena to find something to wear. I marvel at how different she looks with her red hair, sporting a pair of leggings and top, instead of the black wig and fancy dress.
She’s stunning, even in these simple clothes.
When she looks at me, she isn’t playing anymore, but dead serious. “You should bring a weapon,” she says softly. “It’s dangerous where we’re going.”
“Lass, I never go anywhere without a weapon. Where exactly are we going?”
She swallows and looks in the distance when she answers, “Stone City… just outside of Dublin,” she says. “Probably never heard of it.”
But she’s wrong. “I know Stone City.” Reminds me of Limerick City a few hours away. The area where we’re going is drug-infested and riddled with crime, and she’s right that I should bring a weapon. What I also need is back-up.
I call Lachlan.
“Nolan?”
“You free, brother?”
“Aye. Something the matter?”
“Need to get to Stone City. Need back up.”
“Christ, Nolan. Stone City? Keenan know?”
“No.”
He’s silent for a minute. He knows my job tonight and can assume why I need to go.
“Right then,” he says. “Where do I meet you?”
I give him instructions to meet him by the car.
“I’ll see you there. I’ll keep an eye out for Keenan.”
It feels weirdly like I’m a teenager sneaking out past curfew. Keenan’s a good leader, the very best. Loyal and just, and he holds himself to even higher standards than he holds us. But he’s uncompromising. And I’ve no doubt he’d think leaving here with our prisoner I’m supposed to question to go to a dangerous, crime-infested city where I’m certain to be noticed, is a fucking mistake.
But after this, she’ll owe me a favor, and hell, though I don’t want to be that bastard, she’s left me no choice but to play hardball.
We don’t go down the main stairs but the back stairway that leads down to the kitchen and garden. I march her along, my hand on her arm, to remind her she’s my prisoner and not to pull anything fast.
She’ll try, though. I fucking know she will.
When I get to the garage I find not only Lachlan but Carson as well.
“Fancy a party?” I ask. “What the hell, Lach?”
“We were having a drink when you called. Thought it’d be better to have three of us than two.”
“More conspicuous that way,” I mutter.
Carson flips me off. “I can leave if you want.”
“Come off it, Carson, it’s nothing personal.”
“Eh, I know,” he says with a shrug. “But I got into a fight with Eve, and she locked me out.”
Sheena watches us, her eyes flitting from one to the next without a word. She says nothing. Notes everything.
“What’d you do?” I ask, going over to the passenger’s side and opening the door. I point to Sheena. “You. Here.” She rolls her eyes and I slap her arse before I even think about what I’m doing. I place her in the car as if she’s a small child, grab the belt and buckle her in. I lean in close and whisper in her ear. “Care to add to your number?”
She flushes, purses her lips, and doesn’t respond.
I go to the driver’s side. Lachlan and Carson go to the back.
“Address,” I say.
She gives it to me and I punch it into the GPS.
Carson whistles in the back. “No foolin’, Nolan? You fancy gettin’ knifed tonight, brother?”
Sheena whips her head around and glares at him. “I’ll thank you to keep your fucking opinions to yourself.”
I grip her thigh and squeeze. “Watch it, woman. You’re captive here, and not allowed to speak freely.”
“Is that right?” she snaps. “Or what? Twenty?”
I pull out onto the street and follow the directions. She notes everything as the gates open to let us out.
I grit my teeth. “Don’t tempt me, Sheena.”
Lachlan chuckles in the back. “Figures you’d end up with a mouthy one, brother.”
“End up with? What do you think this is, a fucking reward?”
“Aye,” he says cheerfully. “You’re second in line to the throne. Of course it is.”
“Oh come off it,” I mutter.
“Is he?” Sheena asks over her shoulder.