“I’m sorry,” she says. “I didn’t really mean to. Sometimes I do things when people make me angry that I regret after.”
She’s soft and supple in my grasp, and she smells like a field of daisies. I shouldn’t touch her. I shouldn’t be this close to her. I didn’t know she was this pretty.
I let her go, and grunt. “Sometimes I do things I regret when I’m angry, too.” This isn’t like me. I don’t forgive so easily. But I need to get away from her. She’s just a girl and I’m on the cusp of adulthood. “Head back to the mansion and Fiona will take you to get those scrapes looked after.”
I practically shove her at Fiona. Aisling looks at me in wide-eyed wonder. “I’m sorry, Tiernan.”
I wave her away.
“Go.”
I watch her and wonder what just happened.I blink, coming back to the present.
Keenan runs harder, his breathing heavier. “Found out something interesting about her last night.”
“Did you?” Now that’s piqued my curiosity.
I continue lifting, but my focus is on him.
He nods. “Seems she’s… fallen into some trouble.”
A prickle of awareness travels down my spine. She might’ve been a brat, but she was my sister’s best mate.
“What kind of trouble?”
He shakes his head. “Mother’s gone off to America, left her with nearly nothing. She left school, couldn’t afford it. Does she still talk with Fiona?”
I shake my head. “No. They had a falling out soon after Fiona and Lachlan tied the knot.”
Keenan scowls but doesn’t respond at first. Finally, he sighs.
“Expected as much,” he says.
Is he hiding something?
“Seems she’s gone off her fucking nut, Tiernan. I took an interest in hearing her story. She was around here a lot when Fiona was younger, you know?”
I nod. Though we lived offsite back then, we spent a lot of time here.
“So her mum and dad divorced, and her mum married a man in America. Dad shot himself last year, and she’s been scraping to make ends meet. She’s, eh… gotten loose.”
Bloody hell.
The weights I’m carrying clatter to the concrete floor. Keenan raises a brow but doesn’t speak.
“She’s what?”
The woman was like a sister to me, annoying, but still someone I didn’t want to see get hurt.
He nods. “True story. Boner found out night before last, came to tell Lachlan since she was friends with Fiona. Said she’s gotten… loose,” he snorts. “Pretty sure Boner was just confirming before he fucked the girl. Lachlan was with me at the time, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind since.”
White hot rage ignites in me.
If Boner put his fucking fingers on her, I’ll beat him fucking senseless. I will tear his dick from his fucking gangly body, and—
“Easy, lad. He didn’t touch her.”
I blow out a breath, noting the way Keenan’s brow rises.
“You think Lachlan told Fiona?” I ask, trying to school my features.
He shrugs. “Who knows?”
Keenan keeps jogging, and I bend to pick up the weights again.
“Saw you were with Danny Cook this morning?”
Jesus Christ, I forgot about the cameras. Keenan misses literally nothing.
“Aye.”
“Was he harassing you?”
I chuckle. “Of course.”
Keenan grins back, and out of respect for me, doesn’t push.
I place the bar on the back of my neck and squat. “Made me an offer.”
Keenan gives me a quizzical look but doesn’t pry. It’s one of his better leadership qualities. He gives us jobs to do, and he holds us to high expectations. He’s a stern but fair leader, the most loyal brother in the entire Clan. He trusts we’ll do the jobs right, never holding back.
I blow out a breath. “He asked me to fight tonight.”
“Oh?”
I nod, squatting, welcoming the burn in my quads and glutes.
“Aye.” I’m panting as I work these muscles. “Said he’d give me thirty k, win or lose, and a night with one of Vivian’s girls.”
Keenan cocks his head to the side. “Thirty thousand quid?”
My stomach tightens.
“Seems they’re… sponsors, or whatever the fuck.”
He snorts. “Did you tell him yes?”
I look at him in surprise. “Hell no. You told me you didn’t want me fighting in the ring anymore.”
He shrugs. “Eh. That was back when we had rival battle on our hands. Now, things are at an even keel. I don’t think it’d be as risky.”
I can’t help the feelings of hope and excitement that come unbidden.
“Really?”
“Aye. You want to fight again, brother?”
I huff out a breath, squatting again, as I answer. “Ha. Fight again? Are you out of your fucking mind? It’s like asking a fish if he’d like to go back in the water, or telling a horse she can run again.”
Keenan winces. “Ouch. Did it hurt you that badly, Tiernan? Not being able to fight?”
I don’t respond at first. I don’t know what to say. Finally, I settle for the truth. We all speak plainly to one another within the Clan.
“It hurt,” I tell him. “I missed it fucking loads. But I won’t lie, it wasn’t unbearable, and I knew it was for the greater good.”