“You a leprechaun?” The john chuckled, and I presumed he was making fun of Leith’s accent since Leith was a cool 5′ 7″ to the john’s 5′ 8″ or 9″, and still growing.
“I’m naefeckin’Irishpaddy. And we MacKenzies have more respect for our women!”
“MacKenzie?” The john’s eyes requested verbal confirmation from me. When I offered a smug glower, he stuttered, “You’re not . . .”
“Aye! Next time, I’ll cut that wee tongue out yer mouth, yeclattybastard.” Leith’s accent thickened. Though the rest of his statement was undecipherable, his tan skin tinged red, driving the threat home. Leith slammed the bedroom door, then his ocean blue gaze pierced through me. “Wit’sJohn’s surname?”
“John? He’s, uh, one of Lady—” I gulped, not sure if it was because of Leith’s stance or my impending reference. “One of Mom’sjohns.”
“I see. I’ll know it soon.” Leith ran his index finger over his bottom lip, unaware of what it did to me, while deep in contemplation. “He seems to know ye, Chevelle. How much?”
My eyes narrowed. World’s biggest crush or not, Leith crossed the line.“Excuse me?”
“Och! I’m afeckin’eejit,some idiot?”
“Some say you’re the smartest kid in class.”So, stop looking at me like a botched science project. I’m good!Picking up the PlayStation controller, I tapped it in my hand then discarded it. Gaming enabled me to remain numb, but frayed emotions would wreck my score.
“Still need an answer,” he insisted.
“Notthatwell, Leith. Okay?”
A slow smile came to his face as if contemplating something. My insides melted into putty. “Ye’re myhen,Chevelle.”
“You called mehen?” I snapped each word through tensed, defensive lips. My momma had raised me to be a civilized individual before she fell by the sword. Momentarily, however, I’d forgotten. Leith could sucker punch me way across to Timbuktu. My gaze flicked over his attractive face, and I warned myself to hold tight to my fury. “How dare you!”
Leith shook his head and laughed at me. It almost added insult to injury until I noticed the warmth in his eyes. He wasn’t laughingat me.The affection starved girl I had become thawed. My heart thumped excitedly as his smile turned my brain, my bones, my soul, into putty. The truth clicked: hishen,hisgirl.Speechless, I savored his words. “My hen, my lass, mine.”
The air charged with electricity. Leith’s arms encircled my waist. Unable to recall my last hug, my heart raced, pounding in my ears as he again called mehis.
For those few years prior to the wool falling from my eyes, Lady had erased the horror that befell my parents. She’d replaced the loneliness with toys and shiny things for the two of us and drugs and alcohol for herself. Once the motivating factor drained from her bank account, the shiny things disappeared, and I was introduced to the empty vessel. That version of Lady had transformed me into a spirit in a half shell when I found out she stole my family’s money and threatened me with a worse fate.Since then, I cared for nothing until Leith came along.
Think of your boy crush from back in the day. Not the one who just made you blush. The one you would remember until hell froze over.
That was Leith MacKenzie. All he ever had to be was the world’s biggest crush. But in that precise second, he became more.
You’re probably wondering what awful fate befell my parents. We were living on top of the world before they died by the gun. Their demise should’ve cautioned me against all things MacKenzie. But I was twelve, and this was love. So that day, something greater, something more exhilarating than I could ever imagine, was forged from the fear and hunger I had for Leith MacKenzie. I became his; he became mine. Still, I was my father’s daughter, no matter how much I loathed admitting it. I knew the ins and outs of Dad’s life. So, I wouldn’t make the same mistakes Momma had. But there was no way in hell I’d let Leith go.
Chapter 2
Leith
Current Day
Keeping secrets from the one ye love is a bad idea. Keeping secrets from a woman ye personally taught how to shoot a .380, no matter how pink and frilly the gun is, well that makes me afeckin’eejit.
Chevelle threatened me on our prom night. With her tawny thighs clamped together, she promised to unlock the key to her treasure. But I had to choose her or the power of my clan. MacKenzies dabble in it all. Racketeering. Robbery. Arms dealing. Drugs. Butchery of body parts.
Well, I saidfeckthe family business. Not because I wanted to cut the tightest piece of pussy I would ever have.
Nae.
That ain’t me. Besides, the bonny girl became mine the day somebampot,some idiot,with his floppy weebaws, walked into her room naked as the day he was born.
I’ve never pushed drugs, and my parents wouldn’t have me doshiteagainst my moral character. Ihadnever killed a man either. But the day Chevelle casually mentioned her adoptive mom crying about her highest paying john missing his usual time, I didna lie to her.
Aye, the John was deider than a wooden plank.
Nae, I’d notpersonallykilled him. My sweet, sweet Chevelle should have chosen her words wisely. My mam finished him off herself. Da watched, and he told all hisweans, me included, to chop thened,the petty criminal,into wee pieces. “Do away with the rubbish,”he said.