I tilt my head to the side. “Did you kill him? For touching me?” To keep my hands busy I smooth them over the front of my bodice and down my skirt again and again. I have no right to question the dangerous-looking mobsters who are surrounding me like a pack of lions, but I can’t help myself. My momma liked to say I was a glutton for punishment every day of the week. I guess I’m proving her right.
That brought me back to the question at hand. “Answer me, did you kill him?” Were they going to kill me, too?
Each of them watches me intently.
"We're not in the habit of letting others commit disrespect in our establishments."
I cast my attention between the three of them. I swallow a rising wave of bile. Is that what they consider a for sure yes without saying it, or an excuse?
I swallow quickly and feel my breath catch in the back of my dry throat. “Maybe I should go.” I pivot on my heel, yanking a little on my foot when my four-inch spike digs into the carpet. “Yeah, I don’t want to cause any more trouble than I already have.”
A finger hooks over the lip of my bodice and I’m stopped in my tracks. Held prisoner by a single finger.
Fuck. Fear battles with an equal dose of excitement.
Sylan runs the pad of his finger over the swell of my breasts, causing goosebumps to rise in the wake of his seeking caress. Despite the blast of cool air filling the dark, spacious room I’m overheating at a surprising rate. I tense under his hold and fully expect for him to rip through the ties any second and bare me to the entire room. Take what he wants. Use me. Just like every man ever did with my mother.
But he doesn't; he enjoys the lingering moments our skin connects it seems. But I can’t read his stoic expression any more than I can a slab of stone. The only indication I might not end up in a gutter by sunrise is that I’m still breathing.
So I stick with the silver lining.
And the utterly strange fact I like his touch. And the feeling of Drake and Grey so near.
He fingers the hanging silk bow holding the two sides of my bodice together, his sharp green eyes taking in every detail. The way my breasts quiver under his heated gaze. How my breath comes shallow and most importantly, how the outline of my hard nipples stand out against the confines of the soft leather.
His attention shifts to my upper arm.
Drake curses under his breath from my right and I hear something similar come from Grey. Sylan is who speaks. “The man who assaulted you.”
“What about him?”
“Did he do it at Kane’s command?”
I blink twice before I shake my head. I rub at the tender spot they’re all eying. “Not so much. But his goon didn’t seem to care when I didn’t follow orders.”
Did I just hear them say father? I grow still. Did I say something wrong? Do they know my father? Know I’m his daughter? They had to, right? God, I knew I should have taken the job at the diner instead of letting Nikki talk me into this gig. She swore the owners never paid attention to anyone as long as they did their job.
I ask the dangerous question I know I shouldn’t. “How do you know my father?”
My words bring a small smile to Sylan’s lips and a murderous tinge to his eyes.
“Everyone knows your father, mo chroi. We’ve been looking for him. Where do you think we can find the devil?”
Two simple questions tell me everything I need to know.
Sylan leans close. So close I can feel his breath brush against my bare neck, his warmth meld with mine. Any closer and I could be in his arms.
“I know you’re scared. You can whisper the answer to me and no one will ever know. Ever hurt you. That I swear an oath to.” With his nearness comes a masculine scent that only warms the flush in my cheeks.
When I say nothing, his fingers move from the silk strand to tease over the lacy ruffle lining the top of the bodice.
My teeth skim my lower lip.
“Answer me, mo chroi. Where? And don’t lie. We know who you are as well. We don’t have time to fuck around.”
I ignore how my nipples turn to stone under his gentle touches. My already tense muscles go so rigid I feel like I’ll crack down the middle at any moment.
The look on my face must have screamed shocked as hell, because Grey sighs heavily, shaking his head.