SAOIRSE
I’m not sure the last time I saw my father this furious. As the man who must be Connor’s right hand here escorts us none too politely out of the building, I can practically see steam coming out of my father’s ears.
He grabs my elbow, hustling me towards the waiting Towncar, and I jerk it out of his grasp the moment we’re inside.
“I know you’re pissed,” I tell him in a low voice. “But that’s no reason to take it out on me.”
“Mmph.” My father grunts, looking out of the window as the driver turns down the road that will take us out of this part of town and back to our hotel. As the warehouse fades behind us, I feel an odd clenching in my stomach.
For the first time, I feel a sick dread that maybe we won’t succeed after all. That Connor might choose to avoid my father’s machinations and those of the Kings and stay here, with the men who clearly respect him and all that he’s built. For that matter, seeing that display of loyalty at the meeting mademerespect him more.
Not that I think my respect means all that much to him. In fact, I doubt I mean anything at all to Connor, outside of my value as a bride and the pleasure I could bring him.Remember that,I tell myself as we approach the hotel.This isn’t a matter of feelings. It’s business.
“I say we go back to Boston,” my father growls angrily once we’re in my room again, pacing the floor. “Let him rot here with his half-assed gang of outlaws. Any man worth his salt ought to bebeggingme for the chance to marry you, to rule the empire our families have built, and he’s acting as if he’s doingusa favor by coming back, the ungrateful little—”
“There’s something to be said for freedom,” I say quietly. “It’s what Liam wanted, and it’s clear that Connor feels the same.”
“Then the McGregor line is poisoned, the father and his derelict sons, and it’s better if we drive them all out and salt the ground behind them.”
“And who takes over then?” I point out. “Alastair Mahoney? Brian O’Leary? Finn Monaghan? They’ll want to raise up a different family than ours, to push out all of the old and make the table anew, and then where will we be? Worse off than with Liam still at the head and you at his side, even if he did marry Anastasia.”
“Don’t say her name again.” My father looks like he wants to spit. “So, what would you have me do?” He glares at me as if it’s my fault somehow that all of this is happening. “Two brothers, and neither of them willing to follow the path set out for them.” He shakes his head. “It’s a damnable beast of a situation—”
“Let me go back alone.” The words burst out of me, and I catch my breath, feeling my pulse speed up at the thought. “I’ll talk to him.”
“And what? Get him to agree to follow my lead? I hardly think—”
“We’re going to have to make some concessions.” I’ve never spoken to my father so boldly, but if there was ever going to be a time for it, it’s now. “This is the only way of preserving some measure of your power at the table. If we accept some change from Connor, we can potentially keep the table from being upended.” I don’t say the rest—that I don’t think a death sentence is what Liam deserves, however foolish he was—because I know my father won’t agree. “Give me a half-hour to get ready and the driver, and I’ll go to him.”
“And what? Let him have you in exchange for his agreeance?” My father narrows his eyes. “I’ll not have you whoring yourself out—”
“My marriage bed is the exchange for his place at the table, so I’d say there’s a bit of whoring going on regardless.” I meet my father’s gaze evenly, ignoring the spark of anger in his face at that. “But no, I don’t intend anything of the sort. I plan totalkto him,” I add. “And see if I can get him to come around to our way of thinking. A compromise.”
He grunts again, and I think for a moment that he’s going to tell me no, possibly even that we’re going back to Boston. I realize, with a small sinking feeling in my stomach, that I no longer like the idea of returning without Connor.
Before I was reintroduced to Connor, I would have said that I didn’t much care who I married. It’s true my other prospects are less appealing—Alastair Mahoney is attractive enough, but rather boring, Brian O’Leary is as wide as he is short, and Finn Monaghan is three years younger than me, with the intellect of someone much younger than that. But now, the idea of marrying someone else feels like a blow, like I’d lose something if Connor isn’t the one who becomes my husband.
As if Ineedthis to work out—and that, as I already know, is very, very dangerous.
That doesn’t stop me from waiting for my father’s response, though, intent on trying to go and reason with Connor if I can.
“Alright then,” he growls, and I let out a relieved breath.
“Thank you.” I try not to sound too eager. “I think it’s a good plan. There’s a chance it might work. And if it does—”
“If it does, then Liam ought to thank you for saving his life,” my father says harshly. “But I don’t suppose he will.”
“No, I don’t suppose so either.”
---
I try to find a balance between the sexy seductress who had gone to see Connor that first night and my usual self. I want him to desire me enough to feel tempted to listen to me, but at the same time, I want him to be attracted tome, too. I don’t want to put on a show for him.
I’ll feel more confident if I don’t feel as if I’m an entirely different person.
It’s raining again, so I opt for a pair of dark skinny jeans—tight enough to show off my figure, but not as skintight as the ones the other night, and a pair of knee-high equestrian boots. I pair it with a light linen top that hangs off of one side, showing my collarbone and one slender shoulder, with a long, thin gold chain and the same gold dangling earrings I’d worn earlier. I leave my hair loose, tumbling over my shoulders, but go easy on the makeup. A little champagne eye shadow, a light swipe of mascara. I look youthful and pretty and glowing, innocent enough to remind him of what he’ll be getting if he marries me.
The butterflies in my stomach are fluttering with nerves as my car approaches the warehouse. I don’t even have any real way of knowing if Connor is still here, but I have to at least try. It’s clear that my father’s way of doing things isn’t working with him.