Page 71 of Forbidden Need

What would they have done if Connel and his people hadn’t shown up?

Imogen and Whisper both hurried away, presumably to meet their men.

“What does he have on him?” Lachlan asked, though his gaze was set in the distance.

Was he asking or was that rhetorical? “Who have on who? I don’t know.”

“Stay here. I’m going to talk to Dad.”

Great. Yeah, go have fun, that wasn’t a conversation she wanted any part of.

“Sure know how to throw a party, McLeod.” Tom Rigger. From the paper. Propping up the bar. “We’ll fill column inches with this.”

“Oh?” she asked, strolling to the bar next to him. “You really think you want to do that? Exploit the death of a respected alderman and your colleague’s loss for your own gain? Maybe it’s professional progress that interests you. Take a leap. Imagine the progress of what happens to you if you upset me. How does that factor into your career plans?”

“Threatening people now?” he asked, smile on his face.

“You just threatened me! What do you call talking about printing my family’s grief? Isn’t that a threat?”

“Scamp!”

Strat called from a dozen feet away where the McDades congregated, sitting, spreading themselves out without opposition. And there, at the head of it all, was her guy.

“Enjoy the show,” she said to Tom and went to the table.

Strat gave her shoulder a squeeze when she nodded in thanks. Whatever happened, she’d get the skinny later.

Dropping onto the couch by Connel, she exhaled. “God, I wish bad things on that guy. Pain, torture, death. Asshole.”

“Which guy?” he asked, his hand sliding up her thigh.

“Tom Rigger.” She nodded in his direction. “He works at The Chronicler.”

“Niall,” Connel called toward his guy.

Why did he…?

Niall approached. “Boss?”

When the next words out of Conn’s mouth were in his mother tongue, she sensed trouble.

Wait. “No,” she said, twisting to land her hands on her guy. “I didn’t mean literally.”

“No?” he asked, a twitch of his head.

“No,” she said, erasing her worry to smile. “No, baby, it’s venting, not a call to arms.”

He nodded Niall away with a minute movement and the guy complied.

“Be careful with that tongue, Macushla.”

“I’ll reserve it for doing this.”

Boosting up, she kissed him, quickly slipping her tongue between his lips with a passion probably better reserved for their bedroom.

Yes, she had to watch what she said, but damn if there wasn’t something seductive about a guy who’d do anything for her. He hadn’t even asked why, just prepared to fulfill her wish.

“My new favorite hobby, doing that with this audience,” she said, her lips still near his. “What did Evander want?” Though the answer was obvious. “How did you get him to go with Swerve watching?”

---