Page 36 of Betting Blind

A few hours later, Emelia is curled up on the sofa with Hayden and Silas on either side of her. Neither of them can keep their hands off her. Silas has his fingers threaded through hers and Hayden is twirling strands of her dark hair around his forefinger. “What are the options?” she asks as I set the mixture of popcorn and M&Ms on the coffee table in front of them.

“Whatever is on the streaming platforms,” I respond with a shrug. “Pick your poison.”

“I already did,” she mutters maniacally with a giggle. “It should be kicking in any second now.”

This girl is a few screws shy of a toolbox. I roll my eyes at her empty threat. Hayden tugs on her hair and Silas chuckles. God these idiots are smitten. Sure she’s a great lay, but the woman is batshit crazy. Surely the two of them don’t expect whatever this is to go much further than a casual fuck.

Do they?

I look back over at the three of them as they talk quietly, the tension between Silas and Hayden momentarily forgotten, and take a deep breath. I note the way they each react and hang on to every word Emelia says.

Oh, fuck no.

By the looks on their faces, neither Silas nor Hayden will be coming out of this alive. This goes beyond fucking now. They’re past all the stages. The obsession is rooted deep, and it isn’t coming out with everyone intact.

“How about ‘The Mummy’?” Emelia asks suddenly and leans forward, nearly sending Hayden falling to his face behind her.

“Sure,” I say and toss her the remote. “If you can find it on there, we’ll watch it.” I watch the three of them settle back into the cushions and bite my lip against the sudden surge of jealousy that pulses through me.

What the fuck? They’re cuddling on the couch, what the fuck do I have to be jealous about? I want no part of any of that. She’s literally just a warm cunt for us to fill with our seed until this job is done. Then we will move on. She is ruining our brotherhood, one man at a time, and I am not going to fall for her shit.

Hayden chuckles at something that Silas says as Emelia tosses the remote to the table and grabs the bowl of snacks. Ican’t help but notice the lack of tension on both Hayden and Silas’s faces. They look so carefree. So happy in this moment. Another wave of emotions swirls inside me, and I fight the urge to jump to my feet.

Nope. I’m not doing this. Fuck this shit. This girl truly will be the death of us.

My phone vibrates on the cushion beside me. I look down and let out a long sigh. “Don’t bother pausing it. I’ll be right back,” I say and head toward the hallway.

“He’s seen this movie a bazillion times,” Silas mutters quietly. “It’s one of his favorites.”

“Mine too,” Emelia whispers, and I catch her eyes before disappearing around the corner.

“O’leary,” I sigh into the phone. “What can I do for you?” I knew I was going to be catching his wrath at some point because we still haven’t managed to get any closer to Em.

“The clock is ticking, Mr. Kennedy. My patience is wearing thin,” he snaps quietly. A loud metallic crash echoes in the background, followed by screams of agony.

“You sound a bit preoccupied. Would you like to have this conversation another time?” I ask, irritation prickling my spine.

“Oh this isn’t a conversation,” he says slowly. “This is a deadline. You have seventy-two hours to present me with the head of The Black Crown.”

I clench my jaw and roll my shoulders. “And if we make no headway in seventy-two hours?”

“Consider yourselves dead to the Irish.” The line goes dead.

I lower my hand and press my forehead to the wall.

Seventy-two hours.

Fuck. Me.

I slink back into the living room and drop down heavily onto the sofa, the cushions grown under my weight. “Just work,” I mutter and wave off the questions I see in their eyes. All three of them visibly relax, and I take note of how they are sitting. Emelia is still between the two boys, but she’s leaning against Silas’s chest with her feet pressed against Hayden’s thigh.

Hayden is rubbing up and down her leg with one hand, the other is braced against the back of the sofa. Silas’s hand is doing something similar to her arm. My eyes zero in and I realize that Silas and Hayden’s fingers are barely intertwined along the back of the couch behind Emelia’s head. I bite my lip to hide my grin and turn back to the movie. It really is one of my favorites.

“Declan?” A small voice penetrated the darkness around me.

I blink open my eyes and jolt in surprise. I’m still in the living room, under a blanket. The TV is off, and Hayden and Silas are nowhere to be found. “What time is it?” I ask huskily and look around for the source of the voice.

Emelia steps into the moonlight filtering in through the window and tucks her hair behind her ear. God she looks so innocent, but I know what those little hands of hers are capable of. “Everyone has gone to bed. I drew the short straw,” she explains with a small smile. “Neither of them were brave enough to wake the sleeping bear.”

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