Page 16 of Redemption

“I did.” She winks at me and then walks away, serving the other patrons.

A few hours pass and the woman has already weaseled four more drinks out of me. But I don’t care. Because the more she drinks, the livelier she becomes. A gorgeous smile taking up her face as she laughs and talks with the bar patrons. I can’t keep my eyes off her. Not as she rounds the bar and serves the tables. Or as she sings along to some pop song I’ve never heard. She is a shining star, a treasure to hold and never let go of.

As the night dwindles toward closing, she slaps a bill in front of me. “Eleven hundred euro.”

“You sure you don’t want one more?” I tease her.

She shakes her head and I take in the flush to her cheeks, the slight daze to her eyes. “I have class in the morning.”

“You shouldn’t be working so late then,” I say as I throw my card on the bar.

Her hands fly to her hips. “Excuse me. I wasn’t aware that you were in charge of my decisions.”

“Not yet,” I growl.

She leans forward, her lips inches from mine. “I don’t like dominant men.”

“I’m sure that’s a lie.”

Her hand clutches my tie and pulls me even closer to her, close enough I can see flecks of gold in her obsidian eyes. “You’ll never find out.”

Fuck, this woman is getting to me. I wrap my hand in her hair and pull her so her lips are practically touching mine. “Looking for your tip?” I ask as I lick her bottom lip.

“Asshole,” she growls as she lets go of my tie and makes to push me away.

But I’m quicker and wrap my other hand around her neck and pull her lips to mine. It’s a quick rough kiss, her lips fighting mine as I suck her bottom lip into my mouth and bite. I let go before she can hit me. And when I pull away, the look on her face has me mimicking her. She’s in shock but a look of contentment crosses her features. She blinks a few times as if in confusion about what just happened. Then grabs my card and slides it through the machine.

I sign my receipt then stand and leave the bar without another word.

I think I may need to stay in Dublin just a little longer.

I rub my temples at the memory of her. Of our first meeting. Of a time when I thought she would be a quick fuck and then I would never have to see her again.

But here I am twelve years later after we first met and she has the same effect she had on me that first day. I dig through my drawer and find a picture of us. The only one I have. The two of us tangled up in sheets. She insisted we have one picture together. Both of us knowing whatever we were doing wasn’t going to last.

I run my finger over it. Outlining her cheekbones and the curve of her breast. She’s looking up at the camera and smiling with that gorgeous smile that makes my heart stop. I’m looking at her. Looking at her like there is no one else in the world that could ever matter as much. I look like a fool in love.

Fuck. I need to clear my head of her. I throw the picture back in the drawer then slam it shut.

And then it hits me. I didn’t even think to question the fact that she knew about The Partners. Knew I was involved. Who the fuck is she?

8

MIRABELLA

Ilean my head against the back of the bathtub as my brain goes into overdrive. I thought a bath would help. Since I barely got a wink of sleep last night after he left. I cleaned up any evidence of him breaking into my house. I washed the blood away from the knife I threw at him. I righted the chairs. Then I drank half a bottle of whiskey hoping it would help me sleep. It didn’t.

I need to clear my head of everything Kilian Bancroft. But it’s easier said than done. He is the one man who has ever owned my heart. And I thought he was dead. I remember the day I saw the news. I was drinking a cup of coffee and it slipped from my hands. The one man that I would risk everything for was dead.

Years of regret hit me like a train. There were so many times I wanted to reach out to him. Apologize for disappearing on him. Apologize for that last night together when I needed to tell him something but chickened out. I shouldn’t have let my family threaten me. I should have followed my heart. But I didn’t. And I left him.

I cried for days after the news broke that he was dead. Aria tried to comfort me even though she had no idea why. Magda was just as confused as Aria. She gave me a week off. She brought me food every day and made sure Aria made it to practice. But I couldn’t tell them. I couldn’t tell anyone about Kilian.

I dance my fingers over the top of the water. I’m relieved he is alive. But what does it mean? What does he want with my brother? What does he want with me?

Ezio is an idiot and no doubt got himself buried in shit he shouldn’t have. But why did that bring Kilian back into my life?

The harder question I keep trying to ignore is am I going to see him again?

---