Page 53 of Bartered Innocence

“What say you, Isabelle? Who’d you bet on?”

Aodhan shakes his head at Cillian's question while Cormac walks away. They bump fists before moving toward me and plop on the floor, stretching out.

“It’s unwise to bet without prior information,” Cormac says with a teasing twist of his lips.

Aodhan nods. “I can count on one hand the amount of times Cillian has gotten Rian to the ground.”

“You have faith in me, don’t you, baby?”

I flush at Rian’s endearment and glance up at him, the dark look in his eyes promising every deep desire before he bites on his lip and turns back to Cillian.

“I have faith in my husband,” I admit quietly, sitting down next to them.

Cormac snickers. “I bet you do.”

Rolling my eyes, I ignore his taunt and pull my knees closer to my body as Cillian and Rian swing at each other. I flinch at the first punch he takes to the ribs and glance away as he returns one to Cillian’s jaw.

“Do you guys do this a lot?”

“What? Exercise?” Aodhan asks.

“Fight one another for sport.”

Cormac waves his hand toward the mat. “Boxing together keeps us on our toes. We never aim to hurt.”

“You know, you should start training with us. It’s good for you to have some basic self-defense knowledge to get out of holds. Maybe learn how to throw a punch,” Aodhan adds, nodding to himself as if it’s a done deal already.

I glance between them curiously. “You’d train me?”

A laugh barks out of Cormac’s throat. “Rian would more than likely, unless you get used to his style, then we can switch it up.”

“No, I mean…I’d love to. I just never thought you’d want me to join you guys like that.” My cheeks are burning as an embarrassed blush works over my face.

Aodhan’s pierced eyebrow raises. “Because you’re the boss lady?”

I lift my shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. “Guess so.”

“Did you know Cillian has a sister? A twin, actually.” Cormac says as he undoes the wraps around his wrists.

Shaking my head, I look up as a small grunt rises out of Cillian before Rian turns and hooks his foot behind Cillian’s leg and pushes him backward. They hit the mat with a soft thud and Cillian curses.

Aodhan shakes his head. “You’re too reactive as always, Cill. Wait it out, anticipate the next move.”

“Her name is Aisling, but we call her the forgotten brother.”

I turn back to Cormac, intrigued immediately by what he’s talking about. “Because she’s…” He hasn’t referred to her in past tense, but I’m not sure if that is out of respect.

“Because she’s a ghost. Her missions are more complex than anything we’ve ever done.” Cormac’s eyes take on a sad gloss, the small v on his forehead deepening. “She adapts to whole new identities that can take years to build, but she’s our best intelligence gatherer. There have been times when our lives were completely dependent on her information.”

“The brotherhood would be nothing without her,” Rian says just as his shadow falls over me. I glance up at him, a shiver running through me at the sight of sweat glistening on his chest. Similar to how it shines when he fucks me during the night after we have more than one round.

“So you’re not sexist is what you’re trying to tell me,” I tease, grabbing the hand Rian sticks out to pull me up. His arms wrap around me, hands squeezing my ass.

“You should meet Declan’s wife Aoife. That girl used to scare all of us when we were younger,” Rian says.

Aodhan groans, collapsing onto his back on the padded floor. “I still don’t know how that bastard fell for her, making us keep her around forever.”

Cillian snickers as he wipes his face with a towel. “Declan has bigger balls than all of us.”

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