Page 77 of Stolen Mafia Vows
He isn’t Eoghan though. No one else ever will be…
He dives into the pool, making it look effortless, and when I drag my attention back to Olivia, I realize that she isn’t even watching him. The cocktail is on the little table next to the lounger, and her eyes are closed.
“Go ahead,” she says. “Join him. You know you want to.”
“I don’t.”
My face grows even hotter. I might’ve been appraising his physique, but that doesn’t mean that I want him. I’ll never want anyone the way I want Eoghan; even the thought of it makes me feel physically sick.
I stand up. “I’m going back inside.”
“What, and miss all the fun when your family comes for you?” She quirks one eyebrow in my direction and studies me closely.
“This might be a vacation for you, Olivia, but it isn’t for me.”
She slides her legs over the side of the lounger and sits upright, her breasts firm, her pink nipples erect. “Jeez, you really should lighten up, Emily. It’s unhealthy being so tightly strung.”
“You try being abducted and see how you like it,” I snap.
She’s on her feet in a heartbeat, her hand around my neck and squeezing before I can stop her. I grab her arm and try to release her grip, but she’s stronger than I gave her credit for. “You think I don’t know how it feels, huh? You think my life has been perfect because I knew what I was born into?”
Her face is so close to mine that our lips are almost touching. Her brown eyes are cold, I realize now, with black flecks that fail to catch the hazy sunlight.
I try to swallow, but my throat constricts, and her fist tightens, a clicking sound all that I manage. I wonder what happened to make her so callous, because no matter how she paints it, I can still feel her hand on my head, holding me under the water.
Then, she releases me, and I stumble backwards, one hand instinctively flying to my throat as I suck in great gulps of air.
“I would offer to lend you a swimsuit,” she says like we’re friends now, “but it wouldn’t cover your breasts.”
With that, she dives into the pool to join Ilya, wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him long and hard.
Arms self-consciously crossed over my chest, I stand there frozen until the bodyguard joins me and pokes my back with the barrel of his gun.
I don’t even bother pointing out that I could stay by the pool and enjoy my enforced ‘vacation’ with my abductors if I wished. I want to get back to my room, take a long hot shower, climb back into bed and figure out what the hell is going on here.
16
EOGHAN
Uncle Sean drives like a lunatic.As a kid, he wanted to be a Formula One racing driver, and even though a serious road traffic accident when he was sixteen years old and driving without a valid license destroyed his dreams, he still has the same mentality whenever he is behind a wheel. Foot hard on the accelerator. Taking corners on two wheels. Hitting the brakes so hard, I have bruises from the safety belt.
I’m out of the car before it stops outside Dublin Airport Departures, sprinting towards the gate where Kyle said that Terry Keegan would be waiting to board the private jet back to New York. I don’t know why Kyle is helping me, perhaps Sienna convinced him that I’m not all bad, but I’m not going to question it.
I can’t let Terry fly back to New York without me.
We’re going to do this together, or not at all, because if I try to find Emily without their help, he’ll carry out his threat, and my father will be burying two sons side by side in the graveyard. There’s also the promise I made to my family beforeI left: once Emily is safe, I won’t come home until I avenge Ruairi’s death.
I didn’t confess that I’m praying his killer wasn’t Caleb Murray. I’m counting on Terry Keegan helping me to prove it, and to do that, I must shrug off everything that I’ve ever been taught and grovel to another family.
Arivalfamily.
The family I’m supposed to be at war with.
I’m waved through Security when I arrive and flash my passport at the guard on duty. Great Uncle Ardal. Because, in our line of business, it helps to have connections at strategic transport links.
Terry is preparing to board his private jet when I arrive at the gate, my carryon bouncing against my back. His brows lower when he realizes that it’s me, his hand instinctively sliding towards the holster strapped to his body.
I don’t hesitate. Hands raised above my head, I keep on walking, my gaze never wavering from his.
