Page 19 of The Chief
“No, you’re simply the messenger, right?”
Lifting my chin, I met his icy stare. “That’s right, because I’m a fucking survivor and I protect what’s mine.”
He considered my words, like he was dissecting them for meaning. “I can’t give you the protection you seek.” I folded my arms, and Keir’s dark eyes darted down to my cleavage before they returned to my face. “The only man who can give that to you is the man you threatened with that bullet.”
Fuck. I knew Grady’s death wouldn’t be the end. He said he was with Clan Fiach under his cousin’s insistence, but in order to be useful to them, Grady would’ve told someone else about my sins. How else would a Sentinel be able to have so many men watching my family?
I had only one choice.
“I want to take a shower before I see him.”
Keir smiled like he’d been told it was Christmas. “Come with me.”
Rising to my feet, I stood for a moment to let any lingering dizziness disappear before I followed Keir to the door. “Where did you bring me?”
“Velvet.”
“Thestrip club?”
“You’ve heard of it. Good.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
“Because I didn’t want to hand you over to Finnan while you were unconscious. He has a proclivity for rousing unconscious women by fucking them, then interrogating them while he’s stillballsdeep. I didn’t think you’d want to meet the man who would become your new god like that.”
My whole body trembled at the idea of being taken against my will again. I was the only one who could give my consent, and as Brian found out, I was very firm with my rule. Especially when it came to people who couldn’t stand up for themselves. Instead of giving him a response, I followed Keir out of a long hallway that held all the private rooms and into the club. Music assaulted my ears, along with the scent of sex. Everywhere were women dressed in lingerie, ferrying drinks on trays or chatting with the male clientele, who were scattered around the vast space.
None of the strippers looked at me as we weaved through the room, but when I glanced over at the bar, an older woman standing behind it stared right at me.
“Keir, who’s that woman?” I asked in a whisper.
“Mary, our Pull,” he replied.
“Is she dangerous?” Because the look she shot me could melt steel.
“She’s the single mother of eight daughters, of course she’s dangerous.” Keir paused at another black door, punching a code into the pad beside it. Inside the hallway, the music was muted, and the scent of sex had been replaced with a dozen unique perfumes. Doors stood open on either side of the hall, but Keir pushed open one that turned out to be a huge changing room. There were lockers lining the walls on either side, and a long bench ran down the middle. My skin beaded with the humidity from the showers and my nose twitched from freshly spritzed perfume.
Gesturing with his chin, he directed me to the back of the locker room, where a tiled area opened to reveal half a dozen shower heads attached at intervals to the wall. It was just like in one of those American movies … or in a prison. An open shower.
“You’ve got five minutes, Jynx,” Keir said. He propped a shoulder against the tiled wall out of the way of the spray as he casually crossed his legs at the ankle.
“I’m not showering in front of you. No!” I shook my head for good measure. “No, I refuse.”
“It’s too late now. I’ve brought you all the way in here.”
“I changed my mind.” Panic clawed like a vice around my chest. “I want to go back to the room.”
Keir, the bastard, simply shook his head. “No. You’re covered in brains and blood.”
He was right, but I hadn’t wanted to acknowledge that each time I moved I felt the itch of dried blood and gore against my skin. I could even smell it.
“I’ve already fucked you, Jynx. You think you have something no other woman has?”
Hugging my arms around myself, I shook my head.
“What is it then?”
My arms tightened—if only to stop my whole body from shaking. I knew I had issues I hadn’t dealt with yet, but now wasn’t the time for that either. “I need my privacy.”
