Page 29 of The Chief
I shrugged. “What about her?”
“I told you what you wanted to know. You said the clan could offer me protection.”
“No, what I said was you were in no position to negotiate.”
“But I gave you the information you wanted,” she pressed, desperation now clinging to her words, every angle of her body held stiff.
Folding my arms, I replied, “We won’t give you the protection you seek, because you gave away your one bargaining chip.” Leaning in, I got so close I could see the seafoam flecks in her scared blue eyes. “So now you’re worthless to Finnan, to the clan…”
I reached out, wrapping a hand around her throat, and felt her pulse jump and thunder against my palm as I tightened my fingers. “And to me.”
Chapter 11
Molly
He was going to kill me.
It was the only thought circling my mind.
He was going to kill me, because I’d been stupid enough—naïveenough—to believe he was a man of his word. And now my sister would pay the ultimate price.
His fingers tightened as they squeezed the breath from me.
Gasping, I tried to gulp more air as I fought to remove his hands. My short nails were no match for his strength, unable to dig in enough to make any sort of difference.
Keir leaned in closer, as anger swirled in his dark eyes. His mouth was so close to mine, and even though it was ridiculous to think, I wondered what they would feel like on my body. There had been no kissing our first time in the Rover. He’d been distracted, using my body to rut against. I knew that mindless sort of fucking. He was trying to forget, and by the way he looked at Fallon, I knew exactlywhohe was trying to erase from his mind.
My lungs burned as he pressed his thumbs into my trachea, pinching and deliberately stopping the flow of air. My hands flapped uselessly against his chest, my vision now blurringaround the edges. He grunted as he shifted, pressing down harder.
It was then I noticed the bulge in his sweats, and the throb between my thighs. Jesus Christ, this was turning me on. I had no idea why. I abhorred violence, having been on the receiving end of my fair share. But there was something erotic about this, or maybe I had finally snapped, equating violence to attraction. Lord knew Grady fucked me roughly after nearly choking me unconscious. Had I become conditioned to enjoy this?
Just then, there was a loud banging on the door.
My gaze flew to the possible escape, and to the person beyond who could be my salvation.
“Keir! Finnan knows the girl is here. He wants you to take her to him. Now.”
Keir didn’t loosen his grip, though. His eyes flashed with anger, with an intangible rage, before every emotion drained from him and he dropped his hands.
I slumped forward, dragging in desperate breaths and fighting the urge to vomit while he moved swiftly off the bed, pulling open the door.
“Be there in a minute,” he told whoever was out there, shutting the door before they replied. When he turned back to me, he now wore a stony mask of indifference. He looked so different from the friendly man I’d first met. Sure, he’d been distracted—maybe a little careless—but never so mean. I had a feeling that for the first time I was seeing his true nature.
Walking to the closet, he stepped inside and returned a moment later with another pair of sweats and a hoodie, both of which he threw at me. “Get dressed.”
My lungs still burned, and a cough rattled from my throat, but I moved. Slowly, mechanically, I got dressed, pulling on the sweats and cinching the waistband so they didn’t fall off mynarrow hips. I only felt somewhat safe once I’d tugged on the hoodie and covered my naked torso from his view.
Keir’s eyes were molten when I finished settling the fabric in place, but with heat instead of cold murderous rage. He flipped through emotions nauseatingly fast. He pointed to the door and, in an icy tone, snapped out, “Come on.”
Padding barefoot from the room, I stepped into the hallway. Dark wood paneling inched up the walls, while paintings of people and landscapes in ancient-looking gilt frames covered the rest of the space. My footfalls were cold on the oak stairs as we descended, and I finally caught sight of the rest of the compound. We passed down another hallway before we reached a door, and Keir knocked once before pushing inside.
A dark-haired man loomed behind the large desk; his head bent over the phone in his hands. He didn’t acknowledge us, but Keir pressed his hand to the small of my back, urging me toward the chair opposite. Lowering myself silently into the chair, I peered around the office. There was a small shelf filled with books and a bar. The rug beneath my chair looked new, and the scent of chemicals hung in the air. I looked up when I felt the heavy weight of his stare on me, but was still startled to find Finnan’s cold green gaze on my face. He had a stripe of gray in his otherwise dark hair; a match to his short inky beard.
“So, this is the cunt who thought she could deliver a bullet with my name on it, then disappear.”
I wanted the ground to swallow me. Instead, I lifted my chin to meet his icy stare.
Finnan’s eyes shifted to Keir, who stood behind me. “Does she speak?” he asked sardonically.
