Page 59 of Heated Rivals
She frowned at her older sister. “What’s wrong?” She hadn’t come home from some nameless club like Sloan had originally suspected. Not wearing that green dress that Carrigan would consider respectable, and certainly not with her makeup done up for the day, rather than nighttime. It was more than that, though. Usually when she rolled home in the small hours of the night, she had an expression like a cat who’d stolen the cream. Not tonight. Tonight her eyes were shining, and there were little tremors working their way through her sister’s body that she could see from several feet away. “Carrigan?”
“I…” She wrapped her arms around herself, the shaking getting worse.
If there was one thing Sloan recognized, it was a person on the verge of a complete breakdown. She’d danced along that edge herself too many times to miss the signs. She slipped an arm around her sister’s waist and guided her to her room, carefully shutting the door behind them. “It’s going to be okay.”
“It’s not okay.” The shining in her eyes overflowed, a tear slipping free. “Nothing’s ever goingto be okay again.”
She froze. Carrigan wascrying? She could count how many times she’d seen her older sister cry on one hand and still have all five fingers left over.What in God’s name is going on?“We can talk about it.”
“I’m marrying Dmitri Romanov.” More tears fell, as if that first one had broken a dam and now they all rushed to fill the new space. She stared into the distance, seeing something that wasn’t in this room. “I have to. I don’t have a choice.”
“Carrigan…” There was nothing she could do. She couldn’t tell her sister that she had a choice—she didn’t. Their father wouldn’t think twice about dragging her bodily down the aisle himself if she tried to protest. She could run, but he would find her. He had all the resources that came with more money than most people could dream of. If Carrigan left the fold, all of that would become focused on finding her and bringing her back.
Since she couldn’t speak the lies that would comfort her sister, Sloan wrapped her arms around her sister. “I’m sorry.”
“I love him, you know.” Another sob, so harsh she thought she misheard until Carrigan said it again. “I love James Halloran.”
Shock almost had her dropping her arms.James Halloran?She’d suspected her sister was seeing someone, but he was the last person she would have guessed. Sloan pressed her lips together to keep the accusations inside.How could you? His family is responsible for Devlin! He might as well have pulled the trigger himself! Hekidnappedyou!All things her sister already knew. And she obviously needed comfort right now more than she needed to be yelled at. So Sloan rubbed soothing circles on her back and let her sister cryherself out.
It took time, the minutes ticking by until the sky beyond Carrigan’s bedroom window began to lighten. But she finally lifted her head and wiped at her face. “I’m fine. I’m okay.”
No, she wasn’t. But Sloan wasn’t about to point it out. Instead she took her sister’s hands. “I know you care for”—she almost choked on the name—“James, but you have to marry Dmitri. You know that, don’t you?” To do anything else courted their father’s rage—and he wouldn’t be alone. The entire family would unite to make sure Carrigan and James never had a chance to be together. The wounds of the summer were too raw and, even if they weren’t, some things were unforgivable.
Devlin bleeding out in the street with a Halloran bullet inside him was one of them.
Her sister exhaled, her shoulder bowing down. “I know. James isn’t for me. I’m marrying Dmitri. It’s the only option.” She sounded like she’d just delivered a death sentence to herself.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Carrigan woke up the next morning feeling like she’d been run over by a truck. Her life hadn’t been picture-perfect to begin with, but it’d sure as hell gone downhill faster than she could have imagined. She touched her face, still feeling puffy and raw from her crying jag last night. She hadn’t meant to break down, let alone in front of Sloan, but once she’d started, she hadn’t been able to stop. She’d seen the look on her sister’s face, though, when she’d finally gotten control of herself. Sloan sided with Aiden and Cillian. She thought Carrigan was a monster for sleeping with James, let alone being stupid enough to fall for him.
I told her I love him.
She shouldn’t have let the damning words past her lips, but if there was one person who wouldn’t pass it on, it was Sloan. Carrigan rolled over and stared at her ceiling. The temptation to pull the covers over her head and sleep the day away was almost too much to pass up.But then she’d have to admit to hiding in her room to avoid seeing her brother or father or any other member of her family who’d get in her face and call her a traitor at the first available opportunity. Which would mean she was afraid.
No help for it. She had to get out of bed.
She padded to her bathroom and took a leisurely shower, telling herself all the while that she wasn’tactuallystalling. After styling her hair and putting on her war paint, there was nothing left to do but go downstairs and face the firing squad.Could I be any more melodramatic?
Probably. Anything to keep from thinking about last night. James told her he loved her.He really loves me. She stared at her reflection, the image blurring to replace the tortured look on his face when he’d confessed what his father had done to him. Abuse was too kind a term—and death was too kind a penalty for it. She clenched her hands, her nails digging into her palms as fury washed over her in waves. She’d already believed Victor Halloran deserved to die after this summer. Knowing what she did now? She hoped that he suffered horribly before he went. If there was any way she could arrange for that to happen, she wouldn’t hesitate to do it.
James couldn’t be her priority anymore—at least not as far as anyone else was concerned. She had to put on an obedient expression and jump through all the hoops set out before her to keep him safe. That was theonlything that mattered. As much as she’d wanted to take him up on the offer blazing from his eyes last night and say that their enemies could go fuck themselves, she knew the truth. They might have a few days, maybe even a few months, but the debt would come due at some pointand then James would die. She’d be lucky if she went with him, but Carrigan didn’t like her chances.
Either way, it was a lose-lose scenario. The only way she was going to get through the next however many years of her life and marriage to Dmitri was knowing that James still walked this earth. She’d suffer untold horrors to make sure that happened.
Taking a fortifying breath, she walked out of her room and down the main staircase. The house was oddly hushed, making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She caught sight of Aiden coming out of the library. “I did what you wanted.”
He didn’t look up from the papers in his hands. “It has nothing to do with what I want and everything to do with what’s necessary.”
Necessary. She hated that word. It ranked right up there with loyalty and obedience andfamily. “Whatever. Dmitri agreed.” She just had to hope that her last desperate night of freedom wasn’t enough to drive him over the edge. She never should have taken that chance, but it was too late to worry about it now. Really, she didn’twantto take back those hours with James, talking with him, losing herself at the feel of what he was doing to her. She just wished she could have fallen asleep listening to the steady sound of his breathing.
Let it go. It will never happen again. You can’t let it.
She wouldn’t. She’d had a moment of weakness, but it was enough to shore her up for the foreseeable future. It had to be. She fell into step with Aiden down the hall, her stomach rumbling. She’d barely let the idea of breakfast cross her mind, when the door to herfather’s study slammed open. He marched into the hallway and glared at her. “You.”
Aiden tensed next to her. “Father—”
“Not now. You don’t know what your sister has done.” His gaze flicked over her brother. “Unless you alreadydoknow, in which case we’ll be having a discussion about loyalty in the near future.” He pointed at Carrigan. “In my office. Now.”
