Page 53 of Seeking Vengeance
Maggie laughed and swatted at him with a dish towel.
“Need me to kick his ass for you, sweetheart?” Michael asked, joining them. He pulled Maggie into his arms and kissed her passionately, leaving no doubt as to exactly which brother Maggie had chosen.
Nick looked up at the man he’d met briefly upon arrival. Michael Callaghan was just as big, just as formidable as the others. He sported the same blue-black hair and blue eyes, but Nick guessed him to be a few years older. He’d heard that there were seven of them and wondered if they all resembled each other so closely.
Shane began tucking into a plate of food at least as big as Nick’s had been when Sean came through the door. Other than him moving a bit slower than normal, the effects of whatever Nicki had given him seemed to have worn off.
“Smells awesome, Mags,” Sean said, rubbing his stomach in anticipation.
“Sorry, Sean, none for you.” Michael didn’t seem very sorry at all, snagging the plate Maggie had prepared for himself. “It’ll slow the purge of toxins from your system. Maggie has some great herbal tea for you though.”
Shane could barely hold his snickers as Sean sat down, shooting daggers at Michael and mumbling something in Irish under his breath.
“Ah, don’t listen to them,” Maggie said, laying her hands on Sean’s shoulders and shooting the others a fierce look. “Dandelion tea with a bit of fennel will have you right as rain, and I’ll save you the last of the chocolate cake.”
Michael’s smug smile faded as he looked up from his meal, his expression horrified. “That’s my cake!”
“Not anymore,” she said firmly, squeezing Sean’s shoulders affectionately. “Dark chocolate’s as good as charcoal for filtering out the bad stuff. He needs it more than you do.”
“That’s not true,” Michael grumbled.
Sean grinned as Shane tried to cover his laughter with a cough.
After they ate their fill and the plates were cleared away, Michael leaned back and glanced at Nick before turning his gaze to Sean. Sean had already briefed his brothers on what had happened; Shane had shared everything that Nick had told him.
“So, how do you want to play this?”
Sean looked at Nick, clearly wondering just how much to say in front of him. “She’s mine. I’m going after her.”
Nick’s eyes widened slightly, but to his credit, he displayed no other reaction.
Michael studied him for a while and then nodded. “All right. You want some help?”
“Yeah, I think I’m going to need it.”
Nick looked up and cleared his throat. Thus far, he’d remained silent, except for occasional murmurs of thanks to Maggie. “I’m in.”
Three pairs of similar blue eyes regarded him.
“Might be more than you bargained for,” Sean told him carefully.
Nick heard the warning but chose not to heed it. “I’m not stupid,” he said, summoning the courage to look at each one in turn before settling on Sean. “I’ve heard the rumors.”
“What rumors?” Michael asked softly.
“About you, all of you,” Nick said carefully. “About how you … do stuff.” He turned his eyes away as Shane arched a brow.
“Stuff?” Shane asked.
Nick was no stranger to fear; he’d learned to deal with it at an early age. Most of his life, he’d been surrounded by powerful men who used terror and intimidation to maintain control—drug dealers, pimps, politicians, dirty cops. But none of them chilled his blood as much as these three men did. They didn’t need to say a word to be scary as hell.
At that moment, Nick was profoundly grateful to be on the right side of things for a change.
“Look, like I said, I’m not stupid. If you guys are capable of even half of what I think you are, then the smartest thing I can do right now is keep my trap shut. But Nicki is my sister, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to fail her again.”
A heavy silence permeated the kitchen. Seconds ticked by in the quiet, each movement of the old-fashioned clock sounding as if it had been multiplied a hundredfold. The three Callaghan brothers sat unnaturally still while Nick shifted in his chair.
It was Michael who spoke first. “No one questions your heart, Nick, but there’s more at stake here.”
