Page 38 of Reckless Seduction
Her crystalline blue eyes hold buckets of uncertainty as she stares at me, her throat bobbing nervously. Her darling pink tongue comes out to lick her chapped lips before she takes a deep breath, the action causing her breasts to sway beneath her.
God, I want to suckle those petal-pink nipples until she writhes with pleasure beneath me.
“Are you going to kill me?”
It is the question I suspected she would ask first, despite her bold statement that we need her. Can’t blame her for wanting assurances. She knows what being held by the mafia means. We should have killed her in the alley, but if there is one thing that sets us apart from other families, it is that we don’t kill women and children. Not unless it is well deserved. I have only ever known my father to order a hit on a woman once in his entire time as head of the family.
And she wasn’t innocent like Bailey.
She had been a killer herself. A manipulator. There is no regretting that decision.
“No,” I answer her honestly. We don’t have plans to kill her. Use her? Yes. Trade her back to her father? Maybe.
“Then what do you?—”
“Sorry, babe.” I wag my finger at her. “Our turn.”
The small huff she gives is adorable.
“What can you tell me about your father’s business with Magnus Knight?”
“Seriously?” Bailey scoffs a laugh as she rolls her eyes. I can see my brother’s belt hand twitch with the need to punish her for the disrespect. But he lets it go. This time. “I don’t know anything about my father’s business. He’s a senator. He does politics. If that’s why you’re keeping me, you’re shit out of luck.”
“We already told you why we’re keeping you,” Kiernan reminds her. Despite his reservations at the dinner table aboutusing her to spy on her father, we both know it is the only way to get what we need.
“Not going to happen.”
Ignoring her last comment, I fist her hair tightly, forcing her to stare up at me.
“You know something,” I press. “So, if you don’t want to be punished, tell us what you know.”
Bailey shakes her head. “Do you honestly believe that I am going to betray my father that way?” she asks incredulously. “No way. My father gives me everything. I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t rescued me. If I betray him, he will ruin me.”
Cocking my head to one side, I study her, taking in the swell of her chest as a wave of anxiety settles over her. Bailey’s hands tremble slightly where she has them braced against my thighs, but her face settles into a mask of indifference. My little wildcat is trying to hide her fear.
“We won’t let that happen,Mo Stoirín,” Kiernan assures her. His hands come up to rub at her shaking shoulders, easing the goosebumps that have settled over her fair skin. “We won’t let anything happen to you, lass. You belong to us.”
I doubt that will ease her fear, but the minx surprises me when her body relaxes back into her submissive position, her breaths evening out.
“I don’t know much,” she admits, her voice drifting to a low whisper. “Just what I’ve overheard and what Drew has told me.”
Bailey shakes her head, denial and fear trembling through her again. She is afraid, and I don’t think it is us she fears in this moment but the man who raised her. But why? What reason does she have to fear her father? He is a scumbag, there is no doubt about that, but would he harm his own daughter?
“If I tell you…" she looks at Kiernan over her shoulder, meeting his gaze before turning to me, “… you can’t use anything I say. They will know it was me.”
Kiernan and I exchange a look.
“All right.” We nod.
“And… you can’t tell anyone what I am about to tell you. If you do, you would be signing my death certificate. Don’t let them take me.” The look on her face tells me she is serious. Whatever secret she holds about her father is bad enough that she fears for her own life.
Don’t let them take me.
Those aren’t random words she throws out. The look in her azure eyes speaks volumes. She means to say those words. Bailey hadn’t said my father or him. She specifically says them. If it isn’t her father she is afraid of, then who?
“We won’t.” I cringe internally at Kiernan’s promise. I am supposed to be the impulsive one, not him. It isn’t a lie. Technically. We won’t let anyone take her. We planned to use her as a bargaining chip, and part of that is making sure there will be no retaliation against her.
Bailey breathes deeply, her lower lip trembling as she exhales. Her mask of indifference falls back into place, the political mask she has worn her entire life. The one that shows no weakness. I don’t like that mask.
