Page 110 of Ricochet
“Let’s get down to the business, okay?” I was impatient, sick of everything going on around us, and I just wanted this nightmare to be over. “Where is our mother?”
“Nuh-uh, not so fast.” He stood in front of me, not paying attention to the rest of the people behind me. “Do we have a deal?”
Did we have a deal? Was I going to hand Ophelia over to him? I couldn’t care less about Las Vegas, but she was mine.
She was mine even when she didn’t want to be mine, and in this or another life, she would always be mine, no matter what.
“I-I,” I stuttered. The nervous energy was zapping through me, the expectant look on his face tearing through me.
“Kieran,” Cillian hissed behind me.
“Yes?” Storm asked. “You what?”
I looked back, focusing on Ophelia, but she wasn’t looking at me. She was looking at him, and something akin to fascination was visible on her face. Please, baby, just look at me. Show me I shouldn’t do this.
Show me you still love me.
But she never did. She ignored me, ignored everyone else and kept looking at the man I wanted nothing more than to kill. Because of her, I failed to protect my family once, but I wouldn’t be making the same mistake.
She hated me, didn’t want to be near me, fine. I would grant her what she wanted the most.
“Ophelia is yours,” I announced without taking my eyes off of her. She slanted me with a furious look, but there was no usual remark. There was no bitchiness, just the fury emanating from her eyes.
Theo pushed her forward into my embrace. I hugged her closely, holding her head to my chest. Dropping my head down, I whispered in her ear, “You’re free now, birdy. But I can’t wait to see you begging for mercy when Storm gets done with you.”
“Kieran,” she stood on her tiptoes, reaching my cheek, “go to fucking hell.”
She kissed my cheek followed with a smirk on her face and I pushed her away, toward the man I knew would break her soul.
After all she did, she deserved nothing less.
Ophelia landed right in Storm’s embrace, and as he took a couple of steps back, pulling her with him, I couldn’t help myself but wonder if I did the right thing. The smirk on his face irked me, but what unsettled me most was the protective stance he took once she was with him.
Gone was the man that just wanted to attack. No, the way he positioned his body, he was protecting her. And then it hit me—he really wanted her. Somewhere along the way, they met each other, he knew who she was, and this wasn’t going to be torture for her.
If there was one thing I knew about men like Storm, it was that they protected those they cherished with their life.
He looked at her, and the cold mask of indifference cracked a bit, showing the human beneath the monstrous façade. That soft gaze, the way he touched her hair, it was obvious.
So fucking obvious, and we were blind to it all.
He looked at me, our eyes locking on each other. It was an eerie sight to see. He lowered his head, leaning into her. I couldn’t hear them, but I could see the look of surprise on her face—an elation, satisfaction, and finally determination. Her lips moved and a smile spread across his face before they both turned to us.
“An eye for an eye, Kieran,” she said.
In a blink of an eye, bikers I didn’t see before gathered behind them, pointing their rifles at us. Ophelia straightened up, standing tall, next to Storm.
"Did you really think I was trapped with you, Nightingales?"
My brothers and Theo shuffled behind me, the nervous energy radiating off of them in spades.
"Did you really think I would've allowed you to kidnap me, you fucking idiots."
"What are you talking about?" Cillian asked. "You were kidnapped."
“Oh, poor Cillian,” she chuckled. “I knew your thirst for revenge would destroy the remaining brain cells. I am sorry to disappoint you, but I knew you would do just this. I knew my lovely brother would use the first opportunity to sell me out, and you would use it. You couldn’t see what was happening, and you didn’t see the enemies that gathered on the edges of your empire, waiting for you to fail. And you did. You failed gloriously. Because while you were busy hating me, I was busy trying to figure you guys out. And you know what I found out?”
Motherfucking bitch.
