“Walk out of that house right now, baby. Just walk out. I’ll see that you’re protected.”
Like he’d seen that she was protected from her former brothers-in-arms?No, that’s not fair. What happened to me wasn’t his fault.She paced from one side of the room to the other. It was one thing to suspect that he knew where she was and what she was up to—it was entirely another to know for certain.He’ll never forgive me for this.
Then again, it’s not like our relationship can getmorestrained and distant.
She’d gone too far. There was no turning back now. She didn’t want to. “No.”
“Charlotte, you listen to me. You’re in over your head and you don’t even know it. He’s using you to get to me.”
She’d suspected her father’s identity had something to do with Aiden choosing her, but she’d let herself put that aside because their purposes aligned for the time being. She’d gone into his scheme with her eyes wide open, even if her dad was determined to see her as an innocent who’d lost her way. And maybe there was a petty part of her that had known that the second her dad found out about this he’d lose his damn mind. “This is something I need to do.”
Maybe if she could see Romanov find justice, she could stop living the half life she’d condemned herself to.
Maybe she could finally move on.
“Baby, you don’t know who these people are.”
She laughed, the sound raw and jagged in her throat. “I know as well as you do.” She’d seen the worst the world could offer, and Aiden wasn’t it. She might be giving him too much credit because her attraction to him was clouding her thoughts…It didn’t matter. He’d help her see her vengeance come to fruition. And after…
There was no point in thinking about after. There was only the here and now.
“I can’t protect you if you stay there.”
“You never could protect me, Dad. I love you…but you need to stay out of my way.” She hung up before either of them could say something they’d both regret. She hadn’t done anything illegal yet, but there was no telling where she’d end up now that she had chosen her path.
Charlie couldn’t bring herself to care.
Chapter Six
What the fuck were you thinking?” Aiden knew he was losing his temper, but he couldn’t get his control back into place. He wanted to shake Keira until she saw sense, but he knew all too well that it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference. Carrigan would be laughing her ass off if she could see him now, in the midst of a battle of wills with their baby sister.
Then again, maybe she’d be as pissed as I am.
He took a deep breath that did nothing to help him get a leash on his anger. “Answer me.”
Keira twined a lock of hair around her finger. “I don’t know why you care. I won’t be your problem much longer, since you’re marrying me off to Dmitri Romanov.”
Over my dead body.He couldn’t say it, couldn’t show the least bit of wavering resolve. No one except Charlie and Liam knew the depth of the game he played, and even those two were a risk.
Liam wouldn’t turn. Aiden had trusted him with his life countless times.
Charlie was something else altogether. Aiden might have picked her initially because of who her father was, but since he’d met her, every instinct he had said that she wanted justice—vengeance—more than she wanted anything else. She was a woman who was intimately acquainted with rock bottom, and she’d been living a life apart until he’d shown up and offered her something she hadn’t dared take for herself.
As long as he didn’t do anything that forced her to confront exactly how similar the O’Malleys and Romanovs were, she would fall in line.
Aiden looked at his baby sister. He hadn’t handled things well with Carrigan and Sloan when it came to their personal lives. He couldn’t afford to make the same mistakes with Keira. He needed her to stop fighting him long enough for him to free her from Romanov.
It took effort to soften his tone, but yelling at Keira would only make her plant her feet and refuse to yield. “Did you ever stop to think that Romanov has as many enemies as we do? More, even. The second the news that you’re marrying him gets out, you’ll be a target.”
“What? Like I’m not a target now?” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Lock me up or throw me in the basement or do whatever you’re going to do. I don’t give a fuck anymore.” The tremor in her voice gave lie to her bold words.
“Keira, come here.” He stood and pulled her into a hug. She was so damn frail in his arms, and he called himself seven kinds of a bastard for putting her in this position.It’s only for a little while longer.“I wouldn’t ask anything that I didn’t think you were capable of handling.”
“That’s a comfort.” She lifted her head and glared at him.
While Aiden had no intention of letting his sister marry Romanov, he wasn’t above using her as bait and a distraction. His endgame involved layers upon layers, and he couldn’t afford to let wanting to protect Keira from a little hurt be the reason she ended up married to that bastard. He set his hands on her shoulders. “Trust me. Please. Just…trust me.” Everything he did, he did for the love of his family. He’d do everything in his power to keep her safe, and Aiden tried to convey that truth with his gaze.
She pressed her lips together, her hazel eyes holding too much pain for a woman her age. “I trust you to take care of the family. I don’t trust you to take care ofme.”
