“You know, you don’t have to handle me. I’m not one of your siblings, or an employee. We’re in this together.” She turned so she wouldn’t give in to the temptation to watch his face for a flicker of the man beneath the mask. The door looked like every other one in the hallway, except for the punk music coming through loud enough to shake the walls. She counted to ten, but Aiden didn’t seem all that inclined to jump in. “And what about after?”
“After.”
It wasn’t quite a question, but she still glanced at him. Or maybe she was just weak and he was a pretty puzzle that fascinated her far more than he had a right to. “What about after we take down Romanov? What happens to Keira then?”
“It won’t matter, because you won’t be here to see it.” He turned on his heel and stalked away, leaving her staring after him, her stomach in knots.
Not going to be here. Just pretend. God, Charlie, stop forgetting that.
One day and she was already having trouble telling reality from pretend. It was like she’d tumbled into the twilight zone, and up was down and down was up. Nothing made sense anymore. She shouldn’t care what Aiden thought of her or if he was as eager to see the back of her as he was to see his enemy brought down.
Itshouldn’tmatter.
But it kind of did.
Chapter Eight
Keira’s room was a mess. No, calling it a mess was too kind. Charlie couldn’t take a single step without fear of trampling on piles of clothes and empty bottles and discarded magazines. Aiden’s sister sat on the bed, a joint dangling between her fingers with the ease of someone who smoked often. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
The music was so loud, Charlie had to read her lips.Aiden owes me for this.She carefully made her way to the stereo and shut it off, the silence as deafening as the music had been. “We weren’t properly introduced yesterday.”
“That’s because I don’t care who you are.” Keira took a long inhale from the joint, the end shining a bright orange. She exhaled a cloud of noxious smoke. “You won’t last. Your pussy might have my brother acting out of character, but he’s too smart to actually marry you.”
Charlie stared at her for a long moment and then burst out laughing. After all the careful verbal circling withAiden, Keira was a hurricane blast of fresh air. “Cute. Really cute. You kiss your mother with that mouth?”
“Please. My mother is one of the most vicious members of this family.” She grimaced. “Though she’d kick my ass for saying ‘pussy.’”
Charlie tried to picture the woman responsible for bringing seven O’Malleys into the world, and failed. The ones she’d met were such strong characters. She didn’t know if she should be terrified of their mother or pity the woman.
Since Keira didn’t seem inclined to move from her spot, Charlie waded through the clothes to the single chair next to the bed. “Here’s the deal—I won’t insult your intelligence by pussyfooting around.”
The woman arched her eyebrows. “I see what you did there.”
That was almost amusement.She’d take what she could get. Charlie sat cross-legged on the chair, not wanting to have any more contact with the floor and its mystery contents than necessary. “Regardless of whether you agree with it or not, your brother is marrying me.”Liar.But she had to play this as if it was real or Keira would see right through her. If Charlie wasreallymarrying Aiden, she wouldn’t put up with this bullshit for a second.
Which meant she couldn’t now. It wasn’t fair to take out her aggravation at Aiden on his sister, but she’d known the woman a grand total of two minutes and it couldn’t be clearer that what Keira needed most was a kick in the ass by someone who had nothing to gain from her. Charlie had no problem being the one providing that.
“You can play nice and try to get to know me, or you can keep stomping around like a petulant teenager and end up with one of Aiden’s men shadowing your every move.”
Keira took another pull off the joint. “I take it this means you’re playing good cop. Is Aiden going to come in here and yell at me again if I tell you to fuck right off?”
“Have it your way.” Charlie gritted her teeth and stood. “You want to turn down a chance to get the hell out of here for a while just to piss off your brother, that’s your call. If you change your mind, I’ll be in the library.” Liam had mentioned it in passing during their shopping spree, so that was one room she was reasonably sure she could spend time in without someone calling foul.
She made it to the door before Keira said, “Oh for fuck’s sake, don’t leave in a huff. I know coming in here wasn’t your idea.” When Charlie turned around, she held up the joint. “Want some?”
“I don’t smoke.”
She shrugged. “There’s a bottle of vodka in the desk.”
It was nine in the morning, but Charlie made her way to the desk and opened the drawer to find that there was, indeed, a bottle of vodka stashed there. She uncapped it and took a hefty swig, conscious of the younger woman’s gaze on her.
Keira huffed. “No holier-than-thou shit about drinking before noon? Maybe you’ll actually be entertaining. Okay, Charlie, why don’t you tell me how you and my brother met?”
It didn’t pass her notice that Keira had remembered her name from their brief introduction before. If Charlie’s guess was correct, there was a sharp mind behind those glazed eyes, though it was a toss-up if it would be put to good use.
Did it bother Aiden that Keira was spending all her time blitzed out of her mind? The family had enough money forrehab, though it would be a challenge to keep Keira there if she was as adept at sneaking out as she seemed to be. But…
She was his little sister. She was obviously drowning, and just as obviously desperate for something—anything—to save her. She wouldn’t have latched on so quickly to Charlie if she was actually intent on destruction, which only made the whole situation more tragic.
