He didn’t look amused. “I refuse to fucking hurt you, so you will keep your damn hands there until we’re through. Understand?”
“I understand.”
“Good.” He reached between her legs, picking up where she left off. There was no teasing tonight, no playing with her until she begged for him. Aiden had her barrelingtoward an orgasm with the speed of a freight train, driven by something she didn’t have a name for. She came between one breath and the next, her back bowing, a small helpless sound escaping her mouth.
He shifted enough to dig through the nightstand for a condom. As he rolled it on, he looked like a man possessed. Maybe he was as desperate to escape what-if as she was. She hadn’t died. She was okay. She was safe. But they both needed the physical connection of sex to prove it.
He speared her with his fingers once, twice, a third time. And then his cock was pushing into her, filling her completely. She wrapped her legs around his waist, holding him in the only way he’d allow right now, while he thrust into her and wedged one arm beneath her hips to force them closer yet. He slid the other arm up her spine to cup the back of her neck. “Don’t ever do anything like that again.”
She kissed him because she understood what he meant—she’d felt the same thing less than twenty-four hours ago. He met her with tongue and teeth, driving into her even as he plundered her mouth. Like he couldn’t get enough. Like maybe he’d never get enough.
Charlie already knew that Aiden O’Malley had ruined her, but the moment he came, with her name on his lips, she could have cried. She blinked back the threat of tears, determined not to show how affected she was. No matter what he said, no matter how good it was between them, they had an expiration date. She held him, shaking now from her own orgasm, and murmured, “I’m okay. It’s okay.” Over and over again.
Finally, Aiden lifted his head and pressed a devastatingly sweet kiss on her lips. He didn’t say anything, but there was nothing more to say. They were alive. They’d made itanother day. They would continue to move forward with their plan, because they had no other options.
Charlie’s heart gave a painful lurch. The end was in sight. It might not be today, or tomorrow, or even next week, but the writing was on the wall.
She and Aiden wouldn’t last the month.
For better or worse, it would be over by then.
***
Aiden stared down at the two dead men. Ben and Donovan. Both had worked for the family for years, and they’d deserved better than to be gunned down in the street. He was ashamed that he didn’t know more about them than their names. He didn’t know if they’d left families behind. Partners. Children. Fucking pets.
Liam stepped up to stand at his shoulder. As always, he knew what Aiden was thinking. “They were both single. They both were loyal, and you treated them both with respect. This isn’t the way that I would have chosen for their lives to end, but it’s not as bad as it could be.”
That didn’t make him feel better. He didn’t think it made Liam feel better, either. Aiden stepped back from the bodies and rubbed a hand over his face. “What the fuck are we doing?”
“This is the price sometimes.”
But what was the gain? Power? They had a shit-ton. Money? More than he could spend in a lifetime. All they did was breed enemies and get people they cared about killed. Maybe it was the last couple years taking their toll, but he wasn’t sure if he saw the point anymore.
He couldn’t do anything about that. He couldn’t evenfuckingsaythat. There was no one else, and the problem that Romanov presented—taking him out would open the door for someone even bigger and badder—also applied to the O’Malleys. If they suddenly were to step back and go legit, it was all but guaranteed that the next power player to move into their position would be even more a monster than Aiden felt like.
It was equally likely that whoever that player was would come after them, if only to ensure that they wouldn’t try to get back into the game.
No, there were no other options but to continue forward, bearing the price and doing whatever it took to guarantee that they stayed in power—stayed as safe as anyone could be in this life.
He turned away from the dead men. “This doesn’t read like Romanov.” As much as he’d like to lay the whole damn problem at the Russian’s feet, it didn’t line up.
“No, it doesn’t.” Liam fell into step next to him as they walked up the stairs to the garage. “How sure are you of the Eldridges?”
“Not sure enough.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Fuck, this is my fault, isn’t it?” He should have just left well enough alone, or gone after Romanov himself instead of putting together a plan that involved far too many wild cards. He couldn’t control Alethea.Thatwas abundantly clear.
“You didn’t order a hit on your woman and sisters.” Liam shook his head. “Don’t go taking this on, too. You know damn well that we can’t predict every move every enemy will make.”
He did know that. It didn’t make it any easier to bear. “I should have known she’d go after the women.” That was what bothered him the most about the situation. There was atime when even the most twisted of enemies would hesitate to strike out against the women and children of a family, but it appeared they were long past it. If he was being honest, they’d been past it for a very long time now.
But Aletheawasa woman. She wouldn’t have that same code.
Aiden stepped forward to grab the door and open it. “I would have predicted that she’d at least have waited until she took out Romanov to start looking to remove the other competition.”
A mistake they’d both made. Maybe if he’d consulted with Carrigan, she would have had better insight on the way Alethea’s mind worked. But he hadn’t.
Something else I needed to change…and now have an opportunity to do so because of Charlie.
“The question is how you’re going to respond.”
