“You can stop it, Keira. Come with me now and I’ll forget that he was going to break his word.”
There was movement in the window of her room. She pulled the curtains back and stared at him from behind the relative safety of the glass. “If I come with you now”—her voice hitched—“promise me there will be peace. Give me your word.”
He couldn’t. Dmitri never gave his word if he couldn’t guarantee he could keep it. “I give my word that I will do nothing further to antagonize your brother and the situation.”
“But if he comes after me, you’ll finish what he started. No. I’m not signing Aiden’s death warrant.” She was a smart girl. She’d heard what hewasn’tsaying.
He cursed in Russian. “I will do everything in my power to broker peaceifyou come with me right this moment.” The longer he stood outside the O’Malley home, the greaterthe chance someone would see and report it. “The clock is ticking, Keira.”
She hesitated, and he could practically see the wheels in her head turning. Finally, she nodded. “Give me two minutes.”
“Be quick.”
Exactly one hundred twenty seconds later, the window opened and Keira climbed out. She carried a small bag, and part of him was curious as to what had been important enough for her to pack. He’d get the answer later. If she was coming with him now, it meant he had the rest of their lives to delve into her secrets.
Anticipation curled through him as she climbed down the tree with ease. After the repeated frustrations and disappointments the last few years had brought, he was walking away with the single most important piece of the game as far as he was concerned.I win.He touched the small of her back, because he could, and turned toward where the car was still idling down the block.
He should have known it wouldn’t be that simple.
“Stop.”
Dmitri looked over his shoulder to find Cillian O’Malley standing on the front step, pointing a gun at him with an unwavering grip. He almost sighed, but he had no intention of getting himself or Keira shot. “Put the gun down, Cillian.”
“I don’t care if you helped Aiden and Charlie, you arenottaking my sister anywhere.”
That was rich coming from the man who was currently married toDmitri’shalf sister. Since Dmitri valued his time with Hadley—and Olivia by proxy—he couldn’t draw the gun he had nestled in the shoulder holster beneath his jacket. Not to mention that Cillian showed every evidence of beinga good man and had been a positive influence on both Olivia and Hadley. Shooting him would be a damn shame.
Fortunately, Cillian had already gift-wrapped for Dmitri the key to his undoing.
He kept his hand lightly resting on Keira’s back, a physical reminder to her to not to move too quickly. He didn’t want her fool brother to pull the trigger by accident. Dmitri turned his attention to Cillian. “Do you remember when we called a cease-fire?”
The man glared. “You mean when you extorted that promise from Olivia that granted you access to Hadley? Yeah, I remember.”
“There was another promise made that day.” He didn’t wait for the man to work it out. “You owe me a favor, Cillian O’Malley.”
“The fuck I do.”
Is there no honor left in this world?He bit back his irritation. “Break your word and our deal is null and void.”
Cillian hesitated, clearly torn between the woman he loved and his youngest sister. Dmitri couldn’t be sure which way Cillian would fall at the end of the internal struggle he was currently engaged in, and that aggravated him almost as much as the man threatening to break his word.
Keira put her hand on Dmitri’s chest and stepped forward a little. “Cillian, please. Just let me go. I’m choosing this. I’ll be okay. I promise.”
Cillian relaxed, partially lowering the gun, and Dmitri almost rolled his eyes. She was lying through her teeth. She hadn’t been okay in a very long time, as best he could tell. But if her brothers hadn’t stepped in before now, there was no reason to expect they’d step in today.
The gun inched lower, finally aiming safely at theconcrete at Cillian’s feet. “Aiden is going to come after you, Keira. You know that.”
“He promised to respect my choice.” Her voice was low and fierce. “If he pulls the same shit Teague pulled with Sloan, I’ll shoot him myself.”
Cillian’s gaze flicked to where her hand was still on Dmitri’s chest. “That was a different situation.”
“No, it wasn’t.” She turned and walked away, now gripping his shirt to tow him after her. Dmitri allowed it, because if it looked like she was in control, it would assuage Cillian’s guilt and maybe he’d be quiet about what had occurred for a little while longer.
It wasn’t until they were in the backseat that Keira slouched against the leather and closed her eyes. “How long until we get to your place?”
“We’re not going to my place.” Not yet.
She opened one eye. “Then where are we going?”
