There’s a hidden pocket underneath the long server’s apron and I pull the box out. This is the first time I’ve ever seen it, ever heard of it, but when Da found out it was taken twenty minutes ago, he nearly roared the house down around us.
“This must be retrieved,” he’d gritted out, “at all costs. You have to get this box back.”
“What’s in it?” I asked, already putting in my headset and listening to the guards sweep the house.
“We’ll talk later,” Da said, his face pale. “Go!”
So, holding this box in my hands is making me mighty curious. Turning it over, I watch the light from our cars glisten across the polished wood. It’s not particularly heavy, so not weapons or cash.
“Put her in the back of the car.” I smile pleasantly as she’s dragged off, spitting curses at me the entire way.
Chapter Eight
In which Dougal deals with a super creepy underground lair and Isla deals with a bag over her head.
Isla…
I’m seated in front of five men, all glaring at me.
Oh, boo hoo. Do they thinkthat’sgoing to upset me? I cross one leg over the other, staring right back with a pleasant smile. I can play the waiting game as long as these snobbish fecks can.
They’re all handsome men, even Cormac Senior. Dougal and the eldest brother, Cormac, could be twins, though I think there’s a few year’s difference between them. Dougal has those vivid blue eyes, though they’re currently an icy shade. The youngest, Lachlan I think, is grinning at me like this is hilarious, he’s got lighter hair and thicker, sensual lips. Cameron’s the second to oldest with green eyes and he’s heavily tattooed. They’re all gigantic as if they’d been bred somewhere in an underground lab for superior DNA.
And they can all go feck themselves.
Finally, Dougal gets up and strolls over to me, plucking the wig off my head.
“Hey!” That damn wig was fastened on with a fistful of pins and I think he took half my hair with him.
“Your face is gettin’ a bit lumpy, lass. Those prosthetics aren’t meant to stand up to hard use.”
“Neither are you, ya’ Nancy lad,” I snarl.
Chuckling insolently, he reaches over and swiftly peels away the cheek pads and the latex bits that made my nose wider. Pulling his pocket square from the jacket of his tux, he roughly wipes off most of the makeup.
Leaning over to look at me more closely, a grin stretches across his lips. “If you’d wanted to come to the party tonight, you could have just requested an invitation,Miss Isla Blackwood.”
Sometimes I keep silent because there’s power in it, sometimes, it’s because there’s nothing to say. I’m fucked, but I’m not making this any easier for them.
Cormac Sr.’s expression is thunderous. “Bruce Blackwood. I knew the man had no honor butthis…?” He shakes his head.
“Don’t you dare say that about my father after everything you and your slimy, underhanded clan have done!” I snap. So much for staying silent. “My father is a good man and you can take your arrogant ramblings and shove them straight-”
“And we’re done here,” Dougal interrupts. Pulling me toward the door, he instructs the guards to take me out. I’m hoping he meant from the room, but…
Would these bastardskillme? I know they think they’re all-powerful, but with our new alliances, Da’ will teach them a lesson in blood and fire. My stomach twists. He can’t take losing another child. When Ewan was killed it almost broke him.
I’m shoved through another door into a sitting room with squishy, comfortable-looking couches in a floral print and a delicate marble fireplace. I want to sneer, but I can picture the lady of the house having tea here a century ago, with fine bone china and little sandwiches. I’ve never been a lady, but I can pass among them when required.
One of the guards stands near the door, arms crossed over his chest. Ignoring him, I circle the room, eyeing the windows and the potential drop if I get out that way. Plenty of nice breakable things to crack over this guy’s head…
Before I can implement this new plan, the door opens again and Dougal is there, looking uncharacteristically grim. Even when he’d caught me, he seemed sort of creepily jovial about it. Not now.
“Let’s get moving,” he says coldly, more to the guard than me. I don’t protest as he grabs my arm, I’ll save my strength for the right moment. I expect us to head back out to the cars circled in front, but he drags me out the back of the mansion to the gardens and just beyond them, a helicopter pad with a chopper already waiting. It’s been several hours since the party ended, very early morning, and aside from the low ‘whrrr’ of the helicopter blades, the estate is utterly silent. The low mist off the grass and the flowers is chilly and I shiver briefly.
Dougal looks down at me. “Scared, lass? You should be.”
Laughing, I drag my feet, just to piss him off. “Of you? I think not.”
