All the brothers turn red and Lachlan spits on my two-hundred-old Persian rug. “Fecking sons of bitches, we’re gonna-”
“Enemies of yours, I assume?”
“Aye,” Cormac says, rubbing his eyes. “They’d managed to bribe six of our men into betraying Sorcha. Wait-” he points the gun at me again, “did you send us those pictures, ya’ fecking bastard?”
Now, everyone is pointing guns at me.
“Sit. The. Fuck. Down,” I snarl. “I did send the pictures as proof of life. I had no intention of ransoming my wife back to you, but I wanted you to know she was alive.”
“You sent those horrible pictures of me?” Sorcha gasps, “Oh you arse!” She steps away from me.
“All of you,” I snap, “pour yourself a drink, or don’t. Shut up and I can tell you what’s been going on. I was at the auction doing business with a certain US Senator whose career is imploding just about…” I check my watch, “now.”
Fifteen major news websites received a very explicit and comprehensive package of Senator Marty Beagly’s adventures in human trafficking. McCaffrey gave me a courtesy call this morning to let me know.
“I do not participate in these auctions,” I clarify, enjoying Cameron’s glare. The scar from where he stabbed me throbs. “As I was leaving, I recognized Sorcha.” Smiling down at her, I smooth her hair back. “She was screaming curses like a banshee, threatening that her brothers would rain down a hail of retribution against them all. Magnificent, courageous.”
She smiles back at me. “I dinna feel that way.”
“But you were, darling. It’s what caught my notice.” I kiss her hand, hiding a grin at the low growl that comes from Dougal. “They’d drawn a crowd that night of men wanting revenge on your clan. The bidding was fierce, as you can imagine. I bought her for one hundred million pounds.”
All four brothers look stunned and Cameron paces in circles, running his hand through his hair. “Why didn’t ya’ return her, then?” he demanded, “ya’ must know we’d repay your money.”
“Well,” I tilt my head, examining him. The bastard is just as much an arrogant prick today as he was fifteen years ago. “You stole a girl from me at the Academy, so I thought I’d return the favor.”
“That’s what this is about?” Sorcha says incredulously. “I thought he stabbed you.”
“Oh, he did that too,” I say. “Not to worry darling, I don’t even remember the girl’s name, though the knife scar is always there.”
Cameron’s brow wrinkles, as if he’s trying to picture me from the no doubt very long line of people he’s stabbed. “When?” he demanded.
“At the Ares Academy, you imbecile,” I say impatiently. “I’ll beat you bloody for it later but there’s bigger issues at hand.”
“What girl?” Cameron can’t let this go, “And when did I stab you? Was it during a challenge?”
“Brother,” Cormac rubs his forehead with the hand holding his massive gun. “Please, sit down. We’ll deal with your history later, aye? What could be a bigger issue than buying our kidnapped sister, ya’ jobby feck?”
“Because you kicked a fucking hornet’s nest when you wiped out the Chen Triad.”
“What are you talking about?” Now his attention is focused, laser-like on me.
“You didn’t finish the job,” I say sharply, heading over to the bar cart. They might not need a drink, but I do. “Darling, would you like a glass of wine?”
“A glass of Scotch, more like,” Sorcha says, giving me a hint of a sassy smile.
“Back to your sloppy work with the Chen Triad,” I continue, pouring her a drink. “Chun Zhang was the most aggressive bidder against me that night - to the point of shooting at my car after he lost the bid. If you remember your Triad hierarchy, you know that he is the nephew of Haoya Chen, the-”
“The former head of the Chen Triad,” Cameron interrupts, “yes, we know. I was the one to kill him.”
“Apparently, your shooting skills are as abysmal as your knife ones,” I smile pleasantly, enjoying his fury. “Because Haoya is alive. We found a brand on one of our soldiers guarding my biggest warehouse for arms storage. He managed to work his way into a position in my organization eight years ago, shortly after you did such an effective job with the Chen Triad.”
There’s a low, rumbling sound in the room and I see Lachlan growling.
“What did you feed this one?” I drawl, “Elk meat and broken glass? Because he’s growling at me like a bear that’s learned to walk on its hind legs.”
“That’s it.” Lachlan raises his rifle again and Sorcha steps in front of me.
“That is enough, all of ya’!” Sorcha scolds him. “Sweet Mother of God and all the Angels and Saints, will ya’ hush and listen for a moment? You mafia men, with your big domineering personalities acting like it’s the end of the world if ya’ don’t get what ya’ want. Those… then Chen’s people are alive?” Her anger drains away, like the color on her face. She looks up at me. “This is bad, isn’t it? This is about revenge now. Is that why Zhang wanted me so much?”
