I scowl as I take another sip of my wine. “I sometimes hate how well you know me,” I mutter under my breath. “But fine. I admit that Ronan and I might have been…intimate.”
Mila’s jaw almost hits the floor at my confession. "More than once?"
I nod, my cheeks flaming.
“Was it good?”
“That’s beside the point!”
She laughs, leaning back in her chair. “The point is, you’re in deep, my friend.”
“No.” I cross my legs beneath myself. “It doesn’t change anything. I’m still going to bring him down because that’s what he deserves.”
Mila’s smile fades a little as she looks at me. “Are you sure this whole vendetta isn’t consuming you?”
I stare into my wine glass, staying silent again because I don’t want to admit thatRonanis the one consuming me.
She sighs. “Look, I get it. You loved your father, but he’s gone, and you have a chance at a new life here. Arealone. So, maybe it’s time to focus on the future and not the past.”
I shake my head as tears start to sting my eyes. "You don't understand?—"
"I understand perfectly. But you and Ronan aremarried, Ciara. Is there any harm in seeing where this can go?”
Her words land harder than I expect. I open my mouth to argue, but Mila lifts a hand to stop me.
“Just think about it. If you put half as much energy into getting to know Ronan as you do into hating him, maybe you’ll learn something you don’t expect. And if Ronan proves he can’t be trusted, then fine, burn him to the ground. But if he doesn’t...” She gives me a knowing look that has my cheeks heating once more.
Falling for Ronan Sullivan would be nothing short of suicide. But I also can’t deny that it might also be a bit too late to turn back.
Chapter Twenty-Three
RONAN
Callum won’t stop fucking calling,and at this rate, he’s starting to feel like some desperate hookup that I ghosted. He’s relentless, but I shouldn’t be surprised. He’s a McCarthy, after all.
I ignore the first dozen calls in the hopes he’ll eventually get the message, but it seems as if my silence is only making him worse.
After what feels like the twentieth call, my patience, which is normally rock solid, starts to waver, and I fight the urge to get into my car and silence him once and for all.
I’m tired and more short-tempered than usual from too little sleep thanks to the blonde goddess who keeps invading my thoughts.
“Fuck.” I rub a hand over my stubbled jaw, staring at the long list of unanswered emails in my inbox.
I decided to come into the city to work at the office, if only to put some space between me and Ciara.
I don’t know how long I sat on the edge of her bed, watching her sleep. For some reason, I couldn’t bring myselfto leave, even though I knew what we shared was nothing more than sex. An itch to be scratched.
And yet, I’m far from satisfied.
It was reckless of me to have crossed the line with her last night.
Ciara might have been the one tied up and bound, but I was the one completely at her mercy.
I pride myself on my control, yet all she has to do is bite back and I’m practically dropping to my knees in front of her.
And I don’t regret a single second.
Her sweet cries of pleasure still echo in my ears, the taste of her arousal on my tongue as I licked my fingers clean. Sex with Ciara was nothing short of primal, and I know I could have pushed her further from the way her eyes glazed over when I restrained her.
