“So you’ll do it?”
It was the hope in Braden’s eyes that clinched it. “I’ll do my best. It’s going to be a bit difficult, considering your daughter hates my guts and refuses to be in the same room with me for more than thirty seconds.”
Braden’s expression shifted, turning smug. “Killian, I’ve been friends with you long enough to know you don’t need anything as pedestrian as a conversation to get information from someone.”
“Indeed.” Draining his whiskey, he rose and set the tumbler on Braden’s desk. “I’ll see what I can learn and I’ll let you know as soon as I have any kind of confirmation.”
“I appreciate that. You’re a good friend.”
We’ll see if you still feel that way after I tell you who knocked your daughter up.
Keeping that thought to himself, he bowed out of sticking around for a meal. He didn’t even bother to stop and poke at Beckett and Ice on his way out the door.
Somewhere out in the city was a naughty little princess keeping a very big secret.
And he intended to find her.
Aria
* * *
In addition to Holden’s magic muffins, apparently anything deep-fried in lots of grease made her stomach happy. As a result, she was halfway through a giant order of onion rings from a local diner when the knock came.
One of her neighbors, most likely, since the front door required a code or being buzzed in by someone in the building. Maybe it was Dominic, the sexy firefighter who lived two doors down with his adorable wife, Noelle.
Buoyed by the prospect of some eye-candy, she swung open the door, a welcoming smile cocked and ready to go.
Only to find one Killian O’Rourke standing in the hall, looking impossibly dangerous and wildly out of place in her happy, bright apartment building.
Panic gripped her, squeezing her lungs in its vice-like grip as she stared down the father of her child. Not that he knew that. He couldn’t.
Could he?
No. Absolutely not.
Armed with that certainty, she jerked her chin up, doing her best to look down her nose at him despite the height difference. “What the fuck do you want?”
“We need to talk. Invite me in, princess.”
“Why? Are you a vampire on top of being a mob boss? Well too bad, you are not welcome here.”
Stepping back, she swung the door forward with as much force as she could muster. But instead of the satisfying slam she’d been expecting, the door stopped halfway, and she found herself staring into Killian’s glittering, furious eyes.
“I was trying to be polite. But I am also perfectly happy throwing manners out the window if that’s what you’d prefer.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. “I would prefer if you get out of my apartment. Now.”
“No.”
Shoving the door open, he stepped inside, crowding her, invading her space. And fuck her if some part of her didn’t want to drag him off to her bedroom for a repeat of that one magical night they’d had together.
Instead, she stood her ground, forcing herself not to drop her gaze as he stared her down, even though her heart felt like it might actually beat out of her chest. “Killian. If you don’t get the fuck out of my apartment right now, I’m going to call my uncles.”
To her never-ending aggravation, he didn’t back down. He just smiled. “Please do, princess. And then you can explain to them that I’m only here because you didn’t bother to tell me you’re having my baby. I’m sure your uncles will be just thrilled by that information.”
Every ounce of blood drained from her face. “Who told you that?”
“I see you’re not denying it.”
