The words died on her tongue when she realized he wasn’t alone. Brody and Murphy were both there, and they turned to face her as one. Seated behind his desk, Killian looked up, his lips curving up in a slow, knowing smirk.
“Need something, princess?”
She recognized that tone in his voice. And dammit if every single cell in her body didn’t immediately respond. But if she let him distract her with orgasms again, she’d never get around to asking him what she needed to ask, and then she’d be stuck in this damn house the rest of her life waiting for him to fuck her.
No thank you.
“Yes, in fact, I do need something.” Ignoring the curious looks from his cousins, she forged forward. “There’s a book signing tomorrow for a local author I enjoy and I would like to go.”
Leaning back in his chair, Killian studied her, his expression carefully neutral. “Where is it?”
“A bookstore downtown. I can send you the address.”
“What time would you be leaving and what time would you be home?”
Blinking at him, she realized with a start she hadn’t expected to get this far this quickly. She’d come in prepared to do war and here he was, being perfectly reasonable. “It starts at two, so I’d like to be there early. So… one-thirty, I suppose. I’m not sure how busy it will be, so I don’t know what time I’ll be home.”
“You’ll be home by four, and you’ll call me if you’re going to be a minute later than that. Brody will accompany you.”
“Why?”
He raised a single brow, just a fraction, but it was warning enough. “Because I have an appointment across town, so I won’t be able to come with you.”
“What about Reagan?”
“She’ll be with me.” His lips twitched with clear amusement. “I promise Brody isn’t the bore he pretends to be. You might even enjoy yourselves.”
She glanced over at the giant redhead lounging in one of the visitor’s chairs, a bored expression on his face despite his cousin’s assurances otherwise. “If you say so.”
“I do. It’s not my intention to keep you from enjoying your life, princess. But for the time being, you don’t go anywhere without protection. So you either go with Brody, or you don’t go at all.”
It was a compromise and, if she was being honest, it was more than she’d expected to get from him.
Turning to Brody, she jerked her chin up in her best Queen of the Castle impression. “Be ready to leave no later than one-thirty. And ditch the suit, it’s too obvious.”
With that, she spun on her heel and swept out of the office, the sound of Killian’s delighted laughter following her all the way up the stairs to her bedroom.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Aria
Brody did, in fact, ditch the suit as requested, and if it hadn’t been for the shock of red hair atop his head, she wasn’t sure she would have recognized him at all in the soft green sweater and jeans he’d chosen for their outing.
“You clean up well,” she said with a grin as he joined her in the foyer, and the look he sent her could only be described as withering.
“Killian said you were a brat.”
Her grin widened. “Did he? That’s so sweet.”
Snorting out a laugh, Brody shook his head. “You really are perfect for him.”
That comment should have killed her amusement. And while it certainly dimmed it a bit, a warmth spread through her chest that might have been happiness if such a thing were possible when you were being held against your will in a very fancy prison. She hardened herself against it as she once more gave him her best Queen of the Castle stare. “We should get going.”
To her surprise, Brody actually smiled. Not a full-on grin, but a smile nonetheless as he stepped around her to open the front door. “See? Even the way you go all icy when someone pisses you off. Classic O’Rourke. It’s like you’re one of us already.”
“I will never be an O’Rourke.”
“Keep telling yourself that, love.”
