I won’t believe it. I can’t.
He’s just a bloke.
I’m just a girl.
But my father’s words ring in my memory as I stare in the mirror.
Destroy him.
Which of us will be destroyed in this process?
CHAPTER FIVE
Mac
I sitat the bar beside a pair of redheads. Sisters, maybe? But they don’t even turn my head. I nurse a Guinness and think of Bryn.
Bryn doesn’t want me to buy her a drink. Smart girl. She doesn’t know me. She’ll be here soon anyway.
“Hello,” one of the redheads says. “Too lost in your dreamworld to hear someone talking to you, handsome?”
Both of the girls break into laughter, and I shake my head.
“Maybe I am,” I say, facing them. “Did you say something?”
“Aye,” one says. “Wondered if you were looking to hit the dance floor.”
I shake my head. “No thanks, ladies. I’m waiting on someone.”
One sighs, rolling her eyes at the other one. “See? Told you. He’s taken.”
Taken. It’s the first time in my life anyone’s ever used that word to describeme.
They leave.
“She’d better get here soon,” the bartender says with a teasing grin. “Next time at least bring a wingman, eh? Bloody handsome bloke like you ought not to be sitting alone at the bar. Those women are vultures, I tell you. Vultures.”
There was a time when that’d amuse or flatter me, but not tonight. Instead, I’m scoping the exits, the doorways, and plotting how I’ll get Bryn alone or away from her bodyguard. If I can’t do it here, I’ll find a way when we leave the pub and head to the restaurant.
I text William.
Mac: Where is she now?
He’s tracking her, and on standby for anything I need.
William: She’s at the door.
I feel the anticipation in my belly at seeing her again, but I ignore it. I’m here on a mission, and nothing will hold me back from that.
Mac: Excellent, thanks. Do me a favor and scope the exits at the restaurant. Find out what her bodyguard drives.
I slide my mobile in my pocket and turn casually, half-facing the door so I don’t look like I’m too eager, or stalking her, even though that’s exactly what I’m fucking doing. I see her walk past the window as I take another pull from my pint. The door opens, and she walks in.
Holy Mother ofGod,she looks fucking amazing.
I’m not sure I can even recall what she was wearing earlier today, but I can guarantee you every bloke in this room notices her now. To be honest, if she were mine, really, truly mine? I wouldn't ever allow her to leave dressed like that.
If she were mine, she’d never fucking leave the house. Even as it is, I want her all to myself.
