Page 90 of Reckless Desires

“Then why not talk about your endometriosis?”

I have her trapped. She can’t walk away from this conversation.

“What does it matter to you?” she challenges.

“It sounded like you were dying,” I reply. The rawness of my words hangs in the air.

Silence.

She clears her throat. “I was diagnosed with stage three endo. I had a laparoscopy twice. Chances of kids are slim to none. There’s IVF, but I’m not sure I can handle it not taking.”

“It doesn’t make you less of a woman because of it.”

She stares at me, fighting back the tears smothering her eyes. “Like hell it doesn’t. I can’t have children, Killian. Everything I know is built around what makes a woman worthy in the Costello Family.”

“That’s why you didn’t go after Alessio,” I conclude.

“What worth do I have if I can’t produce an heir?” she whispers, voice trembling with pain.

“To hell with an heir,” I spit out. “A woman’s value isn’t tied to that.”

Tears now spill down her face. “The greatest part of being a woman is having the ability to have children.”

“Adoption.”

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” She cuts me off, her walls up as defense.

A gnawing sensation twists in my chest. Did she come to me out of desperation? Had she chosen me because Alessio wouldn’t want a woman who can’t bear him an heir?

The thought stings, leaving me questioning my worth in her eyes. Why does the idea of being a replacement cut deeper than any physical pain?

Chapter Sixty

Killian

“Where is he?!” Alessio’s voice booms from the depths of the house, reverberating like a storm on the horizon.

“Sir Killian,” the housekeeper stammers, her face pale with panic. “These men… they won’t leave.”

I pull my gun from its holster, resting it deliberately on the end table, my gaze fixed on the entryway. “Let them in.”

Lily and I are in the study, a room lined with the collected books from Irish authors. Lily lies draped across the chaise, her silk white slip dress clinging to her like a whisper of danger. I’ve outfitted her with a wardrobe designed for beauty and elegance, yet she remains a captive in this house, despite the fact that I don’t let her set foot outside. Too risky. Nico is in town, and I know this when Donal informs me that the Russians and the Costellos are entangled in a bloody war after Alessio discovered one of his men floating lifelessly in his pool, marked with Russian insignia. Until I uncover how Nico infiltrated this city undetected, the promise of handing him Lily is the only way I can lure him in.

The collar of diamonds rests beautifully around her neck, and her red bottom heels showcase her ankles, somehow making them look erotic. She’s draped on the chaise like a model posing for a boudoir shoot with a book in hand. The metal chain leash is tied to the foot of the chaise. I can tell her she no longer needs it, but something in her eyes suggests she enjoys it. If I could freeze time, this moment would be it—her beauty igniting a fire within me. Then reality snaps back in.

Alessio strides in, followed by Darius, Cameron, and Tito. Naturally, Alessio would bring his right-hand man, Tito, while Darius and Cameron are here likely because their wives forced them to be.

Alessio is holding onto a suitcase. He stops a moment to take in the room and Lily. His eyes rest on the collar around her neck and the chain leash linked to it. I hold back a smirk. I have something that is his—was his.

“Lily, are you okay?” Alessio’s voice is laced with confusion, as if he’s trying to make sense of the image before him.

Sitting up, Lily closes her book, her eyes sparkling with defiance. “Never been better.”

The meds have helped ease the cramping, and with a proper diet, her pain has subsided significantly, although there are some days that are still a battle.

Alessio’s expression darkens as he turns to me, his tone accusatory. “You keep her chained up like some pet?”

“Is that how you enter my home, speaking to me like that?” I remain seated, calm and collected, the top buttons of my shirt undone, sleeves casually rolled up my forearm. “You should consider yourself lucky I don’t blow your brains out right here.”