I needed to know why she'd taken such an interest in me when she clearly didn't know who I was. Face to face, she didn't recognise me as the man she was looking for. Until I knew why she wanted to find me, I was keeping quiet about my name. It was the only thing that made sense to do.
"When does the tour start?" She pressed herself harder against the wall, looking up at me with increasingly bleary eyes and I realised she was at least pretending to use it to prop herself up.
I knew what drunk looked like, but I wasn't certain she wasn't faking it. I wasn't sure of anything at all to do with this woman.
"What tour?"
Oblivious to my conundrum, she giggled, trailing her other hand up along my chest again, her fingertips scorching a path up along the underside of my neck.
"The one of all the places I'm supposed to stick to."
I wasn't going to get answers like this.
My hand tightened around her wrist, holding her arm straight down beside her. She winced and I felt her arm tense in an attempt to fight me off, but I was far, far stronger than her.
I could end her. She had to know that. It could be her neck I had my hand around and it wouldn't take much more than a solid squeeze and swift twist to reduce her to a beautiful rag doll. I tried to picture myself extinguishing the light in her eyes, but there wasn't a single piece of me that could have done it.
I swallowed hard. The prospect of a kill hadn't shaken me for over a decade, but the thought of the life going out of her - that naive innocence being extinguished - was intolerable. And that, right there, was why she was so fecking dangerous.
I growled.
"There isn't going to be a tour, sweetheart."
I didn't pick women up like this. Maybe it was the three pints already in me that had me thinking about it. With her out on the razzle, dressed like that, anyone in the city could stake their claim ahead of mine and she was clearly craving something.
The thought of anyone else's hands on her, giving her what she wanted instead of me made me want to roar.
Some primal part of me had decided right then and there that this woman was supposed to be mine, no matter how foolish that was. She had me revved up and ready to go.
Her eyes flashed to mine again and she slid her hands up along my chest, her fingers gliding up along my washboard stomach and she gave a soft little gasp as I tensed my pecs for her.
It was a show of vanity I wouldn't usually bother with.
Women in Kilpatrick and Tiernan circles thought they could make out nicely by getting in my good books and I was used to all the tricks they used. The over-egged impressed exclamations as they circled their hands around my biceps and started coming over all Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.
Oh my, what big muscles you have.
They thought they could lead me around by the dick as long as they got it hard enough, but they were wrong. Kaitlin was different. I was putty in her hands.
All I saw with her was how she reacted to me. She quivered at the feel of me. My body made her gasp and blush. I knew I had power over her when I nudged my thigh between her legs and she let me.
Her lips parted like she was waiting for me to claim her mouth and her eyes fixed steadily on mine. I didn't need any more permission and I sure as hell wasn't waiting for it.
She moaned exquisitely as our lips clashed together and her petite body bowed against mine, her small breasts pressed tightly against my chest. I could taste the wine in her mouth, mingling with the peat of the whiskey. She smelled faintly of beer.
I slid my hand down between us, shifting her skirt out of the way to trace my thumb over the damp heat of her smooth underwear. Her breathing stilled and I knew I had her attention when she quivered against me, her breath rushing out in a stilted gasp.
Her hips canted in the direction of the pressure from my hand cupping over the mound of her sex and she let out a moan that made my dick jump, eager to get closer to her.
As much as I was ready to thrust right into her, I had another motive and I couldn't get distracted.
I needed to find out who she was. Some honey trap sent to gain my trust, or just an opportunistic girl on the make? The latter didn't seem likely with the accent she was touting. Only one thing made sense. The CAB were getting desperate, sending in a girl like her who was barely a woman to do their dirty work for them.
Morals aside, I wanted to run my hands all over her and let my teeth sink into her pearly shoulders, rip her dress off and trace every single freckle on her skin with my tongue.
But until I knew what her game was, I couldn't let myself do that. Finding out what she was up to had to come first.
Kaitlin
Somehow his legs were on either side of mine, hemming me in completely. There was no escape. For the first time I was aware of just how solid his body was, and how much he towered over me.
He drew his hand away a little, lessening the pressure against my clit and my hips tried to follow.
Out in the open he hadn't seemed so looming, but up close like this it was clear he was a brawny hunk of a man, every inch of him ripped with wirey, understated muscles beneath that suit of his that made him out to be just another businessman.
The bumped notch on the bridge of his nose that tipped it slightly sideways gave away that lie, but that only added to his rugged appeal. He could swallow me up in his arms, or break me into little bitty pieces if he wanted to.
But somehow I knew he wouldn't do that. Not to me.
"...Rhett."
"What were you doing out in Ballyfermot?" His lips pressed into a thin, displeased line and I shifted my eyes to the easier plane of his muscled chest.
Why was he so obsessed with that? He had his hand down my panties for crying out loud.
I didn't buy the hardman act. He wanted me. The press of his erection against my hip told me that. But he wanted to play tough. Fine.
I smiled, leaning back against the wall, letting my fingers smooth over the buttons of his shirt.
"I told you, I was looking for someone. But screw him." I wet my lips, and beckoned him closer, dropping my voice to a confidential whisper. "I'd rather screw you."
His jaw clenched and he caught my wrist, his grip tightening painfully until I stilled completely. "Ouch."
I flushed hotly, looking away sharply, suddenly feeling out of my depth.
The energy coming off him wasn't sexual any longer, it was hostile and aggressive. I didn't see lust in his eyes, but he definitely felt mine, and I had no doubt he'd be fine with seeing what I'd give him.
I tugged my wrist away from him, making an attempt to turn back towards the bar, but he grabbed my arm again.
Stepping closer, he backed me against the wall and I felt my pulse shift faster under his thumb.
His other hand swiped up along my side, rough and purposeful. He rounded my shoulder and his finger scraped along the length of my back, then down over the swell of my arse. I shuddered as he dropped both hands to my thighs, skimming close to the hem of my panties and running along my legs, up under my skirt, thrilled by the contact.
My entire body stilled as his hands rounded to the front of my thighs and his fingers pressed in hard against my wet panties as though he thought I was hiding something in them.
I groaned, trying to hold his hand steady so I could grind against him, but it seemed like he had other plans.
"What are you doing?"
He didn't answer, but his hands drew up over my skirt again. He tugged my top out of my waistband, and the heat of his hands against my skin, cupping over the fabric of my bra made me pant. He was so thorough, mapping every square inch of me and I'd never been touched like that by anyone in my life. And I wanted more.
Distantly I realised I could have tried to stop him, but I didn't want to. His hands on me felt so right.
And then suddenly, he stepped back.
"You're not wearing a wire. So what the hell is your game?"
Like some kind of out of body expe
rience, I saw myself pinned to the wall, with my clothing half undone and Rhett standing there just looking at me. My jaw fell open. He didn't trust me at all and there was something else going on here that I didn't understand. My fantasy of him being truly attracted to me felt laughable.
I shoved at his chest, but he didn't budge an inch.
"How dare you!"
Before I knew what I'd done, my arm wheeled up and I struck him full across the face. It was a stupid move, but he didn't react with more than an upward stretch of his eyebrows and a minute shake of his head as he worked his jaw. Horrified, I stared up at him, feeling the sting of the humiliation of how easily he'd goaded me along and the creeping fear about what I'd brought down on myself by hitting him.
This man was a gangster. He wouldn't think twice about taking revenge for a slight to his pride.
For a long moment he did nothing. And then he galvanized.
I grunted at the force as he shoved me back against the wall, my breath knocked clean out of me at the solidity of the wall against my shoulders. Dizziness swelled almost unbearably, and then his mouth was on mine.
I groaned against his lips, clawing at his biceps and he hitched my thigh up with his hand underneath my knee, pressing me harder against the wall as he ground against me. My body responded fiercely. All I could do was pull him closer because I needed him skin to skin.
His tongue plunged into my mouth, darting electricity through me as our tongues touched. I groaned at the influx of feeling, almost overwhelmed by how far apart we still were.
Everything was hot. Too hot. Breathing through my nose wasn't giving me enough air.
My head was spinning, but I didn't care. Rhett ducked his head to whisper against my ear and his breath sent little shivers all along my skin. It was official. I had a thing for the sound of his voice. My nipples chafed against the inside of my bra and if he didn't touch me again I was going to die.
"Look at the state of you."
I curled in towards the sound of his voice letting out a soft groan, and his lips dusted along my smooth throat. His words floated over me. It was the sound of them I was focused on, not their meaning. I was having a hard enough time staying upright on my heels.
"Look. At the state. Of. You."
"Shut up and kiss me."
Suddenly, I froze and a sense of impending doom grabbed me by the back of the neck.
At the end of the corridor, Nora cleared her throat.
We darted away from each other but Nora wouldn't even look at me. Her eyes were fixed sternly on her uncle with the same fierceness in her eyes I'd seen in Rhett's.
"Kaitlin, I think you'd better go home before someone takes advantage. I'll call you a cab."
Red faced, tail between my legs, I let her lead me back out to the bar. Rhett didn't even try to stop me.
CHAPTER 7
Garrett
I knelt on the pew inside the wooden compartment, I crossed myself the way I'd been taught as a little boy.
"Forgive me Father for I have sinned. It's been seven days since my last confession."
Through the lattice screen of the confession box I could make out Father Riley's profile.
I preferred to come in the early morning when I could. It made the likelihood of someone else being in the other side of the confessional box all the more slim. Anyone hearing the wrong thing and passing it on could do me a world of trouble.
The last thing I wanted was anyone else in this city knowing my business.
But I still came, every week. Sometimes more than once. It was the only way I knew to keep my conscience light.
Usually I kept the big ticket items for when I was the only one in the building. But last night I'd wanted things with Kaitlin that I'd vowed I would only have with my wife.
"I have lusted after a woman, and I have acted on that lust."
The kiss last night in Finnegan's had been playing over in my head all night. I'd barely slept and I'd had to ice myself down in the shower to get dressed to go out. Thoughts of her were tormenting me.
What the hell was I doing seducing a woman who had to be as young as my sister's child?
Then again, she'd been just as keen to seduce me. And what did it matter how old she was when I'd never felt that spark with anyone else?
"You're aware that sexual acts are the preserve of marriage, Garrett?"
"Yes. I am."
"Are you in a relationship with this woman?"
My jaw set.
I wanted to be. I knew that for certain now, but the look on Nora's face as she led Kaitlin away from me had been enough to stop me in my tracks. The animal inside of me had clamoured to go after her, to finish what we'd started, but loyalty to my family held me back.
The doubts I had about why she was looking for me only clouded everything.
"I am not."
When I kissed her, nothing else mattered. She was the one I'd been waiting for. After so many years of solitude, it felt like my right to act on my attraction to her. What else could this be other than a sign that she was destined for me?
I didn't know who the woman really was and she'd already gotten under my skin. Maybe it was dangerous, but that was my head talking, and my other head wasn't listening.
"Did you sleep with her outside of the sanctity of marriage?"
I growled, anger rising at my priest's presumptions about what I could and couldn't do with her.
"That's none of your damn business." He had no right asking me about Kaitlin. No one had that right at all. "Just give me the bleeding Hail Marys."
I heard Father Riley swallow. I knew I made the man nervous, but that didn't stop him from dealing with me. He'd been feeding me tidbits of confessions to keep the kids in his flock out of trouble for years.
He was part of the wave that wanted Dublin cleaned up, and he knew I was the best bet when it came to making that happen. He trusted me to do the right thing, and I knew he wouldn't sell me out, despite his trade in secrets.
But today, he was royally fecking me off.
"I'm waiting, Father."
He swallowed again and there was hesitation in his voice when he spoke.
"I cannot forgive you if you do not show remorse, my child."
More the fool me. What had I come here for? I knew exactly what he would say. I wasn't here for his permission to do what I already knew was right. How could anything be wrong when it came to Kaitlin?
For the first time in my life I didn't want his forgiveness.
"Then we can't help each other out today."
"Garrett-"
I stood up from the pew, opening the door to the confessional. My steps echoed sharply out across the apse as the hard tiles met the soles of my shoes, and I didn't stop walking.
Kaitlin was the only one worthy to be by my side while I navigated the politics of the gang leaders of this city. She was the one who'd save me from it. That I knew for sure and I didn't need anyone's permission.
Nora would have to get used to it. After this boxing match, when I found her again, I'd do everything right by her and by my God.
And Father Riley could stuff his righteous arse.
Kaitlin
Mid way through a forkful of scrambled eggs in the hostel dining room, my jaw slackened. Right there on the TV up on the wall was the man I'd seen at Finnegan's the night before.
Right there in black and white, scrolling along the bottom of the screen identifying why he was speaking into a bank of microphones on the local news were the words Garrett Brannigan, boxing promoter.
"Rhett my ass!"
The couple at the table over from me turned to look at my outburst, but I couldn't have cared less.
He lied to me! He knew I was looking for him and he'd point blank lied to me!
How could I have let him touch me like that? God, this was mortifying. The first man to ever touch me - the first man I ever truly wanted - and all I am to him is some kind of game. He must have been laughing it up over how hot for him I was, ru
nning around like an idiot trying to find him when he was right under my nose.
And then he had the cheek to act like he couldn't stand the sight of me! I knew that was bullshit. I knew it.
Dad's Irish Mafia Friend (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 110) Page 6