His free hand came up to curl around her jaw, forcing her gaze up to him. “I’m sorry, more than you’ll ever know. More than I can ever say. I won’t ask for your forgiveness because I don’t deserve it, but I will ask for one favor, if you would. Give me a chance to make this right between us.”
This time, Karina wasn’t thinking about her mother and what she would have expected Karina to say to that. It didn’t matter anyone’s opinion, not anymore.
She had to do what was right for her.
She had to do what was in her heart.
And as thunder struck outside the windows, Karina did just that.
With tears in her eyes and shaking hands, she kissed him with every bit of emotion that had been locked away inside her. She didn’t know where they were going from here—she couldn’t begin to know what the future held, but right now, in this moment, this was what she wanted.
This time, she didn’t stop him when he started to undress and before he could even reach for her, she tugged at the zipper of her dress and took her time pulling the tab down.
She didn’t want to rush even as the only thing she wanted was to feel his hands on her.
She wanted to make this moment last for as long as she possibly could before reality set back in and new complications arose.
Uilleam sat on the edge of the bed, allowing her to lead and take this as far as she wanted. He wasn’t very good at hiding his impatience though—she could see it in the way he gripped the mattress in his large hands and how his gaze skirted over every inch of her exposed skin.
How many times had she envisioned this moment when they would reconnect? How many times had she thought that despite her initial beliefs, this moment would happen?
There had been so much hurt between them, so much pain … she wanted to feel something else when it came to him.
She wanted to feel what she used to.
Straddling his lap, she placed her hands on his shoulders for balance, holding herself upright. Unable to help himself, his hands fell to her hips, gripping tight enough to bruise.
He didn’t give her a chance to remain on top for long before he was shifting their positions in a move that had a breathless laugh escaping her even as her hair whipped around her face.
He traced a pattern with his lips down the curve of her throat, between her breasts and down the middle of her stomach.
He’d hardly made it to the top of her panties before she was breathless and anticipating the moment of contact.
But instead of removing the lace entirely, he used his thumb to tug the fabric to the side, exposing her to the cool air of the room.
She sucked in a breath, every instinct making her want to cover herself, but the wanton smile forming on his face made her feel bold.
It reminded her of the days when things were simple between them.
So instead of shielding herself, she spread her legs further, giving him ample view of the place she desperately wanted him.
He whispered something in Welsh she couldn’t hear—something reverent from the way he looked up at her—but when his mouth connected with her sex, she couldn’t bring herself to care.
Instead, her head fell back against the pillows even as his arm came to wrap around her middle and keep her firmly in place.
And for the next long while, he apologized in a different way.
* * *
Today was the day.
Sleep had been nonexistent most of the night, and not because of the time she’d spent in Uilleam’s bed though she did her best not to think about that considering what was to come.
For once, she took no pleasure in getting dressed, and though she had worn white for a considerable number of years now, she hesitated over her selection. For whatever reason, she had the intense desire to wear black.
A ring of the doorbell had her frowning before she reached for her mobile to check the security feed, finding Isla waiting on the threshold.
She buzzed her in, grabbing the first dress she touched to put on and didn’t think anything else about it.
“I thought you might need the support,” Isla said quietly, handing over a Starbucks cup and small pastry.
“I’m fine.”
The smile on her sister’s face told Karina she didn’t quite believe that. “It’s never easy, this sort of thing, I imagine. Whether we understand or not doesn’t mean the love suddenly goes away. Pain just makes things more complicated.”
That, she understood far too well.
“You can’t go to the courthouse.”
Her task forgotten, Karina turned to look at her sister. “You can’t be serious.”
“In case you’ve forgotten,” Isla started reasonably, “you’re supposed to be dead.”
“Does it matter?” Karina asked, frustration making her tug at the tie in her hair. “His fate has already been decided.”
At this point, it was only a matter of what the jurors had decided.
And if she had to guess, Uilleam had already accounted for whatever the outcome would be. He’d made that abundantly clear.
“Where are you off to anyway?” Karina asked, noticing her sister’s attire.
Isla didn’t seem to know how to answer that question at first, but recovered quick enough. “Just a few last minute details I need to clear up. I’ll explain later.”
She would have questioned her sister further, but she was already running late.
“Call me when you’re free then,” she said, heading for her car.
Isla looked as if she wanted to say more, but seemed to think better of it at the last minute.
Karina watched her go, confused and wondering what that was all about.
* * *
“After careful consideration of the evidence,” the judge began before cutting her eyes to the Assistant US Attorney, “and in light of new evidence, I find I have no choice but to dismiss the charges against the defendant with prejudice.”
Meaning, he could never be charged with the crime again.
Uilleam was, once again, a free man.
He didn’t celebrate though his attorney looked visibly relieved—a contradiction to the confidence she’d displayed during the length of the trial.
Karina was almost glad she had chosen to watch the trial from the seclusion of her car rather than in the tactical room where Katherine was undoubtedly raging. She couldn’t imagine her mother was particularly happy about the outcome of today’s proceedings.
And someone would inevitably have to bear the brunt of her anger at some point.
But instead of worrying herself with those thoughts, Karina tossed her tablet on the passenger seat, resting back against the headrest and simply took a breath.
It was over.
Uilleam had won.
And though she knew Katherine hadn’t finished with him yet—that she was undoubtedly already thinking of some other way to exact her revenge against him—for now the immediate threat was over.
She smiled almost absently to herself as she started her car and pulled away from the courthouse, refusing to look back.
If she had ... she might have noticed the fleet of SUVs slowly creeping to a stop outside ...
19
Guess Who’s Back?
The charges were dismissed and he was a free man, yet the only thing Uilleam could think about was Karina and their night together.
She was under his skin again, though he was almost positive she had never left.
That was what he’d wanted more than anything—the trial be damned. He had come back for her.
To fix things between them.
And though he wasn’t sure what the future held, he could now say, at least, that they were heading in a good direction.
And now that this pesky trial was out of the way, he could focus solely on her and they could finally talk about everything else that had been left unsaid.
Stepping out of the courthouse, he couldn’t help but wonder if the sun had ever seemed as bright as it did
now.
He felt invincible.
“I’ll have the paperwork and all sent over to Elsie if you'd like,” Jennifer said, distracted by a message on her mobile. “Everything should be in order, but in case you have any questions, I'll send over my contact information as well."
“You did good in there,” Uilleam said, the first compliment he’d given the woman since he met her, he was sure.
She frowned, seeming perplexed. “You think so?”
Even after all the time they’d spent together, he still wasn’t sure what to make of her, and if he had to wager a guess, she wasn’t sure what to make of herself.
The woman was baffling.
Bishop and the other War Dogs were waiting for him beside a massive black SUV. Uilleam held up a finger, signaling he would only be another minute.
“If there’s anything you ever need—”
The screech of tires cut Uilleam off.
Deja vu hit him almost instantly as he remembered the last time he’d been this exposed on the street and the end result of his encounter with a mysterious assassin.
Even before Bishop yelled for him to get down, he was already grabbing for Jennifer and dragging her down to the concrete with him before the first gunshot rang out.
* * *
With his eyes closed, Uilleam found his inner calm despite the way his ears were ringing.
He could still hear the machine gun fire—remembered the way the white hot streak of fear raced through him at the memory of being shot.
He had gotten lucky today that he’d managed to escape the courthouse with his life, especially knowing the sorts of people who had been gunning for him depending on the outcome of his case.
He hadn’t lied when he told Karina he was far too valuable to rot in prison—he had too much knowledge on far too many people for anyone on either side to allow that to happen.
But while officials would have preferred to pick his brain and attempt to use that information to their advantage, his associates on the other hand ... they would much rather see him dead before allowing him to reveal any of their secrets.
He wasn’t entirely sure whether they had truly meant to kill him this day or if the hit men who had come to the courthouse were merely meant as a warning, but either way, he was thankful to be alive.
And when he finished here, he would also make it a point to find out who sent those men and make sure they understood how foolish they had been in doing so.
He might have been a changed man, willing to consider his actions before going forward with them, but at his core, he would always be the Kingmaker, and someone was going to answer for his life being threatened.
Uilleam wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting before his favorite agent entered the room with a woman he had never seen before, but judging from how tightly wound Agent Ramon seemed to be, the woman had to be higher up the food chain than he was.
“Mr. Runehart, I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon.”
Uilleam shrugged, far more comfortable than he probably should have been considering his surroundings. “A stroke of bad fortune, I’m afraid.”
Agent Ramon looked as if he wanted to say more, but his gaze cut to the woman at his side, his jaw going taut before he finally said, “We appreciate you coming in to speak with us.”
“Always willing to do what I can for those in law enforcement,” Uilleam said with a charming smile, knowing this was the last time he would ever intentionally meet with one of them. “Besides, I wasn’t under the impression I had much of a choice.”
Because now that he was free, he was more than ready to have this damn tracking device taken off of him.
He had shooters to find and someone to torture once he found who hired them.
“I doubt this’ll be our last time meeting, Mr. Runehart,” the mysterious woman said, a pleasant smile on her face. “We have your name after all.”
They did, and even if he had to spend a fortune, he would make sure it was wiped from every database they had access to.
* * *
Standing in front of the mirror, Uilleam felt like an entirely new man even as he felt the same.
But as he knotted the black tie around his neck and fixed it into place, he welcomed the metamorphosis.
This wasn’t just about Karina anymore. He had her to thank for this change, and now that he had managed to evade a death sentence .... well, the future was bright.
“Same gig?” Bishop asked as he slipped into the room, finishing strapping his vest into place.
It brought him back to a simpler time, when his mercenaries were vast and his power was legion.
It was time he reminded people of that fact.
Especially someone who clearly thought he was capable of moving up the ladder if he had Uilleam taken out. If anything, he should have made sure the job got finished because now that Uilleam had his name—which had been surprisingly easy to acquire once others realized the Kingmaker was back—there was no saving him.
“Same gig,” Uilleam repeated with a nod.
It was time to get back to work.
* * *
His mind on the task ahead, Uilleam attempted to ignore the droll elevator music bleeding through the speakers in the loft, but the incessant noise was only made worse by one of the twins choosing to hum along with it. With thirteen more floors to go, he couldn’t help but look back in the man’s direction.
He realized, belatedly, everyone’s attention was on him, but instead of stopping, he merely hummed louder.
Great.
Another one of those.
There was always one in the group after all.
After a short ride on the lift, the doors opened onto a private floor of the lounge.
The man Uilleam had come to see looked surprised to see him, his mouth falling open at the sight of them, but he wisely took a step back without a word. Smart man.
For quite some time, Uilleam had felt lost, unsure. But as the room fell silent at his presence, he remembered himself—who he was and what he stood for.
He’d thought, if only for a while, that the trial had been the worst thing to ever happen to him—that he would surely never recover by the end of it—but now he was starting to think the opposite.
Because to everyone else in this room, it was business as usual. They didn’t know where his mind had been—they didn’t know the fear he’d felt for the first time at the idea of never being a free man again.
No, to them, he was still very much the Kingmaker—with his mercenaries in tow.
It seemed only appropriate he give the people what they wanted from him.
“Franklin Gills,” Uilleam called, watching the man in question freeze in place, his drink almost to his lips. “It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it, old friend?”
The man visibly swallowed, his salt and pepper hair seeming a bit more sparse than it had the last time Uilleam had seen him. And if it were physically possible, he was almost sure the man would have gone permanently gray from the fear that seemed to be permeating from his pores.
“Kingmaker ... I, uh, well I thought you were—“
“In prison?” Uilleam supplied helpfully, sinking into one of the free chairs at the man’s table, smiling when he noticed Franklin could hardly take his eyes off the mercenaries standing at his back.
They weren’t anything like Uilleam’s former team, he had to admit—all of which had been trained to move and think the same when out in the field like this—but that didn’t make the War Dogs any less dangerous.
If anything, there was a bit of unpredictability about them that Uilleam could appreciate.
“Yes—no, I mean, I knew you’d get out of it. It’s you, ya know. You’d have to be stupid to think the Feds could take you down.”
Franklin was rambling, his gaze darting around the room, searching for help that would never come. Perhaps he should have thought of his lack of sufficient backup before he’d decided to act against him.
“Of
course,” Uilleam agreed with a laugh. “Which is why I’m here—to celebrate.”
“Sure thing,” Franklin said with a jerky nod. “Let me get you a drink, my treat. Anything you want.”
He flagged down one of the waitresses, almost desperate to place the order—or rather he just needed any excuse not to be sitting alone with him at the table.
“Vodka still your drink of choice?” Franklin asked, his eyes almost comically wide, as if he expected an award of some sort for remembering such an inconsequential detail about him.
Uilleam smiled, obliging him. “That’ll do.”
Franklin put in the request, so on edge when the woman walked away he started twiddling his thumbs, looking as if he wished he could sink through the floor.
“So ... uh ... what can I do for you?” he asked, his eyes almost comically wide as he twiddled his thumbs.
“Our partnership was a lucrative one so I’ll do you the honor of explaining your mistake,” Uilleam said conversationally, not moved at all by the man’s cry of pain as Bishop suddenly shot forward and palmed the man’s before pressing his face against the table. “Your first mistake was actually believing something as trivial as a trial would stop me. Your second was sending people to kill me. I’m truly baffled you actually thought this was a good idea.”
Uilleam had a great number of enemies, most of which were more powerful than the man in front of him now. Yet, he’d gotten it into his mind that he was above his station and that just wouldn’t do.
Franklin would certainly learn from his mistake before Uilleam finished with him.
“Kingmaker, come on. It was just a lapse in judgment. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I won’t do it again, I swear.”
“I don’t need to be told that.”
Because when his wrist was grabbed and his arm was pressed against the table with his fingers splayed out, Uilleam was going to make sure this was a lesson he would never forget.
Dark Horse: The Kingmaker Saga #5 Page 15