Merciless: An Irish Mafia Romance (Wild Irish Book 4)

by Vi Carter

  “You are forgetting you’re not mine. You have to go back no matter what I want. What you’re asking me to do is unreasonable.”

  “I just don’t want to die.” Her whispered words make their way into my heart. I want to comfort her and tell her she’s safe, but I won’t lie to her.

  “He won’t kill you; you are too precious to him.” Her eyes snap back up to me. I wasn’t sure anymore who I was trying to comfort.

  “There are worse things than death and more than one way to kill a person.”

  “I can’t help you.” I start to walk away.

  “Please don’t.” A thud has me turning around. Svetlana is sprawled out on the ground.

  I try to pick her up.

  “Don’t touch me,” her angry words are filled with pain. I ignore them and pick her up carrying her back to the bed.

  “If you try to move again, I will handcuff you to the bed.”

  My warning has her face tightening. “You’re just like them.” Angry words lash out at me.

  I stand up.

  “I hate you.” Her shouts carry too much pain and I slam the bedroom door to block out her words but they follow me.

  “Wanda.”

  “What can I do for you today?”

  “Lock down the basement except for the living quarters.”

  “Lock down commencing in one minute.” I leave not looking back, there is a pull on me each time I take a step towards the stairs that leads out of the basement. A pull I ignore until I’m back up inside the house.

  My phone rings. Its Mr. Novak. I walk to the study where I can take the call in private. My stomach tightens, it’s an odd feeling that I push back down.

  “Mr. Novak. I hope everything is going well.” I close the door behind me.

  “On our end we are keeping up our end of the bargain, but I don’t know if you are.”

  I slide into the chair and pull it close to my father’s desk. “You will have to expand on your accusation Mr. Novak.”

  “Word has gotten to us that Svetlana has been hurt.”

  “You never stated what I can and can’t do with her.”

  His laughter is tinged with an unbalance that makes him the best at what he does.

  “So you claim you were the one who hurt her?”

  “Mr. Novak if you want your niece back, by all means just say the words and I will have Gregor deliver her to you. Right now I have lots of work that demands my attention.”

  “I am demanding your attention.” There is a pause as I tighten my fist. “We need to re-negotiate.”

  “Do we?” I question.

  “Svetlana was given as a good will gesture. I don’t like the idea of my niece being hurt.”

  “I find that hard to believe Mr. Novak. I have seen the marks on the girl’s back.” I know I should keep my mouth shut, but he’s pissing me off.

  “She tried to run away. Any loving uncle would do the same thing.” His justification of whipping her made it clear he had no love for her, she was a toy that he was using, but for what I wasn’t sure.

  “I don’t want to hear she was hurt again.”

  “Agreed.” I state.

  “Mr. O’Reagan she is pure and must remain that way.”

  “I have no intentions of doing anything with your niece.”

  “Good. But if we hear she’s been harmed again, I won’t be happy.”

  “Is that all Mr. Novak?” Relief that I hadn’t expected swirls through me at the idea that I didn’t have to figure out how to not hand her over. It wasn’t until his name came up on the screen that I knew I couldn’t give her back.

  “We will be in contact.” He ends the call.

  I ring Sam.

  “Are they still on their way?”

  “No I was going to ring you. They’ve stopped on the outskirts of Longford in a small pub. Do you want me to go in?”

  “No, just keep an eye on them from a distance.”

  “No problem.”

  “I’ll be in touch.” I hang up as the alarm from my basement flashes up on my screen.

  “God damn it.” My anger is rising; she just can’t manage to do what she is told. A second thought has me moving faster, what if someone has broken in again? I punch in the code and take the steps two at a time, the last three I clear as I race to the living quarter’s door. I stop abruptly and reach out grabbing Svetlana before we collide with each other.

  “Going somewhere?” I want to shake her, but she already looks like she needs to lie down. She’s barely fit to walk. Yet she made it out of the bedroom and to the door.

  “Wanda.”

  “What can I do for you today?”

  “Unlock the basement.”

  “Basement is unlocked.” The alarms stop and Svetlana leans into me, exhaustion taking over her limbs.

  “You’re a stupid girl,” I tell her while picking her up carefully. Her head rolls back as I carry her into the bedroom. Lying her down on the bed I brush her hair away from her face, she moves away from my touch. Even now when her body needs to shut down, she keeps fighting. Taking the blankets I pull them over her and sit for a while. I was regretting my decision with getting involved with Mr. Novak. He wasn’t as trustworthy as I had first thought. He was making millions off this deal, yet it didn’t seem to be enough. I needed to find out what he wanted and what he thought he could achieve by placing Svetlana in my care. I look at her now. The rise and fall of her chest is gentle. Was she part of his ploy? I was good at reading people and her fear of him seemed plausible.

  Getting out fresh clothes, I go for a shower. I opt for leaving the bathroom door open so I can hear if she decides to leave again. I wasn’t sure how far she would get. Maybe outside and end up passed out on the lawn.

  Stupid girl.

  When I’m finished showering, I wrap myself in a towel and check on her, she’s still asleep.

  “Incoming call from the front gate.” Wanda informs me.

  “Receive.”

  “Mr. O’Reagan. Doctor Watson is at the front gate.”

  “Let him in.”

  Stephen was proving to be very thorough and I liked that. It made me think of the reason he was here. To protect our family. I needed to talk to him about how the van got in on our property without been stopped.

  I’ve put on my trousers and a shirt when George arrives.

  “She’s asleep.” I say putting on my tie.

  “You want me to wait?” He sounds irritated.

  “No wake her up.”

  He passes me and goes into the bedroom. Another thing is bothering me is how Mr. Novak knew that Svetlana was hurt. Both people were dead, the van at the bottom of the lake. No one knew only my family, Gregor, George and Stephen. So someone had betrayed me.

  “Svetlana,” George shakes her gently and I step into the room.

  “Start changing her bandage I’m sure that will wake her up.” I was angry with her for being so stupid. She had made clever decisions since she arrived but trying to leave, while injured wasn’t wise. She could have fallen down the stairs, being found outside by someone else. Even been taken again.

  George is stalling so I pull back the covers and she stirs. “Svetlana wake up.” Her eyes snap open at my words and they snap from me to George, it takes her a few seconds to recognize him, and she relaxes but when her gaze returns to mine she tenses.

  “George is going to change your bandages so be still.” I leave her with my departing words as I return to the living space. She hisses and George apologies a lot.

  It takes a bit of time before he arrives back out to the living area.

  “She’s doing well. Her lungs are still clear and I don’t think the arm is broken. It may have been a sprain. But I’ve still kept it splintered.”

  “Can she wash with the bandages on?” I ask.

  “Yes, they are waterproof. You want me back tomorrow?”

  “Yes.”

  He has his bag in hand and gives a final nod before leaving. I don’t trust
him; I need to test his loyalty.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  SVETLANA

  I can’t look at Liam. He’s dressed in a suit, dressed for business. There is a detachment that I saw when I first met him and it’s back again. His mind is made up. I was going. If I got to go home, I’d get to see Jan again. That is the only thing I hold on to.

  “Do you want to go for a shower?” So he was cleaning me up before sending me back. The doctor had re-bandaged me and now he would re-package me. I don’t know why I was surprised or hurt. I knew I would be going back. It was a foolish part of me that had hoped for more in my life.

  “Yes.” I still can’t look at him even as he picks me up in his arms. I try to keep my head as far away from his chest as possible. One part of me wants to lean in and enjoy the remainder of my time with him, the other wants to go so this will end.

  We enter the bathroom and he doesn’t put me down, the time stretches out until I finally peek up at him. He’s looking at me and my stomach flips.

  “Why did your uncle give you to me?”

  It’s not a question I expected but one I give fair weight to.

  Liam places me carefully on the ground but does a bizarre thing and places two fingers over my flickering pulse.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m asking the questions.” There is a warning in his tone. “Why did your uncle give you to me?” he starts again and I want my arm back but I don’t pull away.

  “I don’t know.” My pulse spikes.

  “You’re lying.” His brows rise slightly.

  I yank my arm back but he won’t let it go. His fingers dig painfully into my wrist and we are moving backward until my back is against the wall. I’m cornered with nowhere to go.

  “Tell me why?”

  “I’m not sure why.” My face burns as I think back to the conversation in the patio area, the day I found out I was being given as a gift.

  “You’re lying.” Liam’s closer now his body against mine.

  I have to look up at him. My heart is pounding, and it has nothing to do with the questions. “I don’t know.” I shout wanting him to step away. “He had said men wanted women.” My face burns.

  “But why you?” his eyes that are inky black now search my face. His fingers are still pressed firmly against my wrist.

  “I don’t know,” I whisper dying a little at the memory of that conversation. We are moving towards the shower. “What are you doing?”

  Cold water sprays down on top of me and I squeal with shock. Liam fills the small space that the shower has, his fingers still pressed to my wrist.

  “Let me out!” I try to push him but he won’t budge. “Are you crazy?” He was standing in the shower in a suit, the water soaking through his clothes. I shiver from the cold water that keeps assaulting me. “Because I am untouched,” I don’t lose eye contact as I him tell the humiliating fact about me.

  “You’re a virgin?” There is an element of disbelief in his words.

  I shiver against the cold of the water. “Yes.”

  Liam lets me go and I stare at his chest as it grows closer to me, his arm moves behind me and the water turns from cold to a nice heat that causes me to shiver more.

  My heart still beats to a heavy drum in my chest. “What are you doing?”

  Fear lodges itself in my throat as Liam removes his tie and jacket. “I’m going to help you get washed.” He doesn’t look at me as he kicks off his shoes that are filled with water. I’m frozen as he strips down to his boxers.

  “You can’t touch me,” I warn him as he takes a step towards me. “My uncle will kill you.” I move back as he moves towards me. The edge of the tray pushes against my spine. Liam hasn’t taken his eyes off me as he reaches around and takes down some shampoo.

  “I’m just going to wash your hair. I don’t think your fit to do it with your arm.”

  I wasn’t, but my mind is still caught up that I am in a shower with a man, a half-naked man, a very attractive half naked man. I can’t seem to move or form words.

  “Turn around.”

  I do as it’s easier to try to calm my raging mind. “Can you take off the t-shirt?” Having it on in the shower was weird and now that my back was too him it made this easier. It takes him a moment before his fingers grip the bottom of my t-shirt. Everywhere his fingers touch, I shiver. The material is pulled over my head. His chest presses against my back as he removes each arm carefully. The top falls to the shower tray with a splash of water. Liam doesn’t step back, his fingers run along the back of my neck before he lifts all my hair to the side. His touch is gentle and I remember what’s on my back. Spinning around, I let my hair cover it. I can’t bear for anyone to see that part of me. I’m looking at a solid chest and my eyes won’t drift up, his head is bent and I can feel his eyes on me.

  “It’s okay.” His words brush my face and something inside me cracks a little.

  “It’s him, it’s his mark on me and I hate it.” I let my eyes drift up to his. “I hate my uncle for making him do it to me.” My chest tightens and my hand touches it as if it might be able to untangle the knots that are choking me. “I hate you for sending me back.” I step away from Liam.

  “You say it like I have a choice.”

  I’m close to the spray and brush water out of my face. “When is Holic coming for me?” I notice how Liam clenches his fists, and it annoys me. He has no right to get mad. He has no right to feel angry at me. I was the one who was disposed of again.

  “They aren’t coming.” He doesn’t sound happy.

  My heart jumps. “I can stay?” Hope grows inside me, like the air inside a balloon.

  Liam brushes water off his face. “Yes.” I hear the unspoken part ‘for now’, but I had more time.

  I step back into the spray and let the water wash my tears away. I don’t want Liam to see my heart so I turn my back on him. It takes a moment before he moves closer to me. His fingers touch my hair as he massages the shampoo into my scalp.

  His touch has weakened me. I hold on to the tiles taking as much weight off my leg as possible. He moves even closer to me.

  “Lean against me,” I do as he says.

  He works quickly washing my hair and I wonder how he hasn’t got some shampoo on his face with how close we are.

  Once he is finished, his fingers touch my shoulders. I tense at his touch but soon relax into his chest.

  “Do you want me to wash your hair?” I ask. The rumble through his chest shakes my back and I turn around, surprised to find Liam laughing.

  “You want to wash my hair?” He’s smiling now, and it softens all the sharp plains of his face.

  My heart gives a heavy thud and I smile back. “I’ve never washed anyone’s hair before.” I admit. But it wasn’t about that.

  His smile grows quiet, and he nods before picking up the shampoo. “Okay.”

  I take it and feel unsure now. Liam is smiling as he bends his head and I lather up my hands before dropping the bottle heavily onto the floor. I can only use one hand but I try to massage his head as best as he did mine. I enjoy the feel of his hair running through my fingers. Stepping closer I inch around to the back of his head. His hand moves around my waist and I stop briefly, surprised at the contact. His arm holds up most of my body weight and gives relief to my leg as I continue to massage his scalp. I don’t notice how close his face is to my chest, or every place our flesh touches. I don’t notice how tight his fingers are getting around my waist.

  “Can you go under the water so I can wash it off?”

  Liam spins us not letting me go until we have reversed positions. I close my eyes as I run my hands through his hair, and rinse off all the shampoo. I don’t open my eyes for a few minutes just enjoying the feel of our bodies, when I do Liam is looking down at me, our faces only an inch apart. My breathing quickens and my gaze flickers to his lips. His kiss had been really nice, now I was trying to imagine what that would feel like with him awake and willing. Willing, th
e word has my stomach churning with guilt. My hand touches his face and when he doesn’t stop me I let my fingertips glide over his lips that part for me.

  “I’ve never been kissed,” I admit. He doesn’t react; the only tell is the tightening of his fingers at my waist. “I …” I glance away before getting the courage to look back at him.

  “I kissed you when you slept.” My face burns at my confession but I also feel a sense of relief at being honest. My fingers still linger on his lips and he kisses them, my heart jumps.

  “I know.” His words sweep across my face.

  “You do?” I had been certain he was asleep.

  “Yes.” His lip tugs up slightly at my discomfort before they fall back into their normal arrangement. “Would you like to try it now that I’m awake?”

  My heart slams against my rib cage. This is different. If I kissed him now I felt like there was no going back, or maybe that is the naïve virgin in me talking. Girls kissed and even slept with loads of guys, but with Liam I didn’t think any girl would really walk away from him, he did the walking away. I was taking too long and overthinking this. I might never get this chance again. My fingers move to his cheek and I move my head closer, flickering my gaze between his eyes and lips. I close my eyes and tilt my head as my lips touch his. At first it’s like in the bedroom when I kissed him the first time, that is until he kisses me back. His hand tightens further around my waist and he moves us. My back is pressed against the cold tiles and the contrast of his warm body has me shivering. My eyes snap open and I stop kissing him as his manhood presses against me. He still holds me but leans out slightly to see what’s wrong.

  He’s a bit breathless. “What’s wrong?”

  I shake my head feeling embarrassed. He’s still pressed against me and the feelings that are swirling through my body are overwhelming. I needed air. I wanted him so much but fear had me wanting him to step away.

  “Nothing.” My pulse is beating in the most unexpected area. Heat sears my face. I swallow knowing I was making this worse. I move in to kiss him again but he stops me.