Leave Me Breathless: The Black Rose Collection

by Dakota Willink

  I nod quickly. “Yeah, just a bit winded is all.”

  He runs his hand across my face, scanning my features. “What are you doing?”

  “Making sure you didn’t get hurt.” He says it so sternly like he actually cares. For a second, I wonder if he does, but then I remember that we’ve only known each other for one day. He doesn’t care about me. Not at all.

  Liam takes my hand and pulls me up from the ground, not letting go as we walk in the direction of my apartment. “I will have someone outside your place tonight.” I glance over to him and see how soft his eyes are with the worry that is spreading through him. “It’s just a precaution. Not all of my business associates are . . . the pleasant type. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

  I was right in coming here to Ireland and I know that now. Everything I’d heard about the Irish is spot-on. They are kind and caring people.

  “Why are you looking at me like that,” he asks. I don’t even realize that I’m staring at him. I must’ve zoned out.

  “Sorry. I’m just surprised, I think.”

  “Why would you be surprised?”

  “I’m just not used to people . . . being so . . . protective.”

  “We protect things that are precious to us, Amber.” The moment he finishes speaking, we both seem a bit shocked. I’m shocked that he spoke like I’m a precious thing to him, and maybe he is that he said it. I’m not quite sure.

  “Is this you,” he asks, distracting both of us. I’m only now noticing that I’ve stopped.

  “Yeah, just down the alley,” I comment, turning down the darkened alley. He’s still holding onto my hand as he walks with me until I’m at the door that leads up to the apartment.

  “I’m sorry about what happened. If I had known . . . I would have insisted we take the car.” His voice is soft, words full of regret.

  “It’s not your fault, Liam. Freak accident and all,” I say, knowing better but trying to ease his concern. I give his hand a good squeeze and start to pull away. At the same time, he pulls me toward him and I slam straight into his chest as he kisses the top of my forehead and whispers something to me in Gaelic, I assume. As he finishes, he switches to English. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, Amber.”

  At that, I’m released and head toward my door, smiling like the Cheshire cat.

  6

  “Watch carefully the magic that occurs when you give a person just enough comfort to be themselves.”

  ~ Atticus

  Liam

  I walk into the house and no sooner do I see my father standing at the bottom of the stairwell, staring at me like I’m a ghost. “Word travels fast,” I comment. Taking off my jacket I set it on the rack right next to the doorway.

  “It always does. This is our home, Liam. I find out everything that happens here.” I give him a slight nod, knowing that there is no keeping anything from my father. He is right, he finds out everything that happens here.

  “Did anything come of it?” I ask him, knowing he has some information. I can see it across his face. He’s never been able to hide anything from me.

  “B and C chased him out of the city. Long story short, he was run off the road and went straight into a tree. Bloody bastard lived through it from the looks of it, but by the time they got to his vehicle, he was gone. It wasn’t from the accident. He shot himself in the head, so whoever he was working for must be high up on the food chain.” I bring my hand over my mouth, thinking of who the hell is behind this. Things have been pretty quiet on our end as of late. Volkolv is a constant threat but we’ve learned to deal with him in our own right. “Luca informed me that you weren’t alone when this happened.” I turn my face and look at Luca, my right-hand man, and traitor from the looks of it. “Who’s the girl?” my father asks me.

  I turn my attention back to him. “A new bartender I hired at Maeve’s.”

  “Why were you walking with her this late at night?”

  “She’s new to the area and I saw fit to walk her home. Is it a crime to be chivalrous in this family?” I ask, waiting for the smartass response he’s bound to throw at me.

  “Is the girl okay?” His question surprises me. I expected him to respond with something witty. It’s not like he’s a callous man but to ask about her shocks me.

  I nod. “She seemed to be okay when I left her. I made sure she got safely in her home and informed her I’d have someone watching her place. It didn’t feel right to simply leave her alone after what happened.”

  “Good on you. You did the right thing, son.” My father approaches me and smacks me on the back. “I have more news. Gabriele confirmed that his daughters are missing, publicly announced it.”

  I raise my eyebrows, surprised that Gabriele would do such a thing.

  “Sergei offered a reward for his bride-to-be of over one hundred million dollars. I’m taking bets that hunters across the world will be looking for this girl. She’s a real stunner, in that natural sort of way.” He pulls his phone out of his pants pocket and swipes a few times on the screen. “She’s a looker, isn’t she?” he asks, turning the phone in my direction.

  I take a look at the beauty before me and see someone who I had just last seen not even an hour ago. Amber, my ass. Caprice DiGiovanni chose an interesting place to flee, an interesting place indeed. So many things run through my mind right now. I could tell my father exactly what it is that I know, but I won’t. He’d want me to toss Caprice back to Gabriele without so much as a care in the world for what happens to her in Sergei’s or her father’s hands. She doesn’t know that I know who she is and I can use this to my advantage.

  My father and I speak for a few brief moments before he decides to go to bed. I head in another direction, toward the only woman I’ve ever been able to talk to— my stepmother. She may or may not be able to hear me, but I still find comfort being in her presence. What my father has done to her . . . hooking her up to all these machines that keep her alive, it makes me sad. I pity her and him both.

  I walk down the hallway and place my hand on the knob of her door, taking a deep breath and contemplating if I want to sit next to her for a bit. I hate looking at her, seeing what Volkolv has done, and what my father is doing, but I twist the knob and enter her room. It’s dimly lit and I hear the machines doing their job, keeping her alive. Closing the door behind me, I approach her, taking a seat in the chair by her bedside.

  I don’t know why I do it but every time I’m here, I have to. I take her hand in mine and hold it tight, wanting her to feel my presence. “I wish you could talk to me right now. God knows I need it,” I tell her. She’d know exactly what to say at this moment. Even when I was a small child, she knew the right thing to say in every situation. She was a ray of light, every single person she met adored her like no other.

  “There’s this girl, er, woman, rather. Tonight, I’ve discovered a bit about her and I know what I can do . . . what I have the power to do . . . and then I know what I will do. You know I’m not the horrific type of man, but what I may do could horrify her. There are things that I need to do, Mum. Trials of life that I need to go through in order to take my rightful position. Father has told me about them, told me everything that he wants from me.” I sit in silence with nothing but the machines filling the void. “She may not know it yet, but she has two options. I just hope she doesn’t choose the wrong one.”

  7

  She was everything real in a world of make-believe.

  ~ Atticus

  Liam

  I stare at her, wanting to confront her about what it is I know. I want to know what her reasons are, to find out exactly what it is that she’s doing here. Did she come to Ireland because she thought she’d be safe? I’ve seen her, but where is her little sister? A week has passed and I haven’t treated her any differently than I did the first day I met her. Part of me wonders why. Then again, I don’t want her to know what I know, at least not yet.

  Every night I’ve walked her home. I think that now I realize wh
at danger she is in. Truthfully, I can’t live with myself if something happens to her. After my father showed me the photograph, I was concerned that he’d stop by the pub. Luckily, I’ve been able to keep him at bay. If he saw her, he’d just cart her right back to the Italians. I didn’t make up my mind on what I wanted to do until last night. I had a lot of time to think about it, almost talking myself down. I won’t do that, though. Because I don’t really have a choice. The other alternative would only send her to her deathbed, of that I am sure.

  “Will you be walking me home again?” she asks, cheekily grinning in my direction. Over the past couple of days, she’s become a little more flirtatious. What she doesn’t realize is that I’m not interested. It’s simply more beneficial for me if she is alive. My plan won’t work without her.

  I look up from my paperwork into her deep eyes and nod. “Yes, we’ll be leaving in just a few minutes.”

  She whispers something in response but I can’t hear it. Instead, I see her walk around the bar and wipe everything down, disinfecting all the seats and making sure the tables are organized for the next day. I smile to myself, she’s making sure whoever opens has less work to do. Out of all my employees, she’s the only one that does that. Hell, Aemon doesn’t even do that. He’d rather just let the morning crew do it. Then again, he is a lazy fucker.

  “Are you both good here?” Aemon asks, walking out from the kitchen. We are, there’s no use in keeping him here. Everything that needs to be done, Amber can do in the next few minutes, or should I just call her Caprice.

  “Yeah, go ahead and get going. We’ll see you tomorrow,” I inform him and watch as he leaves out the front door.

  She and I are left alone in the bar for what seems like another twenty minutes. I told her I’d just be a few minutes, however, I didn’t realize how damning the paperwork would be. Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement on the street, which is uncommon at this hour. I take a gander around, checking our surroundings. Luca seems to be outside in the SUV like he normally is. Yet I can’t seem to shake this eerie feeling. My gut has never dissuaded me if something seems off, then something most definitely is.

  All of a sudden, there’s a loud crashing sound coming from the kitchen. I stand up off my barstool, prepared for anything that comes through the door. I look to my right and see her, a terrified expression across her face. I place my hand at my side, right against my gun.

  Footsteps become heavier and lumbering as they approach us. I look over to her, motioning with my hands for her to get down. As I said, she’s no good to me if she’s dead.

  She follows my instructions and doesn’t say a word. When the door opens, I’m shocked to see who is standing there. None other than the man who’s supposed to marry her— Sergei Kolosov.

  “I hear from good friends that my pet is here,” he states, eyes venturing across the space.

  I chuckle in response. “I can assure you nothing of yours is here, Kolosov.”

  He makes his way down the length of the bar and comes out the other side, spotting Caprice attempting to hide under a table. Sergei’s eyebrows raise. “You said that nothing of mine is here and yet there is my pet.”

  My eyes meet hers and I watch as fear spreads over her. My eyes don’t waver from hers as I speak. “No, Sergei. Caprice doesn’t belong to you. She’s mine.” Caprice’s eyes go wide as she discovers that I know her true identity. “Now, if you’d be so kind as to get the fuck out of my pub, that would be great.”

  The tank of a man disregards what I’ve just told him and starts to head toward her. Who does he think he’s dealing with? I tsk, aim my gun, and fire into his right shoulder. Caprice screams and I watch as the bullet stuns him.

  “I don’t remember asking you. Do it now, asshole.”

  He turns back to me and lets out a sinister chuckle. “You really think that you will keep her from me, Irishman? What is she to you anyway?”

  I think about what it is I’m going to say, realizing that I don’t have any better options. “She’s only my wife. Now, run along and fuck off.”

  “Wife? Someone went off and got married, did they?” He glares at her with all his might. No way in God’s name would I allow her to leave with him.

  I sternly speak up. “Don’t you look at her. If you want to speak to her, you go through me.” I won’t have him scaring her.

  Sergei cackles. “You have won this round, Irishman, but don’t think you have won the war.”

  “Are you going to make me shoot you again? Leave,” I hiss, venom lacing my voice.

  He heads toward the front door, passing Caprice. I keep my gun trained on him the entire time until he’s in the doorway. “I will be back, and I won’t be alone,” he states as the door shuts firmly behind him.

  “Oh my God . . . what was that,” she mumbles. I can hear her voice cracking through her words as she speaks.

  “Exactly what you witnessed,” I wittily respond. “C’mon, we need to get a ring on your finger before both our asses are fucked.”

  8

  Blood makes you related. Loyalty makes you family.

  ~ The Don Consigliere

  Caprice

  “When did you find out?” I ask, shocked beyond belief at what transpired a few minutes ago. Liam said we needed to get going but I’m frozen in place and he doesn’t attempt to move me. I keep my hands positioned on the bar, trying to stop shaking. It’s been a little over two weeks and Sergei was able to figure out where I was. How? How did both of these men figure it out?

  Liam shuts his binder and approaches me with haste. “My father showed me your photograph last week when the rumors of your disappearance were confirmed. Imagine how shocked I was to see Amber’s face on my screen,” he states, obviously pissed that I lied. Although he did tell me the one thing he loathes more than anything is liars. However, I was lying to keep my head attached to my body. Hopefully, that’ll give me a little bit of leeway here.

  “I refuse to apologize. I did what needed to be done to ensure not only my safety but my sister’s as well,” I hiss. I must admit I’ve gotten quite a backbone since being out of my father’s grasp. If there’s one regret I have, it’s not doing this sooner.

  His eyes widen but I stare into his emerald green orbs. “I would never ask you to apologize for doing what kept you safe. I’m pissed you lied, but I completely understand your reasoning in doing it.”

  Wow. I have to confess I didn’t expect this sort of reaction. “I thought you were going to yell at me for not being honest.”

  Liam chuckles lowly. “Considering the circumstances, I’d be a damn tool to act that way. Now, we need to get going. I wasn’t joking when I said we needed to get a ring on your finger.”

  I draw my brows together. “W-wait. You were serious?”

  Liam grabs the briefcase from the bar and slides his binder inside before he zips it up. “What part did you fail to understand?”

  I think for a moment before responding. “I assumed you were only telling Sergei that to keep me safe. My only question is why you’d want to keep me safe in the first place.”

  Liam gives me the impression he’s going to laugh as his face shifts into a smirk, but he stops himself and speaks instead. “I’m afraid telling a fib to a man who is notoriously known for being a ruthless pig isn’t on my to-do list, love. It would only be a matter of time until he and every business associate in our world discovered we aren’t married. Even more than that, I’d be known as a liar, and if there’s one thing I’m not known for, it’s that.”

  I think about arguing with him, telling him this isn’t the way out of this situation. But I know I’m wrong. Quickly analyzing our options, which are shit, to begin with, I know we don’t have any other choice. If I’m going to stay out of the hell of a reality Father prepared for me, then I’d better take Liam’s hand and go do whatever it is he asks of me. I’m scared because I don’t know him. I know small parts of his personality and want to believe he isn’t a demon underneath all that
handsome . . . but who the hell knows anymore.

  Liam makes his way toward me and motions with his hand for me to follow, so I do. As usual, Luca’s SUV is sitting out front and he rolls down the window. “I was wondering when your asses would think clearly. Get in the damn, car. Now.”

  Liam opens the door to the back seat and I climb across to the other side, buckling my seat belt as he gets in and shuts the door behind him. “Drive to Father O’Sullivan’s cottage. Caprice and I need to handle some business.”

  Luca drives, raising a brow in the rearview mirror as he stares me down. “Caprice, hmm? I believe we only know one Caprice on our radar and she’s an Italian mafioso’s daughter.”

  “Yes, I’m Caprice DiGiovanni, okay,” I snap, rolling my eyes. I’m beyond frustrated because none of this was part of my plan. I didn’t expect to be caught this early on, and especially not under these circumstances.

  “Well, someone’s a spitfire,” Luca comments, glancing over to Liam, who has his attention directed outside the window. He’s staring up at the lights that illuminate downtown Dublin.

  Luca drives for about ten minutes until we’re outside of the city. Suddenly, everything becomes dark from the lack of buildings. You can see light from a distance in smaller towns, but the country is very close to the city here. I muster up the courage to speak and turn to Liam. “Who is Father O’Sullivan?”

  Liam redirects his attention from the window over to me, looking me over with glowering eyes. “He’s my family’s priest. We’re heading to his home now so we can get this enormous mess handled quickly. After he marries us, I’ll take you to the Mackenzie estate.”

  Whoa. This is all a bit much to handle right now. I knew I would be kept safe being in Ireland, but I never imagined Liam Mackenzie would be doing this. He’s really sticking his head out on the line for me. I’m so wrapped up in my mind that I’ve forgotten about the one other person who could be in danger. “We have to go back and get my sister,” I stammer out, looking to Liam with worry-filled eyes. “Alessandra is back at the apartment. If Sergei knew I was working for you, there’s a chance he could know Alessandra is here too. I have to assume he knows everything . . . and I can’t let my little sister get back into my Father’s clutches.”