Only Yours (A McDade Brothers Novel Book 2)

by Scarlett Finn

  She felt better after that. Relaxed.

  In contrast, Nicole seemed to tense.

  Whisper did the driving while Bosco navigated. She wasn’t much of a driver and didn’t enjoy it. Only when Nicole started nitpicking again did Whisper tip her hat to Bosco’s strategy. If he’d been driving, separating the two of them would’ve been impossible.

  They drove up to a tall, sleek building made mostly of glass from what she could tell.

  “Wow,” Whisper said, trying to peer up at the place from their position parked in the pickup point outside. “Nice work if you can get it, huh? You sure he’s on the up-an’-up?”

  According to the quick history Bosco provided on the flight, Score was walking the straight and narrow… ish. He hadn’t wandered too far from his roots and did still do the occasional task for Burl while cleaning McDade money through the nightclub he apparently ran these days. But for a guy from their background, that was positively saintly.

  “He got a settlement,” Bosco said. “Something from Texas, don’t know the details, know it was enough to set him up.”

  “Apparently,” she said, snatching Bosco’s phone out of his hand. “Which apartment is his?”

  He’d put the address into the navigation on his phone. After committing it to memory, Whisper went to his browser to check out what she could about the building.

  During their journey, it had been the job of both of them to keep Nicole under supervision the whole time. That meant sharing a ladies’ room stall at the airport and refusing to let her use the restroom on the plane.

  Before leaving the house, Whisper packed some stuff for Nicole, ensuring to leave the woman’s phone off and in a drawer. They’d been careful to ensure she didn’t get hold of any phone, either from them, strangers, or payphones. Yeah, it had surprised Whisper too that there even were still payphones at the airport.

  “What are you looking at?”

  “There’s a bar in the building,” she said, reading real estate listings that included floor plans. “That’s fucking amazing.” Raising her attention to Bosco, who was trying to peer at the phone, she smiled. “When this is done, we should move somewhere with a bar in the building.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think Zay would be wild about that idea.”

  Turning Bosco’s phone off, Whisper freed herself from her seatbelt and reached over to grab her purse from the foot well under Bosco’s legs. The child locks were on the back doors, so Nicole was stuck inside until one of them let her out.

  “What are you doing?” Bosco asked when she pulled the door release. “We can’t park here. All our shit’s in the trunk, we’ll be towed if—”

  “Yeah, there’s a valet around the corner.” The one behind them that they’d driven past. Getting there would require a detour. “You should probably take it there.”

  “Uh, me?” he asked as she pushed her door open. “Where the hell are you going?”

  Whisper slung her purse strap over her shoulder. “I’m gonna get us inside. Take the stairs furthest from reception,” she said, winking at him then leaping out of the car to strut through the grand glass entrance.

  Elevators and stairwells were security protected. Residents fingerprints granted them access to their own apartments. Guests had to check in at reception, which was exactly what she planned to do. Going through another set of doors, Whisper pulled her top down to accentuate her cleavage when she registered a security guy was manning her destination on the right. According to the plans, if she went around behind that reception desk, she’d reach the access to both stairwells.

  To actually get in there though, she’d need what was dangling from the security guy’s belt, his master key. It came in the form of a plastic card, and would be easy enough to swipe. Instead of going to the front of the reception desk, Whisper went to the open end. The security guy spotted her, or rather her tits, but she pretended not to notice.

  Whisper pasted on a smile and propped an elbow on the opening to the reception desk. “Sugar, you couldn’t help a lady out, could you?” The guy’s eyes widened. “See… I had a little bit of fun with one of your residents last night…” Sashaying a little closer, she watched him tense, but he didn’t back off even when she got into his personal space. “You probably know him, on the third floor?”

  “David Lennox?”

  “Yes,” she said, boosting onto her tiptoes while allowing an excited giggle to escape her lips. “See, he said these things to me…” Whisper ran his tie through her fingers, one hand and then the other, easing herself closer. “He said all these wonderful things and I… You know how it is, I’m all alone and scared to trust, to believe he could really feel that way about me.”

  He frowned. “He’s married.”

  Dropping down, she snagged the keycard without breaking eye contact. “I knew it! It’s always the same with these guys!”

  The elevator opened at the other side of the reception desk, and he turned, presumably to see who was coming out of it. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Whisper reversed and swerved around the back of the desk to hurry down the narrow corridor and through the doors that would grant her access to the stairwells.

  The keycard got her through one door and then the other. Fitness was her life, in work and in her spare time. Her favorite form of exercise ended with an orgasm, which, unfortunately, wasn’t on the cards that day. Still, her condition meant making short work of the stairs.

  The security guy probably wouldn’t notice his keycard was gone until the next time he tried to use it. Just in case he was more astute than she gave him credit for and he didn’t just shrug off her disappearance, she wanted to be quick.

  Getting to Score’s floor took no time at all. The stairs were a better option than the elevator for a couple of reasons. First, it was easier to disappear from the security guy’s view. The front of the reception desk stood perpendicular to the elevators, giving him prime position to see everyone going in and out.

  The second reason was personal. Whisper didn’t want to announce herself and give Score a chance to draw first. If she could get a lay of the land, maybe listen in or figure her could-be host out, then she’d take every advantage open to her.

  Using the keycard, she opened the door from the stairwell into Score’s apartment, and was thankful that it didn’t beep or make any sound. Anything that could herald her arrival took away the element of surprise.

  Opening the door slowly, Whisper dropped her purse from her shoulder, using it to prop open the door. She wiped her fingerprints from the keycard with the hem of her dress then tossed it into the central void of the stairwell. It would fall and land somewhere, hopefully far from her, and maybe the guy would just think himself careless.

  Stepping over her purse to creep inside, Whisper listened, waiting for a clue as to where the residents were. A voice came from the room to her right. A female voice, singing something under her breath.

  She’d just pulled her blade from its sheath and felt her dress flutter back to its place when the door opened. The brunette who appeared was about Whisper’s height. Short, but pretty, and no good at hiding the fright that tinged her surprise. A stack of towels in the brunette’s arms provided her only shield. Hardly worthy.

  They stood staring for a few seconds until eventually the stunned woman’s attention dropped to the knife.

  “You are exactly what I need,” Whisper murmured.

  Lunging, she grabbed the woman and yanked her forward. The neatly folded towels scattered to the floor; the woman yelped as Whisper slammed her back against the wall.

  “I don’t know what—”

  “Where is he?” Whisper asked, pointing the tip of her blade to the groove at the base of the woman’s throat. “McDade. Where is he?” Credit to the brunette, she curved her lips into her mouth, showing a defiance Whisper wouldn’t expect between employee and employer. “You’re fucking him.” Whisper’s amused smile was quick. “You’re a lucky, lucky gal… I know that from experience.”
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  Before the brunette could reply, Whisper reached around to grab a handful of her hair at the back of her head. Keeping her prey just in front of her, she held the knife to the beauty’s throat.

  “Let’s go find him, shall we?” Whisper said, dragging the woman into a hallway.

  The plans told her there were bedrooms to the right, the living space was to the left. Eenie meanie… it wasn’t long after two in the afternoon, so she picked left.

  The brunette squealed as Whisper hauled her along. Light came from the massive windows circling the apartment. As the external view emerged, she stayed alert, expecting someone to be there. The first person she saw was some kind of stiff in a suit. He didn’t spot her, not until she went further and discovered two men sitting at the island in the kitchen. One shorter and younger than the other, she fixated on the other guy, the one nearest the window.

  Her target was the first to notice her, though it was just a fraction of a second before the younger one turned. Score rose from his stool, not showing any glimmer of reaction in his expression, yet Whisper could see him prickle. It was in his stance, across his broad shoulders. Zay was leaner than his older sibling, yet there was no mistaking they were brothers.

  Whisper couldn’t confuse his lineage. “Nice setup, McDade,” she said, yanking the woman closer to her, angling her hand to show she wasn’t afraid to use the blade.

  “Oh my God,” the younger guy said, obvious in his alarm. “Oh my God, Shyla! Let her go!”

  Without shifting his focus, Score put a hand to the younger guy’s shoulder, telling him to quiet. “What do you want, Doherty?” he asked, unequivocal bass in his tone.

  Whisper laughed, but gave the woman a shake when the stiff stood up too. “Zay said you were smart,” she said, drawing her eyes back to him. “He was right, you really do your homework.”

  “Where is he?” Score asked, probably expecting his brother to be on her heels or dead already.

  “Home last time I saw him,” she said.

  “What do you want?”

  “That any way to greet your new sister?” Whisper asked. “Heard a rumor if you met a Doherty you’d kill it.”

  “Exactly what I plan to do soon as you let go of my woman.”

  “Phoenix,” the Shyla woman said.

  He raised a hand. He didn’t even look at her, yet the woman silenced and stilled.

  “Shit you’re good,” Whisper said and shook the woman again. “Said you were fucking him, didn’t I?”

  “What do you want, Doherty?” Score asked with more force. “You just come here to fuck around?”

  “No. I came here because my husband told me to,” she said, tucking herself slightly more behind the woman and raising her blade higher, forcing Shyla’s chin up. “And to bring you a peace offering.”

  Stepping around the other man, he opened his hands at his sides. “What? I see nothing but a parasite.”

  “You don’t have to do this,” Shyla said, presumably talking to her. “We can work this out. Whatever you need, this isn’t the way to get it.”

  “Shy,” Score warned.

  “You’re scaring her,” Shyla said, surprising both her and Score.

  “Me?” he asked. “She’s the one holding a weapon.”

  “You are a weapon,” Shyla said. “And she’s alone.”

  Whisper tugged her back to murmur in her ear, “What makes you think that?”

  A few tense breaths past while she let that notion percolate through to all of them. The room remained on pause, the air thick with resentment and fear.

  No one would move. No one would break. They could’ve stood there for the rest of the night just staring each other out.

  The tension was only shattered when another voice joined them.

  “Fuck, seriously, Whis?”

  She stepped back enough to look sideways at the man stalking up the hall cajoling their captive along in front of him.

  Whisper smiled at the guy who’d sort of become her friend. “Come on, Bos, don’t pretend to be surprised.”

  He just glared and passed the end of the hall to come into the others’ view. With Nicole in front of him, Bosco kept hold of her shoulders and was tall enough to see over the beauty.

  Watching Score register Bosco’s identity and then catch sight of the woman was strangely satisfying.

  “Told you,” Whisper said. “Peace offering. You wanna say thank you or just lay waste to her?”

  “Who is that?” Shyla asked. “Who is she?”

  “Nicole,” Score exhaled her name.

  Nicole objected to Bosco’s grip. “You said he wouldn’t kill me!”

  Bosco held her firm. “You gotta hear me out, Score.”

  “I don’t gotta do nothing,” Score said, his chin descending an inch. “Not while the Doherty’s hands are on what’s mine.”

  Everyone turned to her. Well, everyone who could. Shyla was still shielding her.

  Whisper focused on Bosco. “What?”

  “If you were gonna kill her, you’d have done it already,” Bosco said. “Zay told you to play nice.”

  Those had been his last words to her after kissing her goodbye that morning. “He also promised to love, honor, and obey. Haven’t seen any evidence of the last one, have you?” she asked. Bosco tilted his head and raised his brows. “Fine.”

  Letting go of Shyla, Whisper held up her hands, though the knife stayed in one. The moment she was free, Score strode forward to get hold of Shyla. He cupped her face and crouched to make eye contact. He must have got some kind of answer because he quickly released her and swept her around behind him.

  With his sights set on her, Whisper didn’t back off or back down. She expected to be struck, expected pain, expected to be punished. She didn’t expect Bosco to step in front of her, using his whole body to block Score’s way.

  “Listen to me,” Bosco said.

  Score was forced to stop. As his jaw tightened, his nostrils flared, proving his anger was rich and hot.

  “What the fuck is he doing?” Score snapped at him. “Why the fuck would my brother—”

  “To protect her,” Bosco said. “Zay sent her here to keep her safe. Don’t make a liar out of him.”

  His attention shot up over Bosco’s head to land on her. Widening her smile, Whisper raised her hand in a finger wave.

  “Why is she wearing that?”

  Whisper hadn’t thought much about the ring Zay had put on her hand the previous day. Score must have noticed it during the threatening thing.

  “I’m already married to my McDade,” Whisper said, taking the ring from her finger. “Maybe you can use this to see if yours wants to marry hers.”

  “You’re a Doherty,” he snarled, but at least he hadn’t flattened Bosco to get to her.

  He could. If Score wanted to take Bosco down, he could. Whisper didn’t like agreeing with her husband. Yet with his obvious muscle, it was clear to her that Score could snap her in a second if he chose to.

  “Please don’t engage her,” Bosco said. “She has a problem with her mouth.”

  “My mouth is just fine,” Whisper said, strutting up to him to put an arm around his waist. “My McDade has no issues with my mouth. He loves it. Especially when it’s loving him.”

  “You’re disgusting,” Nicole muttered. “We should’ve strung you up the first day he brought you home.”

  After a slow blink, one side of Whisper’s mouth rose in a smirk that she landed on Nicole. “Sorry you picked the wrong McDade? Must upset you that you can’t complete the set. Two of five isn’t so bad. Mine is off the table, but you can take a run at the other two if you think you’ve got something they want.”

  “Shut up!” Nicole said, stomping her way. “Don’t you say a word!”

  “You want to fight?” Whisper asked, tucking the ring in Bosco’s pocket before backing away from him. “Oh, please, sweetheart, bring it.”

  “No one is going to fight,” Bosco said, hurrying away from Score to get be
tween her and Nicole. “You already know she can’t defend herself against you.”

  Whisper’s head snapped to the side to track Shyla’s movement in the kitchen, now on the other side of the island. “What is it with McDade men picking frail little delicate flowers…” She sighed. “Here’s hoping Madison puts up more of a fight.”

  “Play won’t do it,” Score said, side-stepping to interrupt her line of sight. “He won’t marry Madison Byrne.”

  His inner knowledge turned her smile sly. “Oh, you are good,” Whisper said. “Maybe I picked the wrong McDade.” Folding her arms, she glanced at Nicole. “I get it now. Good idea to shop around.”

  Nicole just glared.

  Bosco came to her side to grumble in her ear. “You want to turn it down?”

  Whisper patted his chest. “Don’t worry, honey. Score won’t beat me in front of his Shy.”

  She took pleasure in showing her brother-in-law her satisfaction.

  “Don’t bet on that,” he growled her way.

  “Maybe we should talk,” a lighter female voice came from the kitchen. Had to be Shyla. “They’ve come a long way.” Score turned. He and Shyla made eye contact. “If you still want to kill her after we’ve talked, you can do that. But your brother sent his wife to you for protection.”

  “Yeah,” Whisper said. While Bosco was distracted, she went over to hook an arm around Nicole’s neck. “And let’s be honest, of all your sisters-in-law, I bet you’d want to take this one down before me… Why do you think I brought her? I’ve wanted to kill her since the moment we met and her husband didn’t put me in prison… just saying.”

  “Shyla is right,” the stiff said. “We should talk… Find out what’s going on.”

  “I guess the Doherty figured out that Burl’s plan to hook up Play and Madison means she’s out.”

  “How come she’s Madison and I’m the Doherty?” Whisper asked, folding her arms. “You’re playing favorites.”

  Score’s gaze zeroed in on her. “Madison has never threatened someone I love.”

  “Because she left her threatening to her brothers… when she had them.” Whisper opened her arms. “I’m more hands on.”