so straight-laced that I found this side of him almost shocking. He was breaking a rule, but in his own way.
I pointed toward the picture on his desk. “Mari?”
“No. It’s of Mam and Da.”
“Liar!” I hissed.
“You tell her and I swear—”
“I won’t.” I nudged him in the side. “I wouldn’t do that to you. But I have to say, this side of you is new. I need to dig a little deeper and see what else you’re hiding in that shiny office.”
His eyes softened but his shoulders stayed tense. They were almost up to his neck. And even though Raff walked ahead of us, I knew he was listening. How could he not?
“Yo, Raff,” I said, sidestepping a splatter of red. “You have blood on your shiny, expensive floor.”
Harrison turned to look at me and gave me what I called our “mam” face. His lips were pinched and his eyes were narrowed, trying to communicate that I needed to shut up. But my nerves were getting to me. I didn’t have a good feeling about all of this, but I didn’t know what to do.
I couldn’t leave my brother here to deal with these men. Raff was somewhat genial, but he didn’t seem like the kind of man you fucked with.
Cash Kelly?
Run and hide seemed like the only appropriate words after he turned off his spinning, hypnotizing, charming green eyes. There was a problem with that plan, though. Running and hiding didn’t work on men like him. He’d always hunt for what was his.
“Just another day at work,” Raff said, as though blood splatters were no big deal. “Susan—the secretary out front—she’ll deal with it.”
“Yeah, and turn it into a creature from the faerie forest,” I muttered.
“Hey!” Raff stopped suddenly. “You’re into Rulers of the Underworld?”
“You know it?”
“Of course!”
“No way!” I said.
“Do faeries love vampires?”
“Everlasting.” I pointed at him, repeating what the vampire told his faerie love interest. “I bet you’re team vampire!”
“How old are you two?” My brother said, cutting us off. He was on edge, his temper flaring, back to being grumpy Indiana Jones. “Faeries. Vampires. Underworld. Cut it out. I’m in no mood for this.”
Raff scrunched his face at Harrison’s attitude, making me laugh, but it sounded off. My neck felt hot, but not from anger. It was from something else. On the other side of the door, in an office, sat the man who had wanted to see me.
The idea of him being so close made me anxious.
Part of me wanted to bolt and never look back. The other part wanted to find out why he made me want to run.
The same part of me that commanded my feet to deliver me to him also wanted to see those eyes again. Hear the way the words rolled out of his mouth. Smell him in the air. Take him in my lungs. My hand wanted to brush up against his, just to see what would happen. My heart seemed to melt into my skin when I was around him, like it ached to see how his skin would feel next to mine, whether the weird connection—or was it attraction?—ran deeper than flesh and bone.
The sane part of me warned that he was up to no good, but another part, the rebel in me, wanted to find out more about him. About why I hated him so much when there wasn’t a good reason for it, except for the fact that he was able to get underneath my skin and steal all of my thoughts.
He’d been stealing them ever since our meeting at the cemetery, and I knew it wasn’t all because of my talk with Roisin and what I’d asked her to do.
That control he seemed to have over me already pissed me off. I wasn’t the type of girl to give my heart away so easily. I’d always believed my heart had to be worked for, and then I’d give it away when I was ready.
When Cash Kelly looked at me, though, my heart felt like it was already gone.
But it made no sense, because I’d already promised my heart to Scott Stone. I was wearing his ring—that spoke volumes. Even Harrison had looked shocked when he saw it on my finger when he came to pick me up.
“Shit’s getting real,” he’d said, nodding to my left hand. “I’m going to tell the boys soon. I have to.”
The Ryan Boys. My brothers.
I looked at the door, only prepared to deal with one situation at a time.