Nix. (Den of Mercenaries Book 3)(15)

His hand was rough, not like the pudgy, sweaty fingers of men that Lawrence used to have around—there was strength in his hold.

“Kit Runehart,” he answered in return, sweeping his thumb over the back of her hand, and when he did, she yanked her hand free, tucking it close to her side.

She was almost embarrassed by the knee-jerk reaction, not liking the idea of him seeing weakness in her.

He wasn’t offended by what she did, quite the opposite it seemed as he said, “Apologies.”

Luna felt the stupid urge that she should apologize to him, as though she had done something wrong, but she tamped down that urge as deep as she could.

Her brain was only just now catching up to him being the one that Uilleam had meant for her to find should she need anything.

Now seeing him, she almost wished that Uilleam had meant one of the guards, or an assistant or something.

Kit made her nervous and she hadn’t the slightest idea why.

Realizing that she hadn’t really answered his question, she added, “He brought me here.”

“He did?”

“The Kingmaker?”

She formed her answer as a question, not sure what name he knew the other man by. Though Uilleam had given her his name, no one else seemed to use it.

She wasn’t sure if that was by request, or whether they just didn’t know it.

An emotion flashed in Kit’s eyes. “That’s what they call him anyway. I understand he brought you to my home, yes, but I’m not sure as to the reason why.”

Luna wasn’t even sure of that answer herself. He spoke of her doing something for him, but he had also mentioned that it wouldn’t be this day that she performed the task—truthfully, he hadn’t even said when, exactly, he would need her to do it.

“I bought her,” Uilleam said, his voice carrying from down the hall as he approached, a glass in hand.

If she thought Kit would look unsettled by this, he didn’t. The expression on his face made her think this wasn’t a rare occurrence. “For what purpose?”

“I didn’t purchase her for my own benefit, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Kit’s eyes flickered to her a moment before he said, “Very little doesn’t benefit you in some way.”

As Uilleam came closer, and they stood nearly side by side, she could see it.

The cut of their jaws …

The impressive heights …

And though their eye colors differed, there was a similarity to their eye shape and the dark lashes that lined them both.

Brothers, she realized. They were brothers.

A muscle worked in Kit’s jaw as he asked, “She’s a little young for what you need, isn’t she?”

There was a dark sort of humor to Uilleam’s expression. “Should I be asking that of you?”

He said something else, something she didn’t understand since he spoke in a different language. Kit answered back in the same, his tone gruff.

Whatever exchange they were having finished as Kit sliced his hand through the air, silencing whatever Uilleam thought to say next. While Lawrence had seemed to quake at the thought of upsetting Uilleam, Kit didn’t seem to feel such fear.

“Excuse us, Luna,” he said, looking from his brother to her, the colorful accent that marked his words drawing the syllables of her name out. “Continue as you were.”

The pair walked off without another word, leaving her standing there looking after them. Once they were out of sight, however, she quickly turned back the way she came and closed herself into her room, thinking it was probably best to stay out of sight.

And because she was still tired from the journey and her lack of sleep, Luna made sure each of the doors to the room was locked before she climbed up onto the bed and willed herself to sleep.



It wasn’t until hours later that Luna came awake with a start, sitting bolt upright as her eyes scanned the room. In her delirium, it all came rushing back.

The auction.

Her life being sold to a man that seemed a conundrum.

And Kit.

There was also Kit.

A minute at most she had spent in his presence and she still felt … affected by him. But her interest in him, and even his brother, was not sexual. She could admit that they were both handsome, more so than most men she had ever seen in her short life, but she didn’t feel any desire toward them.

She didn’t think she could feel desire at all, not after everything she had been through.

Mostly, she was curious.

Curious how a man as young as Uilleam could spark subservience in men like Lawrence. He was just so young, only old enough to be her older brother, yet he seemed fearless, content in the knowledge that he would get his way.

And then there was Kit.

What did it say about the man who wasn’t afraid of the one everyone seemed to fear?

Did that mean he was worse?

But she couldn’t possibly answer that question, not when she wasn’t even sure what Uilleam was made of.

Not entirely.

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Luna wasn’t sure how much time had passed since she had watched the pair of brothers walk away, but she guessed several hours since the room was dark, and the sunlight that had shone through the French doors was now absent as the moon hung heavy in the night sky.

Her stomach rumbling from the lack of food, she made a stop in the bathroom, washing her face free of the remaining traces of makeup she had worn. Looking at her reflection now, she still looked haggard, her eyes a little too sunken, her skin a touch too pale, but beneath that layer, she saw a glimmer of hope.