Red. (Den of Mercenaries #1)(58)

She was also sure that she would have fingerprint-like bruises later on.

“Understand something, Reagan. I was trying to give you time, work through whatever bullshit you needed, but you don’t seem to be grasping what exactly it is I’m telling you. Now, be a good girl and do as I say, or I’ll give you a reason to be scared.”

Smashing his lips against her, he held himself there for a moment before the licking the seam of her lips, laughing once he finally let go and she got the chance to move away and wipe her mouth with the back of her hand.

Satisfied for the time being, Liam drove off without further incident, finally pulling into the lot of an old warehouse near the docks. Men in hardhats walked around the place, but they looked a little too on edge for them to actually work there, and if Reagan wasn’t mistaken, a number of them she had seen around Rourke a time or two.

While she might not have ever come to this place with Liam, she still noticed the way people stood a little straighter, walked a little faster, and tried to avoid him altogether. A couple of black sedans were parked near the garage bay, at least three men standing beside each, and when Liam parked in line beside them, they were the only few that didn’t look terrified of him.

Liam was out of the car first, circling around to open the door for her as well.

With a single look, he quelled whatever argument she thought to give when he reached for her hand, keeping hold of it as he walked them across the lot, not speaking to anyone as he went, even if they spoke to him.

His grip on her hand tightened slightly as he headed toward their destination with very little care as to what was happening all around them. Reagan, on the other hand, was taking everything in. At the very least so she wouldn’t have to think about what awaited her across the warehouse floor.

But she didn’t have too much time to prepare herself before she was standing inside an office with Liam at her side, his father and brother before her.

Upon first glance, Reagan could definitely see where Liam and Rourke had gotten their looks and their temperament. The man seemed to have a permanent scowl etched onto his face, and though he attempted a smile—for her sake, she thought—it only managed to make him look mildly annoyed. Though he was probably a good thirty years their senior, he still had a youthful look to his features, and had the build of a man that still worked out constantly.

Though Liam spoke of his father often, she didn’t know very much about him, only that he hadn’t approved of Liam and Rourke’s presences stateside—Liam and Rourke constantly argued about it. Rourke would have much preferred being back in Dublin, standing at his father’s side, but Liam had wanted something more, and right in Hell’s Kitchen was where he had found that ‘more,’ apparently.

“Who is this?” he asked, turning dark eyes on Liam. The question was simple enough, but the tone in which he used spoke of his true feelings.

She wasn’t the only one that didn’t want her there.

“Reagan, Donovan McCarthy. Da, Reagan, my girlfriend.”

Judging from the blank stare he was sending in Liam’s direction, he was not impressed. She couldn’t decide whether she was happy or upset about this.

“Now isn’t the time for this,” Donovan said evenly. “We have business to discuss.”

Liam nodded once, leaning over to whisper in Reagan’s ear, “Go sit in the corner and keep your mouth shut.”

Deciding it was better not to argue this with him, she did as he said, grabbing a chair along the way. The moment she was across the room, they all spoke in hushed tones, but even as they tried to pretend she didn’t exist, she could still hear bits and pieces of their conversation.

“Are you sure you can trust him?” Rourke asked his father, his attention solely on him though Liam glanced in his direction.

Reagan wasn’t sure who the ‘him’ was Rourke was referring to, but she tried not to seem like she was listening too closely.

“This deal has been in the works for over a year, boy. It’s too late to not go through with it now.”

“But that doesn’t mean that you have to meet with him alone,” Liam interjected. “Let one of us come with you, for security at the very least.”

“I already agreed to his terms,” Donovan said carefully. “The moment I do something he doesn’t approve, there’ll be a problem.”

While there was no one around in Hell’s Kitchen the brothers seemed to fear, it was apparent that there was someone the father was afraid of. Reagan was not usually one for violence, but if pissing off whoever Donovan planned to meet with would mean someone would come after them, she hoped they f*cked up badly.

She was contemplating this when there was a sudden shout from someone outside the office, and she had barely turned to look in that direction before an explosion sounded, shaking the very foundation of the warehouse before shots could be heard over the sounds of yelling.

The minute the first gunshot rang out, Reagan froze in horror, even as everything around her seemed to speed up. Liam, Rourke, and Donovan were on their feet in seconds, guns out, firing back though they couldn’t possibly see who, or even where, the shots were coming from.

When a mirror shattered next to her head, however, she unfroze, dropping down to the floor as she quickly scrambled away from the chaos, towards an exit door she had seen in her look around the place.

She had just made it through the cracked door when a pair of powerful arms lifted her off the floor, yanking her back against a firm chest. As she took a breath to scream, a hand clamped down over her mouth, muffling the sound.