Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Sloan could attest to how being around Jude was turning her into a fool for him. She felt like an addict, craving his presence, craving his hands on her body and his lips against her skin, muttering the filthiest of words. And that draw was without the love her sister professed for James Halloran.
If Carrigan felt an ounce of the attraction for James that Sloan felt for Jude…
She suddenly understood her sister’s choice all too well.
Chapter Fourteen
Jude knew he wasn’t alone the second he walked into his apartment. It was one of three he kept in New York, all under different names that shouldn’t have been connected to his real identity. He pulled his gun out of its holster and moved deeper into the apartment, bypassing the hallway that led to the two bedrooms and stopping just inside the doorway to the living area. It wasn’t large by any means, but the floor-to-ceiling windows let in plenty of light to see the man sitting in Jude’s favorite chair.
He pointed the gun at him, pausing when the stranger leaned forward and clicked on the light.
Dmitri Romanov.
Jude didn’t holster his gun, but once he determined the other man didn’t have a weapon pointed at him, Jude let his arm fall to his side. “Very dramatic. How long did you sit in the dark, waiting for me?”
Dmitri gave a small smile. “Ah, but that would be telling. I have it on good authority that you’re in the neighborhood to see me.”
Goddamn it, Stefan. “I came to deliver my message in person, since you seem to have an issue understanding it over the phone. Sloan O’Malley is off-limits. Go find your petty revenge somewhere else.”
“Petty revenge, is it?” Dmitri laughed softly. “What is that saying? Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. You of all people shouldn’t dismiss revenge.”
“It’s different.” He wasn’t forcing anyone else to be part of his revenge. Jude had enough shit on his plate with the Sheridans. He didn’t need to borrow vendettas and the trouble that came with them.
“Is it?”
He stroked the trigger of his gun. “Sloan has no part of this. You and I can reach an understanding in regards to Sheridan, but you’ll keep her out of your plans.”
“It’s not your decision to make.”
Jude considered him, pausing to look around the living room again. No one else here. “What’s to stop me from putting a bullet between your eyes and ending the threat to my woman?” My woman. Fuck, why the hell did I just say that?
Dmitri, that crafty bastard, caught his slip. He raised his eyebrows. “Yours, is she? Now that is interesting.”
“On second thought.” Jude shifted his stance, sighting down his gun. “I think I’ll just kill you and be done with it. I don’t need your permission or your money to take out Colm Sheridan. I bet Aiden O’Malley would send me a Thank You card.”
“With your dirty MacNamara hands all over his sweet and innocent sister? I think not.” Dmitri laughed again, and this time it actually sounded real. “I doubt you can see the irony from where you’re standing, but it truly is amusing in the extreme.”
“I’m bored of your games.”
“Then stop playing.” Just like that, the amusement disappeared from Dmitri’s face and he straightened, his hands carefully set on the arms of the chair and away from his sides. “You’re a MacNamara. The O’Malleys might have been just getting started in the game when Colm Sheridan made the move to clear out your family, but the cruelties of your father are well-known. You’re as bad as a Romanov in their minds—worse in some ways because you might actually have a claim to the power scheme in Boston if you were an ambitious man.” He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. “Are you an ambitious man, Jude?”
“I have my own plans. I don’t need your shit fucking them up.”
Dmitri’s gaze flicked to the gun and away. “I’m an ally—currently—and you seem to have a shortage of those. Think about it. I’ll even let you keep the O’Malley girl if that will sweeten the pot.”
“How charitable of you.” Jude knew what he was doing. The man wanted him for some purpose, and he was willing to bargain to get Jude on his side. He took a careful step back into the hallway, keeping Dmitri in sight. “I’ll consider your offer.”
“I’m not the enemy here. The O’Malleys may like to paint me the villain, but they put themselves in this position. They didn’t honor their word. At the very first opportunity, they turned on me without warning.”
And Dmitri was just an innocent? Doubtful. The man was a wolf who didn’t bother to wear the sheep’s clothing. Jude holstered the gun. “If I see a single one of your men near Sloan, they’re dead.”