Illicit Temptation (Astoria Royals #3)

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Trace

N othing can collapse the ego of a six-five, ex-military bodyguard like his mum. Christ, that was embarrassing.

We drank more tea, and I gave them a bland update on Griffin and his brothers. Nothing too detailed or the woman will drag me back to Waterford.

The lure of the casino several feet away and Mum’s wee-bit gambling addiction won over worrying about me. She and Dad practically ran to the gaming tables, my drunken marriage mistake to Shea-Lynne O’Rourke hopefully forgotten.

As I walk the strip alone, texts with Shea confirm that she and Jillian are having drinks with that Trista woman and that the guards are protecting them.

Shea begged me to take a night off and to have dinner with my parents on her. Yeah, like that’s how I want to spend my night. Fuck, I’m crawling into her bed later to punish that fresh mouth with my cock.

“Don’t move,” a raspy male voice crawls across my shoulders.

Warm breath on my neck and the unmistakable feeling of a gun barrel at the base of my spine registers.

“Keep walking,” the voice says, nudging me ahead.

From behind my shades, I see nothing but tourists. No cops. Where did they all go? I passed at least a dozen of them on my way here.

“Stop.”

I look up and mutter Gaelic curses under my breath taking in the monolith kissing the clouds. The Millennium Plaza. Nico Scava’s hotel and casino. One of them. I heard he lives in this one.

And the reason there aren’t any cops around .

“Inside, Quinlan.”

Aww fuck. “Like I have a choice,” I mutter.

Inside, I glance around for exits, or anyone who looks undercover, but I’m shoved past the gaming floor, where two other men join my captor friend here.

“Where is Mr. Scava?” I don’t have to say Nico because Jillian killed his only brother Lazaro.

She’ll be a fun sister-in-law.

“Waiting for you,” the guy with the gun says with a disgusting cigarette cough that makes nails on a chalkboard sound like Beethoven.

They steer me to an elevator, and I keep my head held high. One of them takes out a card and programs the panel.

40 th Floor.

Great, the top floor. They can throw me to my death.

The door opens, and Nico Scava himself is standing there. He grabs me, and with a gun to my head, he pulls me into the Castle Poker room. The two guys who joined Cigarette Breath in the elevator stand by the windows with machine guns strapped to their chests.

“You’re Shea O’Rourke’s bodyguard?” Scava asks gruffly.

“Aye,” I reply. But does he know Shea and I are married? I shrug away from Scava’s hold. “Pretty hostile treatment for a man who sent someone to stalk my client.”

Scava eyes me up and down, wondering if his idiot henchmen took my gun. Which they did not. “And you attacked my guy.”

That fucker Delano tattled.

“I’ll do whatever I have to in order to protect my client.” My brain calculates the time it will take to pull my gun and shoot Scava before I’m riddled with bullets.

Life is about risks and choices.

“Delano saw you fucking her, bodyguard.” Scava closes in on me.

I’m nearly certain that’s not true. He assumed it. “Only if he has X-ray vision. He never got into her house. He’s lying.”

“You would know. You all lie to save your asses.”

“Now that we’ve established that, can I go?” I point back at the elevator. “Shea is in town. I’ll go get her for you.”

His jaw muscle jumps. He’s hesitating. There’s a reason I’m here and she’s not. He’s got enough men to get her. Yet, he sent one for me.

The element of surprise is the best weapon when you’re outnumbered. With the speed and precision I’m known for, I grab Nico’s gun, yank it under my arm, and with his finger on the trigger, I blow a hole in each of the two men with machine guns.

As they fall to the ground without discharging a single round, I spin to face the one man left using Scava as a human shield.

“I’m one man away from making this a fair fight,” I say to the lone guard.

Hands trembling, he lowers his weapon. Keeping Scava’s gun, I let him go, but keep it pointed at him.

“Do you know it’s a death sentence to point a gun at a don?” he barks.

“I don’t give a fuck. You dragged me up here. Why?”

“Payback for Delano. I protect my men.” He steps back, pushing hair from his face.

Eyeing two dead goons on the floor, I say, “Not very well.”

“You won’t get out of here alive,” the man behind Nico hisses.

“Do you think the O’Rourkes will hand over their prized sister, their only sister, to you when they find out you killed her guard for beating up someone who broke into her property?” I sneer .

Scava thinks about that and holds his hand up to the man who can be a hero.

“Like I said, she’s here in town,” I repeat. “I’ll go get her for you.” Not.

He smiles. “I cannot marry her right now.”

I point the gun from him to his guard. “Why not? What’s with the June 30 th deadline?”

“You and Delano had a little chat.” He signals his guard to lower his gun. “I’m settling my brother’s estate. Who was killed by an O’Rourke.”

Jillian wasn’t technically an O’Rourke at the time, but Eoghan had claimed her, so Scava’s statement has validity and a reason to seek revenge. Only, Kieran thinks Scava is an ally.

“Before I get married, I need my finances buried. Kieran is demanding a pre-nup.”

“Shea is a billionaire in her own right,” I state the obvious.

“Which will get signed over to me.” He rubs his fingers together.

“She’ll never agree to that.” I squeeze the gun handle, growing angrier by the second.

“Her pharmaceutical records show she takes Ambien. And she reported sleepwalking episodes where she had no memory. I now know how to get her to agree to anything .”

Fuck. With a jaw so tight it can snap, we size each other up.

“Why Shea O’Rourke?” I ask.

Nico tilts his head. “I do not need a woman in my bed, I assure you. Her brothers want me to protect her from Archer Crest. And I need an Irish princess to round up all the savage brats hiding in the shadows of my city. They’re staining it with their primitive ways. Marrying Shea will force them to bend the knee to me after I kill their leadership. Then I’ll consolidate their disorganized but very profitable businesses.”

“Thanks for the info, I’ll make sure to pass it along to my bosses how you really feel about the Irish.” I glance around. “Or was that a secret how you want to spill Irish blood?”

Nico’s phone buzzes on a table nearby. People are watching us from these cameras. I’m surprised there aren’t guns in the ceiling lowered to take me out. He looks down at his phone and then his eyes bulge before meeting mine.

“Irish Defence Forces. Private security for cabinet ministers. And you took down the Leinster House terrorist cell,” he spits out my CV with a tone of...appreciation.

I turn my head to the men bleeding on the carpet. “And these two?”

“Expendable.”

Killing Shea’s guard unprovoked won’t bode well with the O’Rourkes. There’s not much I can say to stop Scava from wanting the match with Shea. I’m ready to blurt that she can’t have kids, but he’ll get Kieran on the phone so fast with that news and make the O’Rourkes look like deceitful pricks. My world will blow up even faster. Shea will be furious with me for breaking that confidence and to a stranger no less.

With all the secrets out, she’ll punish me and tell her brothers about the marriage. My ace card with her, the bond I’m keeping firmly in my grasp to hold on to the woman I love, will be wiped off the map in a matter of days.

Scava might still consider her a valued match for the Irish connection and say to hell with an heir. Or subject Shea to all kinds of medical procedures to have one. Fuck no. Either way, he’s not getting his hands on her .

“As you can see, I have some cleanup to do.” Scava moves aside, giving me a clear path back to the elevator.

Keeping my face stern, I give his gun back to him.

Nodding, I strut to the door.

Seconds later, Scava calls out my name. “Quinlan.”

I freeze and turn around. “What?”

“Keep that cunt warm for me.”

“Oh, I will,” I growl and get into the elevator.