Page 5 of Claimed By Daddy
“Don’t say it like that.” My face scrunches as I shake my head. “It makes us sound like we’retogether.”
“I have to tell her,” Cillian insists, ignoring my comment. “I told her I would explain… but the only way is to tell her everything.”
“Everything?” Nikolai turns to face us before leaning against the rail and taking a long, deep drag on his cigarette. “You can’t be serious.”
Cillian glances through the windows at his sister, and we follow suit. Her fiery red hair catches the sunlight, setting it ablaze. She looks softer than I expected—outwardly calm for someone ready to stab me only minutes ago. But I saw the panic in her emerald-green eyes. The confusion. The fear. Theway she stared at me like I was some kind of monster.Because I am.It’s a look that I should be used to, but I’m not.
“She deserves the truth.” Cillian sighs.
My gaze lingers on her, watching her round cheeks flush pink when I don’t look away. “She deserves to be protected from it,” I counter. “Telling her puts us all—all four of us—at risk. You know that.”
“She’s my sister, Enzo. I was honest with both of you from the beginning. I did this forher. Every drop of blood I spilled… Every lie I told… Every goddamn betrayal I committed. It’s building our empire, but you both know that for me, it started because of Eavan.” Cillian’s voice cracks. “You know what my father was going to do. You know the kind of man he’d promised her to.”
“We know,” I softly respond, holding Cillian’s stare. I don’t have a sister of my own, but I’ve spent my entire life in this world, and I know how dark it can be. How men can somehow treat their wives, daughters, and sisters like property, trading them away like cigars and wine to make a deal.
“She needs to know what we did,” Cillian insists again. “That I put two bullets in our father’s chest to keep him from signing her over to that woman-selling bastard. How we killed your fathers, too, so they couldn’t uphold their end of the deal.”
Flicking his cigarette butt over the terrace rail, Nikolai mutters, “We take this to the grave or risk being put in one.”
“Who the fuck is she going to tell?” Cillian spits. “I have her locked in here with the three of us to keep her safe. You think she’s going to break out and run to the cops? The feds? She’d never… and you both know it.”
“Wedon’t know what she’ll do,” Nikolai snaps, his tone sharp as he gestures between the two of us. “Wedon’t know anything about her, except she’s not like us, and she clearly doesn’t trust us.”
“She’sbetterthan us,” Cillian proclaims, his fists balling at his sides. “That’s the whole fucking point.”
Silence falls over the terrace as we weigh up his argument. I look through the glass again, finding Eavan leaning with her forearms resting on the counter, the pristine white cup cradled in her hands. Her lips are pressed together, and her brows are slightly drawn as she watches us intently.
“Tell her.” The words fall from my mouth as I continue to watch her. She shifts her weight, and the sun catches on the soft curve of her round cheeks and the delicate slope of her neck. She is undeniably beautiful. Untouchable and forbidden—Cillian would end me for trying. Yet, I can’t stop looking.
“This is fucking stupid,” Nikolai exhales. “Fucking tell her, I guess.”
“Thenwetell her.” Cillian pushes himself from the lounger and to his feet. “I know my sister. She’ll understand.” Nikolai and I follow him to the door, nearly bumping into him when he stops abruptly before opening it. “One more thing… Stop fucking looking at my sister like that,” Cillian demands, glaring at me.
I’m guilty as sin, and he’s clearly seen it. A lazy smirk tugging at the corner of my mouth, I ask, “Like what?”
“Likethat,” Cillian snarls, his jaw tightening when my eyes flick through the glass to her. Roaming down her body and over the roundness of her hips—curves that I haven’t been able to pull from my thoughts since seeing her draped over his shoulder.
“Noted,” I murmur.
“I mean it, Enz.” Cillian pushes harder, his body growing as rigid as his words at my insincerity.
“I know you do.”
“Then knock it off,” he insists. “She’s not like the girls that rotate through your bed.”
I don’t respond. I don’t need to. The more he forbids it, the more I enjoy stealing glances. She’s beautiful and unbelievably tempting to look at—nothing more.A little playful admiration.Stepping inside, my gaze drifts straight to the kitchen. To her.I’m only looking.
Eavan doesn’t flinch as we all step back inside and walk toward her, nor does she hide the fact that she was watching us the whole time. Her expression is neutral, but it’s the kind of even-handed look that takes effort—like she’s holding back any emotions bubbling under her surface.
Reaching the counter, Cillian leans on it with his forearms. “We need to talk.”
She raises a brow and snarks, “No fucking shit.”
“Sit.” Cillian gestures to the bar stool beside her at the island.
“I’ll stand,” she brattily refutes. He hesitates but doesn’t argue. Meanwhile, I bite my tongue and stare across the counter at her, wanting to pick her up and forcibly plop her perfectly round ass in the seat.
“This isn’t easy,” Cillian starts, rubbing a hand over his jaw.
