“Actually, scratch that. Sheisfor sale. Just not to you. And definitely not to your billionaire boyfriend.”
Shannon’s breath caught. Her jaw slackened.
Billionaire?
“What?” she whispered. “He’s not…”
Niall’s grin widened. Ugly. Triumphant.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t know,” he chuckled. “Of course you didn’t know the McGraths are gangsters. Poor little Shan, living in fantasy land with your white knight and no clue what he really gets up to. Oops. Did I just plant a bomb in your perfect love story?”
He cackled, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. The wet sound made her stomach churn.
“Fuck you,” she said, voice shaking with rage.
He stepped closer.
The stench of his cologne hit her, arrogance soaked in alcohol and sweat. Her stomach turned, her head swam, and she staggered a few steps, legs weak.
Niall knew something about Jamie she didn’t.
46
Shannon
“Before you offer me your heartfelt condolences,” Niall said. “I already know my dad wanted to hand this place over to his little protégé. The great fucking Shannon Colter.”
A slithery smile split his lips, his eyes flicking from her mouth to her chest with a deliberate, lecherous pause.
“It’s a shame he never got the chance to update his will,” he added, stepping closer. “But don’t worry—I’ve got an idea.”
She didn’t move, not yet. Not while he advanced like a predator drunk on his own poison.
The dark crescents beneath his bloodshot eyes pulsed with something feral. His lips were cracked, bleeding at the corners, and a fine dusting of white powder clung to the wiry hair in his nostrils.
“You run the yard for me,” he said, almost brightly, “and I’ll let you stay. You can be with Trixie on one condition.”
His pupils twitched, flickering with every blink. One hand trembled at his side.
“Tell Jamie McGrath to fuck off. I don’t want to see him around here again, and you won’t run off to his place either. You work here. You live here. My rules.”
The silence stretched. Shannon inched back, spine brushing the sharp edge of the open drawers behind her.
“No fucking chance,” she ground out, jaw locked.
He moved fast and one long stride, he was in her space. Inches from her face. His breath stank of chemicals and ego. She had nowhere to go.
“Fine,” he snapped. “Get the fuck offmyproperty. And if you go near Trixie, I’ll break your fucking hands.”
That sleek smirk fuelled a fire in her chest so hot it made her vision blur.
She shoved him hard, every ounce of strength she could muster behind it. He stumbled back a few short steps, unsteady.
“I can’t believe a man like Harry ended up with a waste of skin like you for a son,” she snarled.
His mouth flattened, eyes switching to flat and dark like steel. He jammed the bag of powder back into his jeans like he was stuffing down his rage.
“My da thought I was a loser, Shannon,” he said, quieter, dangerous. “He never looked at me like he looked at you. You were everything I wasn’t. Every time he saw me, he sawher. That bitch who left him.”
