Page 5 of Sapphire

I grinned up at her, tasting blood on my teeth. "Aw, princess. I didn't know you cared."

She scowled down at me. "Fuck you, Paddy. I knew the Irish had more balls than brains."

I laughed, the sound wet and gurgling in my throat. "See, now I know you care. You’re already discussing my balls.”

She made a sound somewhere in the back of her throat, her nails digging into my scalp. "One of these days, Seamus, I swear you’ll strangle yourself with that overinflated ego of yours."

She knew my name!

I just grinned wider, letting my eyes drift closed as the rumble of the engine and the warmth of her body lulled me into darkness. "Looking forward to it, princess. Looking forward to it."

***

When I woke again, it was to the antiseptic tang of a hospital room and the beeping of machines. I was bandaged and stitched and pumped full of enough painkillers to fell a fucking elephant, but I was alive.

She was there when I opened my eyes, curled up in a chair by my bedside like a prickly, mutinous cat. Her wounds had been tended to, her skin scrubbed clean of blood and grime, but she still looked like hell from the ordeal she'd endured. But fuck, those sapphire eyes were still blazing.

"You're awake."

"So it would seem," I rasped back, my throat like sandpaper. "How long was I out?"

"Two days." She shifted in her chair, wincing as the movement pulled at her injuries. "The doctors weren't sure you'd make it. Said you'd lost a lot of blood, that the damage was extensive."

I grunted, struggling to sit up against the pillows. "Takes more than a few measly bullets to put me down for good. I'm a tough old bastard, haven't you heard?"

She snorted, her lips twitching in what might have been the ghost of a smile. "I've heard you're a reckless, pigheaded fool with a death wish. Guess I can't argue with that assessment now."

I clutched my chest in mock affront, hiding a grimace as the motion sent a lance of pain through my body. "You wound me, princess. Here I thought we were having a moment."

"A moment?" She raised one brow, her eyes glinting with something that might have been amusement. "In your dreams, Paddy. I told you, I don't owe you shit. Not for the rescue, not for taking a few bullets on my behalf. That's your job, isn't it?”

I laughed, ignoring the way it made my ribs scream in protest. "Aye, that's me. Seamus at your service. Ready and willing to slay for the low, low price of a kiss and a kind word."

She scoffed, rolling her eyes so hard I feared they might fall out of her skull. "The only thing you'll be slaying is my patience.”

I grinned. “You’re a fucking warrior queen. I’d slay for you any day."

She leaned forward, her gaze searching mine with an intensity that made my breath catch in my throat.

"I won't thank you," she said, her voice low. "Not for coming for me, not for spilling your blood on my behalf. It was a debt I never asked for, a risk you had no business taking."

I nodded, holding her gaze without flinching. "I know. But I'd do it again, a thousand times over.”

She stared at me for a long, loaded moment, her expression unreadable. And then, slowly, she leaned back in her chair, a rueful smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"All the Irish are crazy."

I felt a fierce, savage joy in my chest. I was a man worthy of her. Now I just have to make her see that.

Chapter 6: Kamilla

Cara radiated power, the heat felt from where I sat across from her in her office. She had left me alone for the last few days. She had approached me only once to tell me Natasha was safe. She had sent her to the Irish office in Chicago and handed me a phone with her number programmed. I had spent hours talking to her and was reassured she was safe. That her life would never be normal if she returned to New York. I was relieved to hear se was making plans on starting school under a unassumed name and that the Irish were treating her as one of their own.

Until Piotr was under control, Natasha knew she could not return her.

Now I was in the office, one on one with Cara. I was waiting for the price she expected me to pay for what she had done for myself and Natasha.

"Kamilla Sokolova," she said. "I've heard a great deal about you. Some of it even true, I imagine."