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“Jeremy? Is that who you are going to see?”
Liam gives me a pleading look, wanting to get out of this conversation quickly. Good. I want to throw him out on his ass right now.
“Enough, Liam. Get out,” I say in a low voice.
“Kieran, we have to-”
“I said get out.” I say as I grab him by the arm and practically shove him toward the door.
Liam stumbles. I didn’t mean to be so forceful, but he needs to get out right this minute. My cousin gives me a look that’s both surprise and amazement at how I’m handling the situation. “Alright, alright, I’m going,” he says as he lifts his hands up in mock surrender. He glances back over his shoulder as I wrench the door open for him. “Nice meeting you, Ada.”
His voice is barely a whisper at the end.
I’ll feel badly about how I treated him later, but right now I need him to have just a little bit more common sense than he usually does.
The moment he’s out, I shove the door shut behind him with a resounding thud.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ADA
Ican’t do this. I can’t let this happen. I cannot stand here and allow him to leave and I can’t stop him either.
Tears well in my eyes and it’s all I can do to keep them from falling. Every part of me wants to dissolve into a messy puddle on the floor so that this won’t hurt as badly as it does. Why is it that I just keep feeling helpless? Does he get some sick pleasure from making me feel utterly useless? For a man who claims to want to help me retake my power -- he just keeps taking it away.
“Tell me that I heard him wrong.” I demand the moment that we are alone together. “Tell me that you aren’t planning on killing Jeremy Rizzo!”
Kieran doesn’t answer me. Somehow that’s a million times worse than if he had just confirmed it.
“Why?!” I shout, the tears threatening to fall all over again. “I’ve known him since childhood, Kieran! He’s myfriend!”
It’s not a word that I use lightly. I don’t just call anybody that. Clearly, Kieran is well aware of how much the people in my life matter to me.
Not only that, he’s the sole heir of the Rizzo empire. His father has a business empire in New York City and is one of my brother’s closest allies in Cosa Nostra. He’s agoodman.
I don’t care about any of the shady dealings that he and my brother might have executed behind closed doors - he’s gentle and soft spoken. He’s a kind soul who doesn’t deserve to be killed. He won’t just be another casualty of war. I will not allow it.
The tension in Kieran’s shoulders seems to grow tighter. He stands at his full height, his chin slightly raised like he doesn’t have to answer to me or explain himself.
Why bother with everything that happened between us this morning if he is just going to stand there and insist that I'm nothing more than a pawn for him to use. The emotional whiplash is crippling me!
I move closer to him, standing between him and the door and I shake my head.
“No.” I say as firmly as I possibly can. “I won’t allow you to do this. I won’t let you hurt him.” My chin dimples as I scream at him. I don’t know how I’m going to stop him but I desperately need to figure something out. Quickly.
I glance around us to see if there is somehow something that I can use to hurt him, or to stop him from walking out of this place.
Kieran’s head tilts to the side, his gaze almost one of pity. When he speaks, it’s almost a whisper. “You can’t stop me.”
It would have hurt less if he had hit me.
Just those simple words shatter something in my chest. My knees feel weak, like I’m standing on jelly. “So I’m just supposed to sit here, and you’re going to go and kill my friend? I will know that you have Jeremy’s blood on your hands!”
Kieran doesn’t say anything at all.
“Please don’t do this. I’m already here.” I plead. My pride is taking a hell of a blow but if it will make him reconsider what he’s about to do to my friend, then it will be more than worth it. “Please, Kieran. I’m all the leverage you’re going to need.”
I reach forward and take his hand. I pull it into my chest and hold it there with both hands.
