Page 79 of Stolen Rebel

But he doesn’t need to know any of that.

“I can show you around, if you want.” Darragh elbows me, and I swear Liam growls, an actual, honest-to-God growl.

I hide my smile behind a round of toast.

“Thank you, but I’d like some time by myself, away from…” I gesture at the table.

Sorcha picks my meaning. “Aye. The Mahoneys can be a lot. Not that it matters why you want a break. You don’t owe any of us an explanation.”

Patrick side-eyes her, so she wags her almost-finished pastry at him. “Don’t look at me like that, Boss Mahoney. You know as well as anyone how ‘extra’ this family can be.”

Liam thumps the table. The cutlery and crockery jump. It takes everything I have not to let out a squeal. I’m not letting him see how rattled I am. Cool. Calm. Collected. And an absolute delight.

Not the unhinged, murderous woman I’m struggling to contain under the surface.

“You’re not getting a car.”

I don’t even fight the huge sigh that takes over my body. Another man who thinks he can control my every move, manipulate me. I turn with glacial slowness to face him, tipping my head to the side, challenge carved into my features, finally making eye contact with him.

He flinches. It’s barely visible, but it’s there. Good. He was expecting rage, but instead, I’ve dished up a healthy dose of detachment and indifference.

Fuck ye, arsehole.

“Am I in prison here, Liam?” My voice is calm, level, full of sweetness. But everyone around the table goes silent. I can’t even hear Titan’s heavy breathing at our feet. There’s a clock out in the hall, but it sounds quieter than normal, too.

Darragh eventually hisses out a breath beside me.

“Is this a prison for women you abduct?” I guide a forkful of food to my mouth, not breaking eye contact. I don’t even blink. And for the first time since I’ve known him, Liam looks away first.

There’s a storm brewing in his eyes, unpredictable, dark, and it has the potential to destroy me if I let it. But I see his stormy eyes and raise him a fucking hurricane.

One way or another, I’m leaving this house. Fuck him, fuck his brothers, hell, even fuck Sorcha and Maeve if they get in my way or take their side.

His nostrils flare, but he remains quiet. At his thick silence, I swallow. Letting a lick of bravery lap at my spine, I sit up straighter.

“We’ve established I’ve done nothing wrong.” I run my fingertip around the rim of the coffee mug. “In fact”—I pause—“if anything, I’m the victim here. And I’ve lost enough of my life being confined by walls out of fear, don’t you think?” I direct that question to Sorcha who rolls her lips together to swallow a smile or a laugh.

Darragh pulls out his wallet and throws twenty euros on the table. “Twenty on Rebel.”

Liam’s eyes darken.

“Make it forty.” Patrick slides another note across the wood when I don’t flinch.

My lips twitch, a potent rush of something that feels like agency surging through my body.

“You’re not going out without me.” It’s not concern. He doesn’t sound protective; he sounds possessive. And right now, he can possess a fucking thistle bush and use it as a toilet seat for all I care.

A snicker escapes my mouth. “Did you not learn boundaries and consent in school, Liam? No means no.” I roll my eyes. “Has he always been this needy?”

Darragh crams a knuckle into his mouth around a chuckle.

I turn to Patrick, folding my hands on the table so they can all see I’m not angry. I’m not clenching my fists, nor are my hands shaking. “I haven’t tried to run. I have no intention of running. If I did, you’d only find me and bring me back.” Or worse, Brian might find me and take me back.

A shudder slithers up my spine. I can’t believe the man I once thought was my savior now makes me feel this uncomfortable. No. Worse than uncomfortable. Fearful. “But I think I’ve earned enough trust, given enough information to be allowed some freedom from Mahoney Manor, wouldn’t you agree?”

Sorcha leans over, reaching toward the floor. I think she’s giving food to Titan until a glint of metal in her hand gets tossed at me over the table. Liam’s hand jerks out to intercept, but I’m too fast for him.

From the unmistakable clink of metal on metal, I know without looking that she sent me her keys. God bless Sorcha Mahoney, she’s a girl’s girl at heart. When I do look, there’s a Saab logo on the car key.