“So what now, Sean? What’s your next big plan? Do we blow up a government building? A supermarket? Or maybe we should set some C-4 outside an orphanage—nobody’s more innocent than a child, right?” Bailey couldn’t contain the anger-laced sarcasm that poured out of her mouth. It spilled out like snake venom and did what she’d intended—paralyzed every muscle on Sean’s face and flooded his eyes with anguish.
But when his broad chest shuddered as if she’d shot him, regret instantly spiraled down to her stomach. The feeling came too late, though, because Sean was already stumbling out of the room.
She stared at the empty doorway, choking on the guilt that crawled up her throat. Damn it.
Damn
it. She shouldn’t have fired those cruel words. She knew it wasn’t his fault that those people had died today. Deep down she really, really knew that, but the horror brought on by the successful terrorist attack had eclipsed the rational part of her brain.
If Sean hadn’t supported Kelly’s plan . . .
If he’d insisted on tipping off the police himself . . .
If . . .
Screw the ifs,
a sharp voice reprimanded.
You don’t operate on ifs.
No, she didn’t. She operated on
facts
. And the facts were—Sean had been
forced
to back Cillian up. He hadn’t wanted to see those civilians die any more than she had, and blaming him for the explosion was a dick move on her part.
With a frustrated groan, she hurried to the corridor and threw open the bedroom door.
Then she froze.
Sean was . . . destroyed. Oh God. Her venom had destroyed him.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
His head stayed buried in his hands, broad shoulders hunched over as he sat on the edge of the bed, trembling like a leaf.
Lord, he wasn’t allowed to be vulnerable like this. She was better at controlling her emotions when he was an overbearing caveman who ordered her around with hard looks and even harder words.
“Sean . . . ”
He didn’t look up. She wasn’t sure she wanted him to—she was too scared of what she might find on his face.
As her heart squeezed painfully against her ribs, Bailey approached the bed. She hesitated before finally sitting beside him.
He flinched when she touched his shoulder.
“Get the fuck out of here, Bailey.” His deep voice was muffled against his hands.
“No.” She skimmed her hand between his shoulder blades before moving it to the nape of his neck, gently stroking the soft hairs there. “Look at me.”
“No. Get out.”
Her fingers slid through his short hair and onto his
forehead, then lower, tentatively brushing over his cheek. The moisture she felt on her palm brought another tight clench to her heart.
“Look at me,” she begged.
He did. Finally raising his head and letting her see his red-rimmed eyes, the shine of tears, the heart-wrenching pain.
“I stood by and let those people die,” he said dully.
“That’s not true.” Remorse rippled through her as she scooted behind him and wrapped her arms around his broad torso. As his erratic heartbeat fluttered beneath her hands, she dropped her chin on his shoulder, her lips inches from his ear. “You didn’t know what Rabbit and Kelly were planning to do. You thought they were going to call ahead.”
He sagged back against her, the heat of his body warming her own. “I should have made the call myself. I shouldn’t have trusted Rabbit to do it.” A tortured noise flew out. “He
always
calls ahead, Bailey. I’ve seen the Dagger pull this same intimidation ploy dozens of times before, and they always make the fucking call! That bastard Kelly convinced him not to.”
“So all those deaths are on Kelly,” she said firmly. “Not you.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it. Hell, you
said
it.”
The guilt returned. Hot and consuming, closing her throat right up. “I shouldn’t have done that. I know it’s not your fault. I just . . . needed someone to blame, I guess, and you were the most convenient target. But I’m sorry, Sean. I’m so damn sorry.”
He twisted around to look at her. The tears in his eyes had dried, but the agony remained. “I almost got Morgan’s men killed, too.”
She shook her head. “They knew what they were getting into when they came to Dublin.”
“Sullivan almost got blown up, Bailey.”
“Nah.” She smiled faintly. “The dude’s invincible. And Liam called when we were driving back here, remember? He said Sully is all stitched up and resting comfortably.”
Sean still didn’t look appeased. If anything, his expression grew fiercer. “I have to kill him.”
She tensed. “Kelly?”
“Him too. But I was talking about Flannery. If this is what he plans on turning the Irish Dagger into, then I’m damn well going to stop him.”
“And Rabbit?”
“I don’t know what to do about him yet.” Sean sounded frazzled. “Something’s going on with him. I don’t know why he allowed that bomb to go off, but I could tell he wasn’t happy about it. He’s up to something. I need to find out what.”
He was trembling in frustration again, but Bailey was there now, quick to calm him, stroking his hair until he went still. Her fingers were laced together against his chest, holding him tight to her body. He reached up and covered her hands with one of his own, his rough-skinned palm skimming over her knuckles.
“Kiss me,” he whispered.
She gave a soft laugh. “You’ll have to turn around for that. Unless . . . will any kind of kiss do?” She planted a fleeting kiss on the nape of his neck, and a shiver rolled through his body.
Before she could blink, he twisted around and pushed her onto her back, his mouth coming down on hers, rough and insistent. His tongue found hers and swirled around it, greedy, desperate strokes that left her gasping for air.
“I just . . . I . . .” He was breathing hard, looking like he was struggling for words. “I need you, Bailey.”
She was already pushing her pants down her hips with one hand, using the other to undo his zipper.
“I’m here,” she murmured. “Take me.”
There was no foreplay, just deep penetration that sucked the breath from her lungs in a rapid whoosh. Sean’s hips pistoned hard, driving his cock inside her in a frantic tempo that made the headboard smack against the wall, but Bailey knew he needed this. Needed to release the anger and adrenaline and guilt any way that he could, and she was more than happy to be the outlet.
Because hell, she needed it too. Those awful images on the news, the wreckage and the smoke and the frightened people. She wanted to shut out the gruesome sights, to lose herself in Sean’s urgent kisses and wild groans.
He pounded into her body, each punishing thrust bringing her closer to the edge as she dug her nails into his back and held on for the ride. His skin was on fire, his thick cock stretching her pussy as he plunged as deep as he could go.
“Bailey.”
He came with her name on his lips, and she groaned when she felt the sting of his teeth on her shoulder. The sharp bite was enough to trigger a blinding orgasm that made her convulse in spasms of pleasure. She clung to his sweat-soaked back, struggling to breathe, unable to move.
“I . . .” His breathing was anything but steady. “I don’t deserve you.”
As the aftershocks of her climax continued to tingle in her core, she slowly rolled their bodies so they were lying on their sides. Face-to-face, Sean still buried inside her.
“You give me too much credit,” she whispered.
“You don’t give yourself
enough
credit,” he whispered back. “You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever known, Bailey.”
Sean’s cheek rested on the pillow and his green eyes were closed, giving her the opportunity to admire his face. His sharp cheekbones. Firm lips. A nose that for the most part was straight, except for the bump near the bridge. He must have broken it once or twice, most likely in a brawl he had no business being part of.
Bailey’s curiosity got the best of her, prompting her to ask, “How many times have you broken your nose?”
One eye pried open, twinkling with amusement. “Not telling you.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because that means sharing details about my childhood and I’ve decided I’m not going to do that. If you don’t share, I don’t share.”
She smiled despite herself. “So now you’re blackmailing me into talking about my past?”
“Blackmailing implies that I have something you want to keep hidden. Not the case, luv, since you’re already hiding.” His voice went smug. “Well, I’m hiding now too.”
“Ugh. You’re so annoying sometimes. Just tell me how you broke your damned nose.”
Sean cupped her right breast and tweaked the nipple. “Tit for tat.”
She snickered.
“I mean it. You want to know about me, you have to tell me about you.”
They were treading into a minefield here, but Bailey was confident she’d be able to navigate through it without setting off too many land mines.
“Fine,” she agreed. “Tit for tat. How many times has your nose been broken, and why?”
“Twice. First time, I was sixteen, and it happened during a rugby game. Second time I was twenty-three . . .” He grinned. “Happened when I was beating the piss out of a guy who was flirting with Peggy.”
“How’d he manage to break your nose if you were the one
beating the piss
out of him?”
“He didn’t. Peggy broke it,” he said sheepishly. “After she pulled me off his bleeding body.”
Bailey burst out laughing. “I think I like this Peggy.”
“Trust me—you don’t. She was a real cocktease. And my cock wasn’t the only one she was teasing.”
He withdrew the cock in question from Bailey’s core, and she immediately experienced a sense of loss. One muscular arm drew her closer so their faces were inches apart.
A sliver of concern sliced through her when she realized how vulnerable they were right now. Naked, tangled in each other’s arms. Sean had banished her to the car earlier, but she’d still heard Kelly make his threats through the open window. What if he decided to act tonight? What if he sent someone to blow their heads off?
“Should we be worried about Kelly showing up?” she said in concern.
“He won’t make a move tonight, luv.”
“How are you so sure of that?”
“Because it’s Dagger protocol. Twenty-four-hour cooling-off period, remember? They set off a bomb today, for Christ’s sake. Rabbit won’t let any of the men out of his sight until the heat dies down.” Sean shrugged one shoulder. “Besides, Paige hacked into Kelly’s phone and the satnav in his car, remember? She’ll be able to see if he goes anywhere, and she’ll give us the heads-up.”
Bailey relaxed at the reminder. Although how Paige did half the things she did still amazed her. The woman really was a genius.
“My turn,” Sean said as he stroked her lower back. “Why’d you sleep with Daniels?”
She hesitated.
“Hey,” he chided. “You don’t get to back out now.”
A reluctant breath slid out. “Because I loved him.”
Surprise flitted through his eyes. “Really? Shit. I was really hoping you’d say you did it to get ahead in the company or something.”
Her skin prickled with insult. “Fuck you. You honestly think I’m the kind of woman who’d sleep her way to the top?”
“No, but I could’ve gotten on board with that. Because I honestly can’t fathom how you could love a ninety-year-old man.”
“Forty-eight,”
she muttered.
“He was an old man, and you were practically a child,” Sean shot back.
Bitterness rose in her throat. “Trust me, I wasn’t a child even when I
was
a child.” She turned the tables on him again. “Did you love Peggy?”
“Sure, when she wasn’t doing my head in. Which was about, ah, ten percent of the time?”
“So she drove you nuts for ninety percent of the relationship?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“Why didn’t you end it, then?”
“Believe me, I tried.” He laughed, deep and husky. “But every time I went to break up with her, she’d distract me with a blow job. And trust me, the girl sucked a mean cock.”
Bailey narrowed her eyes. “Are you purposely trying to make me jealous?”
Sean looked genuinely startled. “No. Why would I—
aw
, shit. You got jealous.”
“You wish,” she lied.
Sean’s laughter tickled her face. “You’re totally jealous. You don’t like the idea of another woman’s mouth on my dick.”
Bailey’s cheeks hollowed in annoyance. “Isn’t it your turn to ask a question?”
“Nice deflection. I’m gonna let it slide, though, because I do have another question.” He raised a brow. “Why did you love Daniels? What was it about him?”
Discomfort rolled through her. “I don’t know. He was just . . . he was good to me. At the beginning anyway. He recruited me, trained me, taught me how to defend myself. I thought I was a victim, but he showed me I was a survivor. He was my mentor. And then, when he showed a romantic interest in me, I . . . well, I welcomed it.” She laughed cynically. “I guess it’s the classic daddy-complex bullshit, huh?”
Sean’s lips brushed the corner of her mouth. “We all have our issues, Bailey.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“So what went wrong?”
“Isaac was a control freak,” she admitted. “The two years when he was just my boss, he had no problem sending me out on assignments, no matter how dangerous they were. But once we became lovers, he got crazy possessive. It wasn’t too bad for the first few years, but he grew more and more overprotective. He’d secretly send extra agents to watch me when I was on a job, which blew up in our faces a couple times. And he got controlling outside of work, too. Decided who I could be friends with, listened in on my calls—he
tapped
my cell phone.”
Sean whistled softly. “Christ.”
“It got to be too much to handle, so I ended it. Isaac didn’t take the breakup well, and when it became obvious we couldn’t work together anymore, I quit the agency and skipped town.”
“Did he try to come after you?”
“Of course he did. It took him years to accept that it was over.” She sighed. “Actually, he
still
hasn’t accepted it. He’s convinced that one of these days I’m going to come back to him.”