This Cruel Love

“Yeah… about that.” Cillian twisted his feet to stand opposite me. “Best not to mention it too much. It’s a sensitive subject.” He grinned, but his eyes were hardened and impassive.

“Why? Because he’s scamming the charity?” I had a very low opinion of Jackson Caine, that was for sure.

“No. It’s personal.” Cillian looked at me like I was filthy for thinking such a thing.

“Well, sorry for thinking the worst. It’s not like I’ve been given any reason to think otherwise.”

Cillian huffed out his annoyance, then smiled and shook his head. “You know, he’s not all bad.”

“You could’ve fooled me.”

“Well, that’s just it, isn’t it? He wants to fool you. Do you think he wants to show any hint of his softer side? He probably thinks you’ll use it to destroy him.”

“What soft side? The one that extorts money from innocent people, or the one that breaks into apartments in the middle of the night? Anyway, I’m not like that. I don’t destroy people, he does.” I had to admit that I felt offended that anyone would think I was capable of destroying another person. I might be able to argue and banter with the best of them, but I wasn’t a total bitch.

“There’s a lot more to him than he likes to show. He doesn’t trust anyone. Loyalty hasn’t been very forthcoming in his life so far. If that comes across as destructive, then so be it, but it’s not all black and white, Ryley.”

“Honesty, loyalty, and all that means is everything to me. If you don’t have trust in your life, then what sort of life is that?”

“Exactly.” Cillian put his drink down and took my wine glass from my hand, placing it on the bar behind us. “Shall we?”

He hooked his arm out for me to take hold of, which I did. A bristle of excitement spiked down my back at the thought of pissing Jackson Caine off. Cillian led me to the dance floor, where quite a crowd had gathered to show some rather dubious moves to the band’s rendition of New York, New York. He pulled me to his chest with one arm, and held his other out for me to hold as we started to sway on the dance floor in amongst the sea of people.

“You know, I’m still trying to figure out your very strange friendship. You’re complete polar opposites. It’s all just… weird.” I pulled back to look into Cillian’s playful green eyes.

“Why is our friendship such a surprise to you?”

I shrugged and bit my lip. “Because I doubt anyone would want to be friends with him out of choice.”

Cillian laughed loudly and swung me around before he answered.

“He might come across as an ogre to you, but he’s not. Not all the time, anyway.”

“Are you kidding? He gives ogres a bad name.”

Cillian stepped back and twirled me around before spinning me back to his chest. “He plays a good game,” he whispered into my ear. “But when push comes to shove, he’s always there for anyone who needs him. He’s helped me out in more ways than I care to remember. I owe him a lot.”

I narrowed my gaze at Cillian to try and see if what he was saying was bullshit, but he was being sincere. Probably one of the few times he’d ever been sincere in his life, but he was. The veil soon dropped back down though, and the saucy Cillian was back in play before I could even blink.

“Yeah, well, I’m jealous of people that don’t know him. It’s gonna be a long three months for me at Casa Hades.”

My candid approach seemed to fire Cillian up.

“Don’t worry, Tink. I’ll be around to make it more bearable for you.”

I peered into his flirty eyes, fearing he’d taken my openness for something else completely.

“No offence, but you aren’t my type and I’m no cheat.”

He beamed back at me. “Ryley, you are beautiful, but you’re not my type either. You have way too much to say for yourself and I like my women more… compliant.”

“Doormat more like?”

“No. Submissive never equates to doormat.”

He cocked his eyebrow at me, but I had no comeback. Nothing. Cillian was a Dom? Well, that was one way to shut me up. I suppose having five sisters made him crave control, and be hyper sensitive to a woman’s needs at the same time. I started to blush thinking about it.

“Relax,” he whispered into my ear. “I’m not about to tie you up on the dance floor and start spanking you. Although, saying that out loud isn’t helping my resolve tonight.”