Chapter 3 Chapter Three
Kian.
They always whispered it like a warning. The Callahan curse. Never ever stand close. Never stay in the room for long with her. She would ruin you without thinking twice.
They weren’t wrong at all.
Fianna Callahan was a fire that would burn down everything in her path without thinking. She was selfish, spoiled, reckless and yet, she had the audacity to drag me into her shit.
Bold-faced lie, right in front of her grandfather without battling an eyelash. They said she only listens to her old man but with what I saw earlier, I doubted that was even true.
That girl had grown wings. But if for a second she thought I was going to have her fly over me, then she was mistaken.
I strode behind her as she slipped into the library. Her auburn hair slipped loose from her tied bun, spilling across her back. She sank into the couch like she hadn’t done anything wrong.
My first thought? To strangle her until she couldn’t breathe anymore. To bend her over that damn armrest and spank the arrogance out of her until she remembered who she was dealing with.
Instead, my voice cut through the silence.
“Fianna….”
She threw her hands up in the air dramatically, before I could continue. “I know, I know. You want to curse me out. You want to strangle me. You want to remind me why they call me a curse.”
She always interrupts. Always running her mouth. She knew how to crawl under my skin better than anyone.
I stepped closer. “Drop the act. What you are trying to do won’t work on me.”
And then she smiled. Oh, she fucking smiled.
“Sit down, Diabhal. Listen before you act.”
I shook my head. My words came out sharp. “The only person who will listen to me and not open her damn mouth is you. Don’t test me, Callahan.”
Her lips parted like she wanted to protest. Of course, she did. But I pinned her with a stare that silenced her. A very rare thing? She feared me sometimes. That was better than nothing.
Still, she squared her shoulders. Brave little witch.
“I don’t want your explanation for what you pulled in there,” I said, my voice low and cold. “All I want is for you to chew your words back. Don’t ever drag me into your fucking mess again, Fianna.”
Her glare snapped up to meet mine. “And so what? Won’t you do worse if you were being forced into something?”
The irony. That was exactly what she was trying to do with me but she wasn’t smart enough to realize that. Or she didn’t want to acknowledge it.
I tilted my head. “We are not close enough for me to answer that.”
“Then don’t act like a saint,” she snapped.
“You just lied your ass off to your grandfather,” I bit out.
She leaned forward, her peach scent filling my nose. “Maybe because I have something bigger on my mind. But it seems you are extra angry today so I will set up a meeting later, and we will talk like civilized criminals.”
“Did you just say civilized?” I asked, my lips curling.
She never changed. Not even for a moment. She was still the same.
She glanced at the clock. “And besides, my grandfather wants me in the ring. I don’t plan on delaying that.”
My fist slammed into the table before I could stop it. The sound cracked through the room.
“Trust me, I don’t care. Callahan can fucking wait until I’m done with you.”
She shot to her feet. “Then chill and hear me out!”
Jesus. She screamed at me like she had the right.
I folded my arms. “Talk.”
She rolled those eyes I wanted to gauge out real bad. “Finally. First off, I don’t love you. Hell, I don’t even like you a bit. Let’s get that clear.”
I scoffed. “No shit.”
“I know you want to kill me. Guess what? Diabhal, we are on the same page.” She smirked. “But I need out of this marriage. At all cost, and I’m not sorry for using you.”
Classic Fianna. She doesn’t have a heart.
She leaned back, her voice dropping lower. “But I know you hate the Slanes as much as I do. Now, imagine if the Callahans and O’Sulliavans joined forces. We could take them out.”
My jaw tightened. My fists clenched. I stepped closer until I was now towering over her.
“And how the fuck do you know about that?”
She waved me off like I was a fly. “Please, you are not exactly hiding your disdain for them well enough.”
For a second, I almost laughed. She was right.
“What’s your plan?” I asked, my voice sharp.
She smirked because she knew she had won me over. A dangerous little thing. “First, you tell me what the Slanes did to you.”
My vision darkened. “None of your business. Push that button again, and your whole family meets the same fate as the Slanes.”
Her head snapped up. Her voice was sharp as a blade as she spoke. “Don’t you dare threaten my family, Kian.”
“Then shut the fuck up about mine,” I growled.
She crossed her arms. “Fine. I think I will have to find someone else to ally with. You are too crazy for my liking.”
“My life has been boring lately. Maybe this will spice it up.”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “So you are considering it?”
“Depends on the proposal. Don’t flatter yourself.”
“Admit it,” Mischievous danced in those emerald eyes of hers. “You are thinking about it.”
She continued, laying her plans out. “A fake arrangement. Engagement, then marriage. They will pick you over Slane’s son. Once the Slanes have been dealt with, we are done.”
I studied her. For once, her plan wasn’t completely insane.
“How long?” I asked.
“As short as possible. Take them down, force them to back down. Whatever works.”
I let out a low laugh. “Life’s a joke. After what you pulled back then, you are here proposing marriage to me.”
Her eyes flared. “Fake marriage. And you bring up the past? That’s fucking nasty, Kian.”
Right. The past. The night I had swore never to speak of again.
I nodded once. “Fine. My condition; I get to cut off Slane senior’s head myself.”
She shrugged. “Fair.”
“And when this ends,” I said, my voice hard. “Let’s never cross paths again, except in the knife duel.”
She raised a brow. “That’s okay. But what about in the marriage? Am I supposed to act like a corpse?”
“Outside, you will smile and do whatever you need to do. Inside, we are rivals. You don’t touch or speak to me.”
She smirked. “But I will need to touch you outside to make it look real.”
I let out a slow breath. “Fine.”
I turned to leave because the conversation was over. But her voice rang out behind me.
“One last thing.”
I froze.
She tilted her head, “Can I have a secret boyfriend on the side? Someone to…..you know, take care of my needs.”
The urge to slam my fist through the wall almost overpowered me.
“For someone so smart,” I said, my voice low. “You should know how fast that would blow up in your face if it gets out.”
She shrugged. “I guess I will have to manage then. But I’m not promising.”
I stepped close, close enough for her to feel the danger dripping off me.
“I dare you, Fianna. Let me catch a man with you during this arrangement and I will fucking cut off his dick and make you both feed on it.”
Her throat gulped hard. Precisely.