Twisted Secrets (The O'Malleys #3)

by Katee Robert

“Say what you want, sweetheart. I need you to be perfectly clear.”

All she had to do was look around to see her siblings taking control of their futures in whatever way they could. Even if it was destructive, they were doing something, which was more than she could say for herself.

And the look that had just come into his eyes made her shiver. It was

the expression of the man staring death in the face and refusing to back down.

like she was something to be savored…valued. Like he had all the time in the world and he’d still never get enough.

“And even if it wasn’t…A few hours ago you were telling me that this wasn’t what you want. When you change your mind for good—and you will—I want you to know you’re not just coming down from an adrenaline high. You want me as much as I want you. It’s not circumstantial.”

I could lose myself in a man like this.

Why not take your happiness where you can find it, even if it’s not forever?”

“Benji, you’re an awful friend. The first rule of being a wingman is that you don’t warn the beautiful woman away from me.”

So what? I’m entitled to being petty.

The woman had more spikes than a porcupine, but once he got past those, she was…Hell, he didn’t even know. But he wanted more.

She was happy. But there were other, uglier, emotions in there, twisting that happiness until it was downright unrecognizable.

She wanted what Teague had, and at the same time, she resented him for having left her behind to gain it.

“I’m a big boy, Olivia. I can take care of myself—and

He really came. He didn’t demand an explanation. I called, and he showed up.

It was nice to have someone she could lean on—actually lean on—who would show up when she needed them, and was so damn capable while doing it.

“I’m here because I want to be. No one held a gun to my head.”

know.” Again, there was no doubt in his voice. It was enough to make her wonder how the hell he was so confident about everything, because she felt like she was standing on a narrow cliff and there were earthquakes shaking the ground beneath her feet. He reached over and took her hand. The contact grounded her, his skin warm against hers, a reminder that she wasn’t facing this alone. “He didn’t like your answer, I take it?”

Time changed everyone. He knew that.

“You are better than I deserve.”

Was he actually starting to heal? If

he was, she was part of the reason, the thing that had shoved him out of his rut and back into life.

I don’t want to let that go. I don’t want...

There was something so wrong about moving on with life while the world was falling apart around them.

In a world filled with untrustworthy and downright murderous men, Cillian stood apart as a shining star of virtue.

Now she wanted to just walk into

his arms and have him hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay. If he did, she might actually believe him.

strength to keep going after he’d seen unfathomable loss, strength to stand between her and Dmitri and all of his men. She got the feeling from some of his throwaway comments that he didn’t see it, but it’d never been more clear to her than it was right now. Cillian was a good man. The best kind of man.

What would it have been like if he was a brother more like Cillian?

My brother Teague used to say Devlin was the best of us all, and he wasn’t wrong. He was brilliant and sweet without being a pushover, and he had the world at his feet.”

“It’s just…this life has costs. Growing up, I knew that—we all knew that. Some of my siblings fought against it, but I always found it kind of comforting to know exactly what my future held. I was a cocky little shit, to be honest. And then one night it all went sideways. Everything changed and nothing at all changed, and sometimes wrapping my mind around that is damn near impossible.”

“The world should change if someone like my brother dies. It should mourn and cry, and the face of it should be altered. Except none of that happened. It kept on spinning and we were expected to do the same. So we’re all in our private little hells and no one talks to anyone else and it’s just this giant clusterfuck that I’m sure a shrink would have a heyday with.”

Right now the most important thing was making sure he could keep his promise to keep her safe. The rest would fall into place one way or another.

She’d never met anyone like him, and she was starting to come to realize that she could travel the world for the rest of her life and never meet another man who held up against the comparison of Cillian.

It was official. He’d gone and fallen for Olivia Rashidi, half sister to a man who was emerging as an enemy to the family.

Cillian’s presence at her back was almost enough to steady her and make her believe that everything would be okay.

“You don’t want to leave. You want to be kept as much as I want to keep you.”

“Which is a good goddamn thing, Olivia, because I’m never letting you go.”

“You don’t owe me shit. You’re my brother, and you’re doing the right thing. If I can help with that, I will in any way possible.”

She’s so fucking beautiful, it actually hurts.

there was something real here, something he wasn’t about to let slip past him. If Cillian had learned anything in this life, it was that you couldn’t take a damn thing for granted.

He’d do damn near anything to keep this woman in his life.

You promised we’d be safe. You promised you’d keep them from us. You promised this wouldn’t happen.

Everything was so twisted up, it was a wonder he could keep any of it straight anymore. I don’t have to keep shit straight. The only thing that matters is getting that little girl back.

Hearing that word—that truth—from an enemy’s lips made his blood pressure rise.

A king was only in power as long as he was obeyed without question. The second someone started doing things without permission, everything started falling apart.

“Thank you. I…I couldn’t have done this without you.” “You could have. It would have just taken longer.” His voice gave her no indication

Now wasn’t the time to play the hero, and the suit had never been something Olivia aspired to. She wanted a quiet life. A home. A family. A man who loved her and her daughter more than he loved anything else.

It seemed so simple, and yet it was an impossible dream.

a lot could go wrong in the space of five minutes. Lives could change. Lives could end.