“It’s more complicated than that.” Not that he would understand. “I don’t even know why I’m talking to you about it. You’re more of a disaster than I am.”
“I’ll have you know I give excellent advice.”
A load of bollocks if I ever heard it. Who did he think he was, telling me what to do when he’d all but abandoned his child and his soulmate?
“I like Leesha,” Tadhg said.
“Good for you.”
“But Aveen…” A puff of alcohol breezed across my cheek. “She is the one for you. Did you see the way she stabbed herself to get away? That’s true love, right there.”
All right, that was enough advice for today. I reached for the handle and eased the door aside.
“Rían? What are you doing in there?”
Leesha. How the hell had she found me? That human had the nose of a feckin’ bloodhound. “I was looking for something,” I said.
From behind me, I heard Tadhg whisper, “Close the door.”
Leesha’s brow furrowed as she leaned past me to scour the darkness.
Keelynn marched around the corner, her hair a fright and her face pinched in irritation. My lips lifted. “Are you looking for Tadhg?” I assumed so from the murderous gleam in her steely eyes. When she nodded, I opened the door wider. “He’s right inside.”
Tadhg’s quiet curse left a smile playing on my lips. Leesha’s arm slipped through mine.
Keelynn folded her arms and glowered at my brother as he emerged from the closet, his dark hair sticking up at the back and his cheeks flushed. When he smiled his crooked smile, she huffed through her nose like a dragon ready to breathe fire. “Do I want to know why you were drinking in a closet with your brother?”
Was there anything better than watching one’s brother be dressed down by a woman?
“I was only helping Rían.” Tadhg turned that smile on me, and I knew I wouldn’t like what he was going to say next. “He’s struggling with a flaccid cock.”
Rage burned up my neck, setting my cheeks aflame.He did not just tell these women I had problems with my cock.
“Is that true?” Leesha asked, her eyes brimming with concern.
Tadhg clapped a hand on my shoulder, setting me off balance. “No need to be ashamed, Little Rían. You see, he knows I’ve never had that problem, and that’s why he came to me for advice.”
I really missed the days when Tadhg couldn’t lie. “Leave.Now,” I ground through clenched teeth. He would pay for this when he least expected it, and I would relish every moment of his demise.
Keelynn took Tadhg by the hand and escorted him to the staircase while Leesha tugged me back toward the parlor.
Feck it all. I couldn’t wait for this eternal day to end. “Has Ruairi returned?”
Her hair tickled my arm when she shook her head. “Not that I know of. Why?”
Because if he didn’t show up in the next thirty seconds, I would pin him to the castle walls with a spear and peel his flesh from his bones. “I need to speak with him.”
Her gaze fell to my breeches, and understanding brightened her eyes. “Because of your… problem?”
Tadhg was dead.
I couldn’t even correct her because as mortifying as the lie was, it did give me an excuse not to sleep with her. I nodded.
A tall, dark figure appeared in the doorway.Thank feck. It was about damn time that pooka came back. My relief vanished when Ruairi stepped into the room.
His left eye was swollen shut, the skin around bruised black. Deep red blood trickled down his chin. More blood dripped from the broken skin of his bruised knuckles, splattering on his muddy boots.
Leesha gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth.“Good heavens.”