SWNOVELS Ryan Rule: Chapter 10
Ifinish writing the last page of notes and snap my laptop closed. Stretching my arms above my head, I stifle a yawn and check the time on my watch. It’s a little after three am. I’ve been in the library looking into Shane’s mystery man for the past six hours. Although he made it clear there was no urgency to his request, I want to get it to him as quickly as possible. I sense that he has the last word on whether I get to stick around here, and I want to prove my usefulness. Strangely, I want to impress him too. I’m not usually driven by my ego, but something about Shane Ryan and his brothers makes me want to show off my talents.
Closing my notebook too, I pick up my laptop and I head out of the library towards my temporary bedroom. As I pass Shane’s office, I notice the light is still on. I pop my head through the door. He is sitting at his desk and the soft glow of the computer screen illuminates his handsome face.
I clear my throat to announce my presence, and his head snaps up. “Hacker?” he frowns.
“Hey. You never told me that guy was in Ireland,” I say with a tilt of my head.
“Take a few more days if you need to,” he says with a shrug.
“Oh, I have your information. I was just surprised to find he doesn’t live in the States. I was surprised by a lot of things actually,” I arch one eyebrow at him.
“You have the information already?” he leans back and rubs a hand across his jaw.
“Yep, it didn’t take me long.”
If he’s impressed, he gives no indication of that fact. “What did you find out?”
I stride into the room and sit down opposite him. “Why are you so interested in a schoolteacher from Cork, anyway?”
“Why I need the information is of no consequence to you, Hacker. The sooner you learn that, the better. Now, what do you have for me?” he growls.
I place my notepad on his desk. “He’s a schoolteacher. Two sisters. His mom is still alive, but his dad died three years ago. He lives alone. He’s never been married but he does have a girlfriend. They have no children. He studied at the University of Liverpool and teaches at the local high school in Cork. He has no criminal record. He broke his collarbone playing rugby when he was seventeen and he has two fillings. Every other piece of mundane information about him is in the notepad. Is there something I’m missing here?”
He scowls at me. “You tell me, Hacker. Isn’t that the whole fucking point?”
I stare at him as I go over the information I discovered today in my head. Unless Noel Callaghan is really a deep cover MI5 agent with no past, then I got everything there is to know. But even if he were, I’d have found something. “No. That’s everything,” I say, sitting up straighter in my chair. “He’s as clean as they come.”
Shane nods and picks up the notebook. “I’ll take a look at this anyway.”
“Right. I’m off to bed then,” I stand up and yawn. “Goodnight.”
“Night,” he says absent-mindedly as he goes back to his computer screen.
I shake my head and walk out of his office. A thank you would have been nice.
Since I’m so annoyed by Shane, I don’t even notice Conor standing in the dark hallway until he speaks. “Working late?”
When I look up, he is leaning against the kitchen doorframe, his legs crossed at the ankles and his arms folded over his chest.
“You could say that,” I reply as I walk towards him. “You?”
“You could say that,” he grins as he mimics my response. He doesn’t move out of the doorway as I reach it and I stand and look up at him. His eyes are so dark and intense. I feel the tightening in my abdomen as I stare into them. He is so freaking handsome.
“What were you and Shane up to at this time of night?” he narrows his eyes at me.
“He asked me to look into someone for him. I just finished up. Now, I’m off to bed.”
Something flickers in his eyes and then he bends his head low. He smells of whisky and expensive cologne. He lifts his hand to my hair, taking some and curling it around two of his fingers. “You could come back down to the club with me?”
“I have nothing to wear. Besides, isn’t it almost closing time?”
“No,” he smiles. “A few hours to go yet.”
“Well, you’d better get down there and see to your customers. Or, maybe there’s a special someone down there waiting for you?”
He laughs softly. “A special someone?”
“Hmm. Shane tells me you and your brothers can have your pick of women at the club?”
“Is that so?”
“Can’t you?”
“What do you think, Jessie?” he says, his voice low and husky as he inches closer to me until his warm breath skates over my cheek. “Can I have any woman I want?”
I swallow as his dark eyes burn into mine and the heat sears between my thighs. “I’m sure you can,” I breathe.
“But what if the one I want is off limits?”
My pulse thrums against my skin as he edges closer. “Then you’ll have to find another one. I’m sure there are plenty of women who would be happy to share your bed, Conor.”
“You might be right about that, Angel,” he growls. “Most of the women at the club would die to come up here.”
“So, why don’t you bring them up here, then?” I raise my eyebrow at him.
He shakes his head. “I don’t really do that kind of thing.”
“Why not?” I purr, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction and happiness that he doesn’t bring randoms home from the club every night.
He presses his lips lightly against my cheek. “It’s complicated.”
“Isn’t everything?” I groan as he drops one of his hands to my hip. His fingers press into my flesh and I lean into him. My breathing grows faster as my heart pounds in my ears. He moves his head slightly, lighting dusting his lips across my skin and my insides turn to molten lava.
“Jessie,” he growls.
“Conor!” Shane’s voice slices through the air. “Chester is looking for you.”
The moment broken, Conor straightens up and I take a step back. “I’m on my way back downstairs now,” he says and then, without even a glance in my direction, he walks down the hallway towards the elevator.
Shane disappears back into his office and I lean against the wall, letting out a long slow breath as I try to calm my racing heart and the throbbing between my thighs. Living with the Ryan brothers is going to be more of a challenge than I expected.