The envelop that housed the damning pictures was clutched tightly in my left hand while my right was holding a glass filled with ice, seltzer and vodka. I wasn't one to drink away my problems but if I hadn't poured myself a drink I'm sure my mind would have explode.

I sat atop my kitchen counter in my underwear and a long flannel as two New York strip steaks sizzled on the skillet. A heavy aroma of the garlic and thyme filled my kitchen. The chilled glass met my parted lips while I stared down at the white envelope in my hand. The liquid spilled into my mouth and down my throat, leaving a burning trail down into my stomach. Putting down the glass, I opened up the envelope and pulled out the pictures.

I hadn't rearranged the photos from when I first looked through them earlier today so the first thing that I laid my eyes on was of me being manhandled by Nick. Flipping to the previous picture, I saw Alex standing there, looking off just to the left of the camera. It didn't look like the Alex I know, this one was cold, his eyes dark and emotionless.

The towel that I had my hair wrapped up in after my shower started to slip down making me have to put the pictures on the counter. Scooting off to he surface, I took the towel from my hair, deciding I no longer needed it to soak up the extra moisture and walked it to the bathroom. Before I had got a chance to put the towel on the towel hook I heard the lock of my door turning.

Ugh, great Declan's here now.

Shit, the pictures!

I bolted to the kitchen, praying he didn't see me. Fumbling with the pictures I quickly shoved them back in the envelope and pulled up the back of my flannel shirt, sliding the envelope down the back of my underwear . I mentally cursed at myself for my choice of clothes after my shower.

I jumped when I saw Declan standing in my kitchen doorway.

"Whatcha got there, Scars?"

"Jesus fucking Christ, Declan! Don't you know how to knock?" I scolded him, running a shaking hand through my damp hair.

He raised an eyebrow at me while his lips curled into a smirk. "I know you're hiding something. Don't make this hard on yourself." He held out his hand in a silent command for me to hand over whatever it is I had.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I grabbed my glass and took another swig. The effects of the alcohol were starting to show as I sauntered over and flipped the steaks.

"Fine." Declan sighed, walking towards me. 

I had no place to go in the cramped space that was my kitchen. The hot stove was to my right and Declan was in front of me within seconds, trapping me. He took my hips in his hands and pulled me to his chest. I gasped as his hands slid up under my flannel and grazed up and down my sides leaving a trail of goosebumps. My face was on fire, I'd never been touched quite like this before. Just the feeling of his fingers on me, roaming my naked torso, had caused heat to spark between my thighs.

I looked up at his hooded eyes and couldn't help but bite my lip. Stupid vodka.

His calloused finger tips against my bare skin moved up to my ribs. He let out a deep hum when he felt the lace of my bralette. He traced the bottom hem and then slowly made his way back down to my hips causing me to move closer into his chest. 

Panicking, my hands raised to his chest to push him away but there was no use, he just held me tighter. His fingers spread causing his pinky and ring fingers to plunge under the waist band of my matching lace panties.

My thighs pressed together, anything to feel some type of friction. His fingers traveled further down. His hand squeezed around my ass, bringing my hips closer still to his. My eyes closed as he brought his face down to mine. His stubble brushing abrasively against my cheek, the feeling making liquid heat pool between my legs. His hot breath fanned over my neck leaving goosebumps in its wake.

The alcohol coursing through my veins and the feel of his hands all over me made me give up fighting him, I melted into him. I felt his tongue against my earlobe before he bit down, tugging on my flesh. A moan escaped my lips and I pressed up against him harder, wrapping my arms around the back of his neck. My nerve endings were on fire and I couldn't help but push my needy core against his leg that he had moved between mine. 

My breaths were coming harder. My hips slowly started to roll against his thigh, needing to feel some pressure. His fingers dug into my skin a little harder, controlling my hips as they moved.  My fingers roamed into his thick hair at the base of his skull, tugging. 

The smell of sandalwood and cigarettes whirled around me while I felt the pressure of his leg against my pussy.  I looked up at him through hooded eyes. My head was in a daze, I'd forgotten who he was and why he was here, all I knew was that in this moment, I needed him. Raising up on my tip toes, just as my lips were about to press against his, he spoke.

"Don't ever lie to me again, little one." He said in a husky tone. His hands left my ass while he grabbed a hold of the envelope. He pushed me back up against the counter leaving me panting and feeling empty as he took a step backwards.

I instantly felt embarrassed at how easily I let my guard down. How I was throwing myself at him, panting and needy. The buzz from the alcohol faded, leaving me feeling angry.

Damn him.

Declan looked through the photos, smiling from ear to ear.

Grabbing my glass I quickly finished the last of the liquor, watching him flip through the rest of the images. He stopped and I saw his victorious smile fade into a scowl. His hand clenched into a fist causing the paper to wrinkle.

"Fuck!" He yelled, turning quickly as his free hand shot towards my wooden cabinets, landing a blow on one of them. The momentum from his hit caused the door to splinter as soon as his fist made contact. He ran his hand through his hair, raking it back and out of his eyes as he took deep, angry breaths through his flaring nostrils.

Seeing his act of rage made me jump. Instinctively, I crossed my arms over my chest, gripping my arms before I started to rub at them.

"He knew who I was." He growled, flexing his hand he used to punch the cabinet.

"What?"

"Your Uncle knew who I was this morning. He probably figured out that I'm using you to get to him. Fuck!" He yelled again.

"I have neighbors, you know." I snapped at him.

"Does it look like I give a damn?"

"You could at least not damage my apartment. I'm going to have to pay to have this fixed." My landlady was a horrible shrew of a woman. I've already come home to her looking through my apartment to make sure I'm following all of the rules in our rental agreement.

Pushing past him I grabbed another plate off of the drying rack next to the sink and brought it back over to the stove. Taking the tongs that were resting on the spoon rest, I took both pieces of meat off of the skillet and placed them on the plates.

"You should give a damn considering your Uncle clearly doesn't care about potentially getting family members killed." He replied, holding up the picture of Alex. I stopped spooning out the garlic butter for the steaks as he continued pushing the picture in front of me. "Do you believe me now?"

Having the picture shoved in my face made me drop the plate in my hands. It fell to the counter making a loud ceramic crashing sound as it hit the formica. The spoon full of the butter sauce clattered to the floor, leaving splatters along the floor and dishwasher. Turning on my heal to look at Declan I opened my mouth, ready for a snide comment to shoot out at him but I couldn't find the words. "Ugh!"

Pushing past him again, I grabbed the bottle of vodka and the open bottle of pink grapefruit seltzer and poured myself another drink.

"Taking it well, I see."

"Oh fuck you, Declan!" I snapped, slamming the glass bottle of booze down. I stormed into the living room where I knew I had been folding laundry earlier and grabbed a pair of black yoga pants, angrily forcing my legs through the holes to finally cover up my bare legs.

"You should be apologizing to me." Declan taunted with a smile. He was clearly enjoying watching how flustered he made me.

"Apologize for WHAT?!"

"I told you about your criminal brother yet you kept defending him. You even called me a 'sick fuck', if I remember correctly." Declan's hand that held the pictures reached up to his chest as a mock hurt expression crossed his face. "That hurt my feelings, you know."

"Oh please," I scoffed, walking back into the kitchen. "You don't have feelings to hurt." 

I filled the rest of my plate with quinoa and broccoli and started towards the table, completely over this conversation. I swayed slightly, the vodka taking its claim over me again, dulling my frustration with him.

"Your plate's on the counter." I called over my shoulder as I sat down, digging in.

Hopefully the food will keep him quiet, I thought.

It took no time at all to clean up the kitchen and put away the dishes. Declan sat at the table with his opened flask and watched me move about the kitchen as he went on and on about his suspicions and the evidence he had already collected. 

They're using the car lot as a way to launder their money, my dad's business guarantees them a way to import and export goods that they hide the drugs in. Because they have men who work at both shipping yards here in Portland and over in England, they're able to traffic women without the risk of people checking the containers and discovering kidnapped people.

I hated this the more it made sense and tuned him out after a while. Pouring myself another vodka seltzer, I continued on scrubbing my plate, despite it being clean already.

He sat there looking back and forth at the picture of the manifest and one of the logos painted on the side of the shipping container. I watched him rubbing his thumb over his lip once I had finished with the last of the dishes. In this light, I could see streaks of auburn through his chestnut colored hair, something I'd never noticed before.

"Oh!" I slurred, pointing my finger at him awkwardly.

Declan looked up at me as I slunk out of the kitchen, propping myself against the wall to keep myself still. He raised and eyebrow at my actions, a smirk playing across his lips as he saw me in my tipsy state.

"So, we're uh, invited to this thing."

He laughed at my vague statement. Putting down the pictures on the table he straightened up and leaned back against the chair, taking a swig of his whiskey. "And what is this thing?"

"It's, um, like a dance, but it's for a charity or something? I don't remember but it's being held by the Wyndham corporation."

"The charity ball they're hosting next weekend?" Declan asked amused.

"Yea! That. My Uncle said he was excited to see you and said something about how his friends would be happy to meet you... or something?" I said, scrunching my nose.

Declan glanced over to the pictures, using his middle finger to shuffle through to the one of him aiming his gun at someone out of frame. "I'm sure they would be happy to see me," he mumbled, tapping his index finger against the grainy picture.

"Uh... so a-about earlier," I stammered. The vodka made me brave but I'd never talked about stuff like this before so I was completely oblivious on how to word my question.

"You'll have to be more specific." He mused.

"When, you... uh," I could feel my face getting red and my hands started to feel clammy. I instantly regretted bringing this up. "Never mind."

He stood from the chair and slowly walked over to me. I looked up at him with wide doe eyes as he towered over me. Drunk or not, his hazel eyes were the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. 

Butterflies filled my stomach when he reached out and tucked a loose tress of blond hair behind my ear. I leaned my head against his rough hand, feeling it brush against my cheek. I hated that I found him attractive and I hated even more how the vodka was magnifying this fact.

"You mean, when I did this?" He asked, his voice low and husky. His fingers traced slowly up the side of my thighs to my hips where they played with the hem of my shirt. 

"Or, did you mean this?" His fingers slipped under my shirt and immediately roamed my bare skin. My knees started to feel weak under his touch. 

"Or this?" Declan leaned in, his lips brushing the soft spot on the side of my neck as he placed a gentle kiss on my skin.

I moaned as his kiss turned into his tongue trailing down my neck. His teeth scraped against my now wet skin and then he bit down hard enough to make me bite my lip to try and stifle a second moan. My hands reached out and clutched his shirt to keep myself stable as all of the heat from earlier came crashing back.

"Declan," I whispered, moving into him. My hands traveled up his stomach and onto his chest feeling every curve of his muscles as they went. My fingers dug into his shirt as he nipped at my neck again.

Declan's calloused hands moved up and down my torso, feeling every inch of me before they traveled back down to my ass where he grabbed a handful and pulled me closer. His lips moved from my neck to my jaw, placing rough kisses as he went. 

My eyes opened just as he got to my lips, hovering a few painful inches away. His hazel orbs connect with my blue ones before he slammed his lips onto mine. His tongue demanding entry into my mouth which I obliged without hesitation. I could taste his Irish whiskey as our tongues melted together.

My arms wrapped around the back of his neck while my fingers tangled into his hair, moaning again as he bit my bottom lip, pulling it out slightly and then letting it snap back into place. My head was spinning not only from the alcohol but from the delicious things this man was doing. I couldn't think straight between his roaming hands and his relentless mouth. Thoughts of what else he could do with that mouth drifted into my head making me shiver and my clit throb.

He broke away from the kiss and I groaned, not wanting his assault to stop. Opening my eyes I looked up at him, a questioning look on my face. His lips were curled into a devilish smile while he took in my flushed cheeks and heavy breathing. 

He bent slightly at his knees and reached until I felt hands wrap around the back of my thighs, his fingers digging into my muscles harshly before lifting me up. My legs curled around his waist and my arms around his neck to keep myself steady.

Our hips met and I could feel his erection through his pants as it pressed into my now soaking wet center. Looking down into his eyes I felt butterflies in my stomach. He was so damn sexy, looking up at me like that with his perfect, full lips slightly parted. My hands left his hair and slid forward until they cupped his cheeks. I pressed my lips onto his, igniting another passionate kiss.

Declan walked down the hall, kicking open the door to my bedroom and walked over to my bed. He bent at the hips and let us both fall onto the mattress. His hands left my thighs and started a slow trail up the side of my leg then to my hips, ducking under my shirt and kept traveling north until his finger tips played with the bottom hem of my bralette. The other came up so he could prop himself up on his forearm to stop from crushing me.

I didn't think it could be possible for myself to get anymore aroused but once his fingers pushed their way under the black lace and found my tight nipple I thought I was going to explode. His thumb and forefinger pinched and pulled making me gasp into his mouth. My clit throbbed with every pinch. My body was on fire and all I wanted was release from the ache between my legs.

Pushing my hips up, I started to grind against his dick in hopes that he would get my silent plea. His fingers tightened like a vice around my nipple causing me to buck my hips up into him even more. My lips broke from his as I moaned out his name in his ear. His head dropped down into my neck where his teeth bit down forcing a whine from my now lonely lips.

Again, I pushed my hips up against him in another silent plea. He pushed his erection against me in response just as he tightened his fingers again around my nipple. Frantically, I brought my hands down to his waist were my fingers fumbled with this belt buckle, I couldn't wait any longer. His fingers pinched my nipple while his mouth sucked on my neck and I couldn't help but say his name.

"Mmm, Declan, please..." My voice was breathy as his name tumbled from my lips. His actions made me more frantic to get inside his pants but before I could figure out his belt, his hand left my breast and his body left mine.

He stood there, hair disheveled and his black shirt full of wrinkles as he stared down at me laying awkwardly with my knees bent and legs spread. My cheeks flushed more as I watched him take in my body in this compromising position. I could see his erection pushing against the inside of his pants. I looked up at him with hooded eyes licking my lips slowly, in my fuzzy state that was all I wanted.

Fixing his hair he then ran his hands down the front of his shirt a couple of times to try and brush out the wrinkles. His smile disappeared slowly as he reached for his black peacoat that laid at the foot of my bed and pulled it on. I watched him, confused as to why he would need a jacket for what I thought was about to happen.

"Have a good night, Scarlett." His words hit me like a sledgehammer as he walked out of my apartment, looking back at me and winking before he closed the door behind him.

I was left completely alone in the silence of my apartment still trying to hold onto the feeling of his body against mine.

Letting out a frustrated sigh I trudged out of my room and back into the kitchen to the bottle of vodka that was still open and waiting on the counter. The sexual frustration was slowly starting to melt away into embarrassment. The image of me laying on my bed with my legs spread awkwardly wasn't helping.

"You suck, you know that?" I mumbled at the vodka bottle, blaming it for making me act like an easy bang. I was not ready to admit that what just happened between Declan and I was hot. No. He was some evil, gangster, killer who kidnapped me, drugged me and is now using me in some mafia battle. I was only feeling this way because of the vodka and the fact that it has been a long time since I got anything in that department.

I didn't actually find him attractive...Right?

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