Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81374 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81374 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“Aye,” I whisper in her ear. “Your lover, sweet girl, and don’t you fucking forget it.”
She sighs and nods her head against my shoulder. “Okay, then. alright. I can handle this. I can handle myself. I’m sorry.”
I hold her gaze a moment longer to make sure she is, in fact, obeying me, before I lead her to the bathroom.
She opens the door and I follow her in.
“You can’t come into the ladies’ room,” she says, shaking her head at me. “I’m sure I’ll be fine for a moment, won’t I?”
I shut and lock the door behind me. “I won’t take that chance.”
I lean against the sink with my arms crossed while she does what she needs to. She shakes her head when she washes her hands. “You act as if there’s a passel of wild dogs on my heels.”
I don’t bother responding. For all I fucking know, there is.
I go to open the door when a crowd of three women, all of them from the line of women outside that were entertaining us, suddenly swarm the small area. They come straight for me. I try to deflect one, but she’s giggling, and shoving her way up to me, and another’s running her hands along my shoulders.
“Hello, there, handsome,” one begins to purr. I shove her off of me when I notice they aren’t alone. Someone in all black’s managed to sneak in right past them. He shoves his way toward Fiona, but he isn’t quick enough. In seconds, I’ve pushed past the girls and got him by the throat. I shove him against one of the stalls, and the girls scream.
I pull out my phone and call Tiernan.
Seconds later, Tiernan enters. The girls run off, screaming. The guy’s eyes are bugging out of his head, his face purple and contorted.
“Lachlan! Lachlan, stop, you’ll kill him!” Fiona’s shouting, but her voice sounds distant, as if she’s yelling to me from a window.
“Let him go, brother,” Tiernan says. “Calum will deal with him. You’re his guest, and this bastard’s broken the law.” I drop the bastard to the floor, when the armed guards enter.
Tiernan turns to them and explains the situation. “Bring him to Calum.”
The entire club’s gone quieter when I drag my captive bodily to the table where Calum sits. “Explain yourself,” he says, drawing a pistol. “Lachlan. Floor.”
I know exactly what he wants me to do. I shove the man to his knees and drag his arms to his lower back so hard he cries out. I’ve been in this position before, only in the privacy of an interrogation room, not in a room full of people. The guy’s blubbering now, something about being paid for a hit, and how the girl with the red hair’s wanted. Calum looks to me, and I shake my head.
“She’s related to the McCarthys,” I tell him. “And fucking sister to Tiernan.”
Calum nods and pulls the trigger. Fiona screams when the man’s head hits the floor, but I don’t feel regret. Instead, I know we’ve won a victory.
He tucks his gun back into its holster without a word. He jerks his chin to one of the bodyguards that stands behind him. “Get rid of the body,” he says. “Now.”
Calum has chosen his side.
Chapter 13
Fiona
It’s hard to believe what’s happening. It feels surreal, like I’m walking in a dream. I’m surrounded by sordidness that makes the Craic in Ballyhock look tame. A man just tried to attack me. They killed him, and now they’re taking his body to bury in a shallow grave.
Here, in the world of the Irish mafia, alliances are formed and broken. Lachlan came in here looking for an ally. He’s leaving with one, but the blood of a man is on his hands.
I don’t listen to whatever else they say after that. I can still see the cold way Calum pulled the trigger, and the victory in Lachlan’s eyes. He may love me—I don’t doubt that he does. But I can never forget that he’s Irish mob. Ruthless vengeance is his bread and butter.
A knot forms in my stomach. Tiernan’s no different.
No matter what happens between me and Lachlan… if there are children, or a home, dreams we pursue, our lives entwined together in inexplicable ways… no matter what happens, he’ll always be Irish mafia. Once inducted, there is no way out, save death.
I’ve known this about Sheena and Nolan. I’ve heard their arguments. I’ve witnessed her tears. Though she’s beloved in the McCarthy clan, it doesn’t mean it’s always easy. Sometimes it’s bloody hard.
One thing I do know is that Lachlan got what he came here for tonight. The vicious men of the Boston Irish have chosen to help him win this battle. Calum in particular is furious the assailant came to his private club and has ordered his most capable men to find out who he is and where he came from.