Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 81504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81504 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
She nods against my chest. “I know. It happened repeatedly to Maeve, yet it still feels like I made this happen. I was so upset that I was pregnant, and now I’d give anything—”
She breaks into fresh tears. I hold myself together. She needs me to be strong for her. I hold her. I absorb her tears and pray to God I can somehow absorb her pain. It isn’t fair she needs to carry this for both of us.
After a time, her tears slow.
“Let’s get some food in your belly.”
She shakes her head. “I’m not hungry. I can’t eat.” She turns her face away from me, but I gently nudge her chin so her eyes are back on me.
I speak softly but with insistence. “I didn’t ask, McKenna.”
She sighs and nods, as I butter a scone and hand her the plate. She nibbles a few bites until I’m satisfied, then pushes the plate back to me.
“I want to sleep,” she says. I brush her hair out of her eyes and smooth my hand down the back of her neck.
“Of course you do, love. Rest, now.”
I pull the blanket up over her shoulder until her breathing slows. I scribble a note for her in case she wakes while I’m gone.
I join my brothers waiting for me in the interrogation room.
The world seems darker tonight. It’s nightfall, but outside the large windows, there’s barely a scrap of moon or stars in sight. It feels as if the world mourns for us.
I walk down the stairs and do my best to mentally switch gears. My job is to find out who brought this danger here. There’s nothing else I can do for McKenna now.
Maeve meets me on the landing. “Do you want me to go up to her while you do your work?” She knows what we do, and she accepts it.
I shake my head. “She’s resting now. But thank you.”
“Aye,” she says with a sigh. “We’ll give her a few days to rest, then we’ll get her up and about.”
“Alright.”
“We don’t want her sinking into a depression, Tully. Every woman processes a loss differently, and we’ll give her space to do that, but we’ll make sure she gets what she needs as well.”
“Absolutely.”
She looks up the stairs wistfully, then turns and walks the other way.
I go down the stairs that lead to the interrogation room. Mary’s in the library. She waves to me, and I pause in the doorway.
“Mary, go upstairs, please.”
She looks at me in surprise. “Everything alright?”
If she’s friends with the men of the north, she’s familiar with the need for privacy. “Aye, but we need to work down here tonight.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh. Oh, aye. Feeling a bit restless, though. Perhaps I’ll take a walk in the garden.”
She isn’t mine, so I can’t tell her what to do, and she’s as safe here as anywhere. “Aye,” I agree. “Fine. Just be careful.”
“Will do.”
I watch as she exits the back door to head to the garden. She looks so much like McKenna it’s almost striking sometimes.
I head to the room. When I enter, I find all the men of the inner Clan waiting for me, our prisoners tied to chairs, obviously beaten and bloodied.
Cormac’s hands are still clenched into fists, his knuckles streaked in crimson.
“Did you find out anything?”
Keenan sighs. “Aye. Say they work for the men of the north.”
I give them a curious look, but their swollen eyes are on the ground before them. “Is that right?”
One looks up as I approach.
“It’s your turn, Tully,” Keenan says. “See if you can find anything else out.”
These men threatened the safety of my woman.
These men are responsible for bringing danger to Ballyhock.
They will pay.
* * *
Hours later, I return to McKenna. Wearied, and on edge. We brought them here for questioning, and interrogation’s my specialty.
It wasn’t easy, but I found my answers. However, some of the answers only raised more questions.
They tried to tell us they were hired by the Scots, but further interrogation revealed that wasn’t the case. Something foul’s at play, but we don’t know quite what yet.
It wasn’t until the very end of the interrogation I discovered why one of the men was familiar.
His picture in McKenna’s mum’s house. His face on her fucking mantel.
I need to find him.
End him.
I check on McKenna when I get back to the room. She’s still sleeping, swimming in blankets. I take a long, hot shower, to rid me of every fucking thing that happened today. I join her in bed, slide under the covers, and hold her to me.
She rolls over, and snuggles up with her head against my chest.
“Hey,” she whispers. I’m glad she doesn’t know what happened tonight. I hope she never does.
“How are you feeling, baby?”
She sighs, her eyes still closed. “I’m okay. But I’m better now that you’re here.”