Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 103141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 516(@200wpm)___ 413(@250wpm)___ 344(@300wpm)
I turn to see Conan is there too. He grabs the guard inside by the head, before he can turn around, snapping his neck in a quick, brutal twist. The body slumps to the ground. I hear noises coming from outside—men here with Rian and Conan, or others that are with my father?
He’s here.
He found me.
I don’t know how in the hell he found me, but he did, and he came for me.
Rian will always come for me, because in a world where I don’t matter to most, to him, I am the man he loves.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” my father shouts, gaze darting between Rian and me. “You told him! You led this criminal here. I knew it. You were working with him all along. You’re both trying to sabotage me.”
“You tried to have me killed!” rips from the back of my throat. I knew he didn’t love me, knew he didn’t care. I don’t think he’s capable of loving anyone other than himself, but I never would have thought he’d do this.
Ignoring me, my father says, “How did you know? They won’t stop until they get what they want from you. There’s nothing you can do to stop them.”
Who won’t stop until they get what they want? Nothing Rian can do to stop who?
“It’s going to be fun making you suffer,” Rian says to him, taking a step forward, then another. “Why did you want Abbott dead?”
“Who is going after Rian?” Conan asks at the same time.
“Because he’s just like his mother! He’s asking questions, sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.” Another step forward for Rian. “Stop moving or I’ll shoot you!” The tremble in my father’s voice is impossible to miss.
“Rian,” Conan warns as he keeps moving.
Rian ignores him. “Do it,” he taunts. “You better fucking do it because if you don’t, then I’m going to make you suffer beyond comprehension. You hurt what’s mine, and I will never stop making you suffer for it.”
Fear clutches my heart. Yes, he has a gun pointed at my father, but my father has one pointed at him too. If Rian shoots, what if my father gets a shot off? What if he…
“Rian…baby. Don’t.” He can’t do this. He can’t sacrifice himself for me.
“Does he know what you did?” Rian asks him. “Everything you’ve done? Because I do.” He takes another step closer. “You don’t deserve him. You’ve never deserved him. He is…everything.”
Something changes in the air, an unexpected gleam in my father’s eyes. “If I have to die, then he goes with me.”
Everything happens quickly from there, so fast I can’t make sense of it all.
My father swings his arm from Rian toward me.
A gunshot goes off.
Rian lunges for me, covering my body with his own.
A loud thunk in the background.
“Get down!” Conan yells.
The door bursts open, but I can’t see who it is. Rian is on top of me still, squeezing me, my face in his chest.
“Are you hurt? Were you hit?” I ask, trying to feel him, run my hands up and down his back to make sure he’s okay.
“Dad? Are you okay?” a voice I don’t recognize says, which immediately makes Rian stiffen and turn his head.
When he does, I’m able to see, and I know that the guy asking is Cillian.
He’s here.
Rian’s son is here, along with Finan and the others, everyone on the ground, looking around as if they’re trying to figure out what happened.
“I’m fine,” he tells Cillian. “I’m okay.”
At the same time, we both look to the floor…see the body there…my father, lifeless, lying in a pool of blood.
“Who shot at him?” Rian is on alert now, but I can’t take my eyes off my father. “Did you take care of the men outside?” Rian asks the group that came in.
“Yep. All dead, no guns, and we didn’t even make a mess! We got to use our hands. We kept one alive. He’s knocked out and tied up,” a guy says, but I can’t pull my eyes away from my father to see who is speaking.
He’s dead.
My father is dead…I have no family left.
He wanted me killed, but still, he was my father, and he’s dead.
Both of my parents are gone.
“We didn’t want to do anything when he had a gun on you,” another voice says. “Whoever took that shot didn’t have the same concern.”
I finally manage to force my stare away from my father.
“Fin, Rory, Dean, and Tiernan, go find whoever the fuck that was. Everyone else, stay the fuck away from the windows.”
“On it,” Finan says, as someone drags in the unconscious, tied-up man from outside.
“Fuck yes. I expected more action,” the redhead says, and I assume he’s Rory.
They take off out of the house, and then Rian is running his hands up and down my body. “Jesus. I’m so fucking sorry. You never should have been put in this situation. Did he hurt you? Did he?”