Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 15444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15444 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 62(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
With Easton keeping me in check, the real interrogation begins.
“Who are you?”
Through a broken tooth, thanks to my knuckles, the man whines like a pathetic animal. “Quinn.”
“Who do you work for?”
When he doesn’t answer, Easton gives him a kick to the gut, prompting him to start talking.
“Nobody!” he cries out, sneering up at us through blood, snot, and tears.
“I don’t believe you,” I taunt, shaking my head.
Finally, after some more coaxing, Quinn gives us some proper answers.
He wasn’t entirely lying. He doesn’t work for anyone, not anymore. But he did work for Rossi up until this morning.
He and his friend, the now-dead man who Rossi shot for fucking up our meeting, disagreed with the truce. While his friend delayed the meeting, Quinn was supposed to take advantage of this safe house being “empty” to break in and steal whatever he could. Except it wasn’t empty. Kacie was here. And he got more than he bargained for with my fierce little doctor.
“Are you gonna kill me now?” Quinn spits, bruises blossoming on his skin.
I consider it, I really do. But then I hear Kacie’s voice filtering in from the other room, murmuring something I can’t make out from here, and reconsider.
“No,” I say, surprising both Quinn and Easton. “I’m not gonna kill you. See, despite your efforts, the Italian and Irish sides have a new understanding. No more violence between us. So, I think I’ll give my new ally a gift, huh?”
If it was possible, Quinn pales more. “What?”
I grin and pull out my phone to call Rossi. He answers immediately, and I give him a short explanation, saying I’ve got one of his wayward traitors here that I thought he might want back. He thanks me, and ten minutes later, there’s a knock at the door.
Quinn struggles as Easton and I drag him out the back door, so Kacie won’t have to see him or be interrupted, and round to the front of the house where Rossi’s waiting.
“Much appreciated,” he says to me.
“Consider it a show of goodwill about our new agreement,” I answer, shoving Quinn between us. The man falls to the ground, shaking. I don’t know exactly what Rossi is going to do with the traitor, but I know it won’t be good. He deserves it.
None of us hang around. The second Rossi’s car pulls away, Quinn in the back seat, I turn on my heel and head back inside. I need to see my girl. Need to reassure myself that she’s not hurt once again. To promise her that nothing like this will ever happen again.
I keep my footsteps light as I enter the room where Darragh is laid out on the medical table, Kacie’s eyes trained on him. There’s significantly less blood now, thank God, though from the full trash bag in the corner, I assume our towels were sacrificed in the process.
Kacie looks up, meeting my eyes and offering me a smile. “It’s all right. He’s knocked out, you can come in,” she tells me, peeling off gloves as she steps away from Darragh.
“Is he okay?” I ask, glancing between her and Darragh. I can’t help the worry working through my body still. In our line of work, being injured isn’t unusual. But my men are my family, and seeing Darragh so torn up was … well, fucking shit.
“He’ll be fine,” Kacie assures me. “Bullet’s out and missed any major organs or arteries. He lost some blood and will be in pain for a while, but with rest and medication, he’ll be just fine.”
Relief soars through me and I sigh heavily. In two long steps, I cross the space between us and pull Kacie into my arms. She melts against me, and I hold her tight, savoring her warmth and the scent of my soap on her skin.
I pull away faster than I want to because we’re not alone. Darragh is out for the count on the table, and we need to get him to an actual bed.
I start to help Louis and Easton carry him to a room, but Kacie stops me, tutting her tongue off her teeth.
“Sit down,” she snaps, glaring at me in a way that makes my heart beat faster and my cock jump in my pants. I love her fierce streak. “You’re still bleeding.”
I’d forgotten entirely about the graze on my arm, and now that she mentions it, I realize it’s been slowly bleeding this whole time.
Louis and Easton both give me a nod, silently telling me they’ll be fine watching Darragh, and I sigh before sitting down in front of Kacie. She shuts the door behind the others, leaving us alone.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Kacie says, but she’s smiling and shaking her head.
“Like what?”
“Like you want to slam me against the wall and fuck me,” she answers as she pulls out some bandages. Her cheeks are pink, and it’s the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.