Page 36 of Creatures in the Night

“Tell your men to move out of my way, Mr. Murphy,” she bit out, issuing an order of her own.

“Call me Mr. Murphy again, and I won’t be responsible for what happens when I finally get my hands on you, lass,” I threatened, meaning every fucking word.

Ignoring that, she said, “Tell your men to move out of my fucking way.”

I shook my head, trying my best to keep her alive. “What’s the plan, lass?” I finally asked. “Where exactly do you think you can go where I won’t be able to find you?”

Her arms shook a bit, and I knew that it was costing her to hold up that gun. “Wherever I have to,” she flung back.

“Baby, I need you to listen to me, okay?” I didn’t wait for her to agree. “Even if I let you drive out of here, you’ll still never be free of me. I will hunt you to the ends of the earth until I find you, and then all I’m going to do is just bring you back here.”

“You’ll have to kill me first,” she replied. “Which was the plan all along anyways, so what are you waiting for?”

Because it was obvious that she’d overheard something damning, and because it was obvious that she believed that me and my guards were involved, I made a last-minute decision to see if I could talk some sense into her before there was no going back for either of us.

“I need you gentlemen to go outside and secure the area,” I ordered.

“Noah-”

“Niall, I’m not asking,” I said, stopping his protests.

“At least one of us should stay back,” he suggested, and the only reason that he was still alive was because he’d been with me long enough to trust him with my life.

“I won’t say it again,” I informed them all. “Leave now.”

Against their better judgement, they began filing out of the garage, but I knew Niall well enough to know that he was going to be right outside the man door while the others helped secure the building. If Shea managed to shoot and/or kill me, she’d be riddled with bullets before she even knew what hit her. See, what Shea didn’t understand was that the O’Brien guards answered to Declan above all else, and if they let Shea get away with killing me, then they’d be in for an entirely new circle of hell at Declan’s hands. My men might fear me, but not like they feared The O’Brien.

When we were finally alone, I said, “Now tell me what happened, lass.”

“You know exactly what happened,” she spat. “Only it just didn’t work out quite like you hoped it would.”

“Baby, I didn’t order a hit on you,” I finally told her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t lie!” she yelled.

“I’m not!” I yelled back.

“I heard them!” she went on, still yelling, her cries echoing throughout the garage. “I heard them talking!”

“I didn’t order a hit on you!” I repeated.

“You’re lying!”

I took in a deep breath, trying to calm the sinking feeling in my chest. “Lass, I’ve killed men for less,” I informed her. “Do not insult me again.”

“I’m leaving,” she said, ignoring my threat. “I’m leaving, and I’ll shoot you if you try to stop me.”

“Baby, I didn’t order you killed,” I told her again, rage threatening to make me lose my shit the more that she accused me of trying to have her killed. “Now, if you tell me what’s going on, I can fix it.”

“Fix it?” she scoffed darkly. “You’ve got nerve, I’ll give you that.”

“Shea, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, and I will not keep defending myself against a sin that I didn’t commit,” I snapped.

“I’m not asking you to defend yourself against anything,” she pointed out.

“You have to know that I’ll never let you go,” I said, telling her the absolute truth of her situation. “You have to know that, baby.”

Shea shook her head decidedly. “I am not going to let you widow yourself to satisfy your word to The O’Brien.”

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