Page 2 of Connor's Claim

“Get back.” I snapped an arm out to guide her to a position of protection.

She took it. Crept behind me with her body against mine.

The man on the floor whipped up, a hand to his jaw where I’d hit him. If he could kill with a glare, I’d be sliced in two.

“Don’t fucking touch her,” he ordered.

Indignation slammed into me. I twisted to speak to Everly though never took my gaze off the intruder who’d dropped into a fighter’s stance. “Your choice. Watch him die or close your eyes.”

She wasn’t leaving my side in either case. My blade was in my hand again without conscious thought.

Everly’s fingers tightened on my sleeve. “Wait. Both of you.”

The stranger hesitated. Eyed where she touched me. “You know him?” he asked.

Everly’s quick nod nudged my arm.

He swore. “Listen to me. I’m not here to hurt you, but others are coming who will.”

There was something familiar in his voice, enough to still my hand. “What the fuck did ye just say?”

“He said the same to me,” Everly whispered. “He came with a warning.”

The man tugged down the plain scarf around his mouth. “I’m not fucking around. We don’t have time for this.”

Recognition dawned.

I knew him. Not all that long ago, I’d had him imprisoned in a room in my apartment after he’d stormed our warehouse in search of his sister. He was Riordan, brother of Genevieve who my best friend, Arran, had recently claimed. I liked Gen. I’d even respected her brother for trying to save her, though he’d got it wrong and eventually accepted that she wanted to be there.

What I couldn’t make sense of was why he was here.

“Excuse me if I call ye a fucking liar,” I bit out.

“I’m not. Red from the Four Milers called in your capture.” His gaze stayed on Everly.

“She’s a job to ye?” I snarled.

Frustration shone in his eyes, and his focus came back to me, his expression savage. “No, asshole. I’m here to tell her to go before someone else makes that decision for her.”

The Four Milers were a rival gang in the city of Deadwater. Why the fuck they’d put out a kidnap hit on the mayor’s daughter was a mystery, yet it didn’t feel like a lie.

Then there was the reason I’d come here in the first place. A hunch that recent murders in the city had been related to me, and that the next target might be someone I cared about. Or used to anyway. It had spurred panic.

I’d run to Everly’s side like I was whipped.

Lights strobed in the hall, stark against the darkness. The rumble of an engine followed, maybe even more than one.

Riordan’s head snapped toward the sound. “That’s them. You need to leave.” Again, he spoke to her, but then he shot that angry gaze to me. “Take her away or I will.”

Antagonism rose in a hot wave, boosted by other emotions. Fear of others wanting her. A gang. This jack-off. The image returned of him touching her. His threat to claim her unleashed jealousy that directed my hand into a fist and snapped out another punch.

It connected. Riordan spun back from the force.

I didn’t wait to see him land, grasping Everly’s hand to lead her into the hall. A quick glance left showed headlights illuminating the glass inserts around the big front door. Whoever was approaching was coming in hot.

With any luck, we’d have time to leave the way I’d come in.

At the kitchen door, I peered out. Glass crunched under my boots. Everly took a sharp inhale of breath, and I peered back to see her wince and lift her foot.

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