Page 64 of Tomorrow's Never Promised

I groan. “I don’twantto. You’re the woman I love. The woman I want to spend the rest of my days with. You’re the woman who will give me the most beautiful children. I’m just so fucking sorry you got wrapped up in all this. Give me one more day. I’m going back to my room. You can stay with me there.”

Her eyebrows scrunch, and she remains quiet. “Where have you been staying?” I clench my jaw, already knowing the answer.

“Killian has me in his room.” She looks down at her hands.

“Of fucking course he does. Has he said anything to you?” I search her eyes for the truth she is shielding me from.

“Just that he isn’t giving up on me. He thinks we will work it out and that what you and I share is more of a‘want what you can’t have’rather than love.”

“Do you believe that?”

“Not at all. I told him he’s got it all wrong. I think what he and Selena have is the kind of love you and I share. What Killian and I have is love…it’s just the sort of love you feel when your needs are met and you are simply happy.”

“So…you told him you’re over?”

She sighs and shakes her head, once again not looking at me. “He didn’t exactly get that part.”

“He will when I speak to him. I’m sorry you had to talk to him alone. I should have been there when you had that conversation.” I bring her palm to my lips and kiss it. “Who is this special guest Killian speaks of?”

Her eyebrow raises and I know she’s about to tell me something interesting. “It’s Selena. She’s here for refuge. From what Killian told me, her family and Alan have an alliance—they are trying to retaliate against your syndicate. That’s probably why Alan wanted to keep me alive.” Her body shakes with fear. “They must have wanted me for ransom or worse.”

“Alan is stillalive?” His name drips from my lips like venom.

“They are looking for him.”

Gunshots go off somewhere down the hall. I move as quickly as possible, realizing what a fucking big mistake it was for Killian to take in Selena.She’s like a Trojan Horse. How could Killian not see that?I rip my IV out and unhook the oxygen from my nose. As I leap off the bed, pain radiates up my left shoulder. I pull Madison up with my good arm, and she winces.

Being as gentle as I can, I hustle her into the bathroom and down onto the lid of the toilet seat. “Sit there and don’t move. I swear to fucking God, Madison…don’t follow me. Just stay here until I come back.” I lift her chin and lean over, smashing my lips to hers. Her fingers cling around my neck, trying to get me to stay.

As much as I would love to stay here, forget all our worries, and fuck her against the wall of this shower—I can’t. We need to bealivein order to do that. With all the energy I can muster, I pull away from her and shut the door.

I grab my gun off the nightstand and crack the door open slowly; throwing the lock, I pull it shut behind me. I pad down the hallway to the commotion in the guest room. Colin, Kieran, and Conor are running up the staircase. We all group together and push open the door with our guns raised.

Alan is dead in a pool of blood, and Killian is on his knees with Selena cradled in his arms. I take the gun from him and kneel, patting him on the back.

“Kil, what the fuck happened?”

“Alan was in the room with her when I walked in. He had a fucking gun to her head!” he shouts. “It’s done now. He and his son can rot in hell for all I care.” He rubs small circles over Selena’s back. “Kieran, scan the entire house and check for security breaches. That arsehole must have been here since we got home.”

Kil, it’s okay. I’m okay.” Selena tries to calm him.

“There will be a meeting in twenty minutes to discuss our security moving forward,” he scowls, eyeing all of us.

“Colin, take Selena to one of our guest rooms in the main hall and stay with her until I get there,” he continues.

Colin helps them up and walks a crying Selena out of the room.

Killian squeezes my good shoulder and looks me dead in the eyes. “Just so you know, I amall inwith Madison. I’m not giving up on us. I fucked up and I will spend every second trying to make it right. I know you love her, Liam. But so do I.” He walks towards the door. “This incident doesn’t change a goddamn thing.”

I spin around—fucking livid. “It’s not up to us, Killian. It’s up to her.”

He turns around to face me and stretches out his hand to shake mine. “We’ll letherdecide then. There won’t be any bad blood between us once she does.”

“She already chose. I’m sorry, Kil. You and Madison are done. She wants to be with me.”

“That’s not what it seemed like when her lips were on mine earlier,” he smirks before leaving the room.

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