Page 51 of One Kill

“Speak again and you’ll be wearing this knife… in your right eye.” Then she turns to Ronan, spreading her arms out wide like the angel of death, and pauses, waiting for everyone to have eyes on her. In any other scenario, she would be magical. Right here and now, she’s deadly and never been more stunning. “What the fuck do you want? Seriously. You got me. I’m here. What the actual fuck do you need them for? After all these years of protecting them, now you decide to hurt them? It’s me you want, Ronan. I’m right fucking here for the taking.”

At her words, I lunge. It’s instinct, like my body forgot to warn my brain that any threat to J is a threat to me. Except I don’t make it an inch before I’m pulled back by the gag that’s tied around my head and slammed back into the chair like I’m insignificant.

“It’s not that simple, Jordyn. You took something from me that you can’t give back. These two were my reimbursement, but I’m a businessman, I can negotiate the terms.” J’s man tightens his grip on Ronan, causing him to cough and narrow his eyes at her. “Be careful, little girl, wanting to play in a big boy world.”

It dawns on me that Ronan has no idea who Jordyn works for. The revelation gives me hope because, knowing my girl, she’s got a couple of safety plans already in place and these fuckers won’t know what hit them.

J goes along with his game, bringing the edge of her knife up to her throat and scratching at the skin like she’s soothing an itch. It makes me nervous, and when I look up at Hallie, I see her frown at her mother. I wish I could tell her not to worry, to trust Jordyn and her skills.

“All right, let’s negotiate. You let them go and take me instead. I’ll work for you until you think I’ve paid you back in jobs you need done.” She shrugs like it’s no big deal, but the tension at the corners of her eyes and the set of her shoulders tells me a completely different story. J’s chomping at the bit and wishing she could sink her teeth into Ronan’s carotid.

As much as I couldn’t believe the Irish would do this to us, it was a wake-up call to see them come after us tonight. Ronan showed up with Hallie, the pale of her skin telling me everything I needed to know. When he busted into my house, he gave me the orders.

“When the phone rings, you tell her everything is fine. Do that and you both survive.”

Yet here we are, everyone with a gun ready to kill or die.

“No deal. I’ve already got Riley for that.” He does. Riley is loyal to his father, tonight was solid proof.

I watch as J’s henchman leans into Ronan’s ear and whispers something I can’t hear, a smirk at the corner of his lips and a glint in his eyes.

“You fucking cunt whore!” Hallie and I both jump at the sudden howl coming from deep in Ronan’s lungs, looking around trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. J scratches at the dip of her throat, running her knife down to her cleavage then back up again. The blood on her smears but it doesn’t seem to faze her.

“He took what is mine.”

Again with the shrugging, J just ignores the fact that we’re both being held at gunpoint. At least, that’s the act she’s putting on.

“Sir, do we kill ’em?” my captor asks like it’s a quiz and he doesn’t want to fail.

“What’s it gonna be, Ronan? Are you a real businessman or a fucking amateur?” J’s pushing him and, for the first time, I’m afraid he’ll take her offer and we’ll lose her.

I can’t let that happen.

Fighting against my restraints, I try to scream against my gag and let her know that we don’t accept these terms. We can’t lose her. Hallie would not be okay with this.

J ignores me and beefy fucknut here slams my face into the bar. The pain shoots from my nose all the way up to my brain and down my spine like a fucking lightning streak. Gritting my teeth as I lift my face, I’m met with red all over the place. Hallie screams, muffled behind the rag in her mouth, eyes wild and filled with terror.

J’s head turns to me and I can tell by the way her gaze rises to the man behind me that she’s about to go mental on everyone in here.

We need to stay calm, though. Ronan is not stable, his eyes are bulging with rage at whatever it is that J’s guy said to him. All it would take is one word and we’re gone.

“I’m a vengeful motherfucker, Jordyn O’Neill, and blood can only be repaid in blood.” When Ronan utters his last sentence, I know we’re all fucked. But why?

It all happens so fast that it’s impossible to see it clearly.

Ronan turns to my captor and, with a face hard and unforgiving, gives the order. “Kill them.” But before anything else happens, the kitchen door flies open and the lights go out, leaving us all in the dark.

The whizzing of bullets and muzzle flash from the guns are all around me, my mind focused on one thing only… Hallie. I need to get to her, make sure she’s not caught in the crossfire. Keep her safe. That’s my only job, the only one that counts.

Ducking my head, I swivel the stool and grab for the gun that was just pointed at my head. The guy’s got both pounds and inches on me so the struggle is fucking real, but I’ve got adrenaline on my side boosted by my never-ending need to keep my baby girl safe. I’d say we’re evenly matched.

Just as I get a punch in, my fist connecting with something that feels a lot like a jaw, I simultaneously hear the sound of a gun going off then feel the searing pain in my chest. The shot seems far away and the pain feels like an arrow sloshing through muscle.

I’m fine though and as soon as I’m free from his grip, I crawl to Hallie. Or at least to where she was before the lights went out. There’s shuffling, running, grunting, and something that sounds a lot like a knife going in and out of flesh. I don’t give a fuck, though. The only thing I care about is Hallie.

“Hallie, where are you, baby?” This is what I try to say, but only garbled noises actually come out of my mouth because I can’t get the fucking rag out. The noise is insane and I’m guessing it won’t take long before the police are here with an ambulance and the fire department because, with all these shots going off, something is bound to catch fire.

“Daddy!” Her voice is like a choir of angels singing in my ear and lighting a path for me to go to her. I follow it, on my knees and with my arms still tied behind my back. The pain in my chest is growing and my breath is slowing. I’m slipping left and right in my panic to get to Hallie, no doubt blood from my nose bleed and probably from the others too.

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