Page 109 of Dublin Brute

I take a few steps, and Nora is right with me. I meet Sean’s gaze through the broken window, and he shakes his head.

I stop her and bend down to meet her gaze. “Please, beautiful, stay here while I check on him. I don’t want you in danger, and I don’t want you to see him if it’s bad.”

A shuttered sob escapes her, and she nods. “Okay, but be quick.”

Finn races inside to check on us, and I hand him Nora. “Stay with Finny, angel.”

Rushing out of the front of the house, I jog over to stand next to Sean. “Jesus fuck.”

“Aye, it’s gruesome.”

McNiven’s neck is snapped, the bastard’s head pivoted around to look backward like a fucking owl. And Nora’s father… “Fucking hell.”

When the fight went through the window frame, Jordan’s thigh got dragged through the jagged glass. By the amount of blood soaking his pants, his femoral artery was severed. And there’s a second jagged shard sticking out his neck.

“Brendan? What do you see?”

“Nora, stay here, lass.” Finn’s urging has me turning back to the front door and racing to keep her from coming outside.

I meet her at the door and push her back inside. “No, angel. You don’t want to see.”

Nora looks up at me, devastation on her face. “Is he dead?”

“I’m sorry, angel. They both are.”

And with that, her eyes roll back in her head, and she faints in my arms.

EPILOGUE

Nora

Ifold the last of my sweaters and tuck it into the drawer of my new dresser. The dark wood matches the rest of the furniture in our new suite, giving the space an elegant but cozy feel. The afternoon sun streams through the tall windows, casting warm shadows across the plush carpet.

Brendan insisted we take one of the private apartments in the unused section of the Quinn castle, saying I’m an only child and need space away from the chaos of the main household. I admit, he was right.

I adore his family, but I’m used to a lot more time surrounded by quiet than what five Quinn brothers and their wives offer.

Having this sanctuary means everything.

And though I’m a little sad not to be moving in with Kate, she told me I’d be stupid not to follow my heart and move in with Brendan. Besides, a couple of the girls from Legend have said they’ll split expenses on a flat with her.

I’m glad. She deserves her chance at a new life, too.

“And that’s the last box.” I close the drawer with a soft thud and sit on the edge of our massive antique canopy bed. The thing is something Henry the Eighth might sleep in, with the carved wooden ceiling and brocade drapes. Brendan said it’s been in his family for centuries and Tag and Sean never wanted it, so he brought it out of storage for us.

I run my hand over the silky duvet, unsure how this became my life.

Brendan crosses the room and sits beside me, his massive frame dwarfing mine. The mattress dips under his considerable weight and draws me over to lean against him. Mmm…his cologne triggers a Pavlovian ache in me. “If you need anything else, don’t hesitate, angel. Whatever makes this feel like home for you, I want you to have.”

“I don’t need things.” My voice catches in my throat, thick with emotion. The hole that aches inside me fills with a wave of grief. I miss my father, despite the weeks that have passed since his funeral, and despite all our troubles. “I’ve never needed things.”

“I know, angel.” Brendan wraps his arms around me and pulls me back to lie with him. He tucks my head under his chin and his warmth seeps into my side. “Your father was a complicated man who spent his life pursuing justice for your mother. In the end, he finally got McNevin. He died making the world a little safer.”

Tears slip down my cheeks, dampening Brendan’s shirt. “Do you think things would’ve been different if he told me the truth…if he hadn’t been so consumed by revenge?”

“We’ll never know.” Brendan’s arms tighten around me, his muscles tensing. “I know loss changes a person. If anything ever happened to you, I’d tear the world apart to make it right. I understand what drove him.”

So do I.It’s just a shame I found out the truth too late to change things between us.

---