Page 38 of The Chief's Captive

Now I know what it's like to have a taste of freedom and have it ripped away. I don't want to die in this closet. Now I know why Ronan told me I couldn’t leave. These people were out there. They don’t care about me at all, but they do care about him. They wanted a way to get to him and they found it.

Screw you, Eamon, I curse inwardly.Rot in hell, you bastard.

Footsteps scuffle to a stop right in front of the closet door, and my heart stops. It’s like he can hear my thoughts and know what I’m thinking. Like he will come and finish me now because I hate him. But the footsteps walk away at the command of a man’s voice, and I relax for a second, and I whimper when I hear Ronan's voice. He's angry, and he's here.

Hope starts to rise in my chest. I struggle against the rope binding me even harder. A million thoughts go through my head. If I can get free, it's not just me against those savages. Now, Ronan is here. But the sound of a scuffle makes me pause again and strain to hear what is happening. I rise up to myknees again and wobble over to the closet door, pressing my ear against the cold wood.

They're fighting. I hear grunts and the sound of someone striking another. I wince and whimper, and I pray Ronan is getting the better of them. Then they exchange more muffled dialogue and I can't make it out.

When the door bursts open, I almost fall flat on my face. But the large man named Badger grabs me by my hair and pulls on me. Pain shoots down my neck and shoulders and across my back as he drags me into the room. My knees scrape across the floor and tears stream down my cheeks as he holds my head back. He takes off the gag, and it's strange to hear such fear in my own sobs.

All manner of horrible visions flash through my mind. They've brought me out here to murder me right in front of him, or they're going to kill him in front of me. I'm so scared, I try to keep my eyes open, but when Eamon demands I speak, I'm paralyzed, unable to move, let alone speak. The gun isn't pointed at me, but Badger's fist is ready to strike.

"Tell him now. Tell him why Butcher is dead. Tell him your little secret."

I'm sobbing, whimpering so badly I know he'll kill me. He is torturing us both. He's just waiting for me to share my secret so Ronan will die an even more painful death. When Badger wraps his hand around my throat, the terror forces my confession.

"Ronan, I’m pregnant. They want to kill our baby… please…" I close my eyes briefly, but Badger's hand tightens down on my neck.

It feels like my world just imploded. The pressure in my face and head is so intense, I can feel every heartbeat. I wiggle my fingers, desperate to get my hands out of the restraints to reach his hand and pull it away from my throat, but I still can't wrestle free. My heart is racing, the room spinning. He's going to strangle me. He's really doing it.

My eyes lock with Ronan's, and I see the exact moment he loses it. The tempest inside his mind explodes in rage and he lunges forward, shoving Eamon across the bed, and I blink long enough to miss what happens next. I hear the gunshot, but my world fades to black and I see white stars swirl in my field of vision before Badger lets go of my neck and I crash to the ground hard.

My head slams to the wood floor, and I suck in a greedy breath, filling my lungs. It's almost too much, the air so rich with hope and freedom it makes me dizzy. I curl my knees to my chest instinctively as the movement around me scares me. My hands are still bound and I am frozen now in fear, but something tells me Ronan will fix this, that he's not walking away without saving me.

And I relent and let my body rest. The world goes black, but I'm not dead, just giving up.

27

RONAN

"Let her go!" I scream, but the man only grins at me as Eamon shoves me against the wall again.

"You're going to watch her die, and then I'm going to pick you apart. Your blood will join the rest of your men's blood, and if your brothers are wise, they'll support me. Or they'll join you too."

Maeve writhes, unable to bring her hands up to fight the man, and suddenly, I feel a surge of energy and rage. I don't stop to think about the gun or dying. I don't pause to worry about myself or my family. The only thing that matters is saving her. I need her.

I scream as loud as I can as I lunge forward, shoving Eamon so hard he falls backward over the bed. His feet fly into the air, and the gun goes off as he rolls. Then I lurch into the man holding Maeve, and he lets her go. She drops to the ground gasping for air as he tries to stand, but I'm too close already. I swing my leg forward and kick him in the jaw, making him fall backward.

When he hits the ground, I dive on top of him, pounding my fists into his face, and by then Eamon is back on his feet. With one swift movement, I grip the man's lapels and roll hard to my right, making him swap places with me just as Eamon fires a shot, hitting him. Using him as a human meat shield wasn't my intention, but it works. Eamon fires one more shot, and it sails past us both, lodging in the floor, and I shove the bleeding man off my body. There's a high chance he'll be dead in seconds, so I dart off the ground and charge at my evil cousin.

Maeve is still crying, and it looks like Eamon’s weapon is out of rounds. His slide is locked all the way back, and he throws the gun at me as I stalk forward. It hits my leg, and I draw back my hand and unleash all my strength into one blow that slams into his face.

He stumbles into the bathroom and tries to shut the door, but I throw my shoulder into it, forcing him backward. He crashes into the shower door, shattering it and falling down, and in seconds, I have a shard of glass in my hand, kneeling over him.

"You've done enough killing. Your time is over, Eamon. I wish you could have just done what our fathers wanted." I grab him by the tie and hold the shard of glass to his throat as he stares up at me with a smug look.

"Go ahead, kill me. You win," he grunts, and for a moment, I think about Maeve and how she will feel knowing I've murdered someone with my own hands right in front of her. But I know Eamon is a snake. If I wait for the police to show up, even the ones loyal to me might not be able to stop him again.

The glass presses into his throat just above his jugular, but I'm careful not to apply too much pressure. He knows he's defeated now and that I hold the power to kill him or let him go. He knowswhat I have to do. He's not a fool. If it were reversed, he'd kill me. He would've if I hadn’t gotten the drop on him just now. But he toyed with me too long and lost his shot.

"You did this all for power?" I'm out of breath, feeling the sting of pain in my chest where he shot me. Everything else is numb, though my hands bleed from the cuts left when he smashed the lamp over them. It's like the scars he left on my body are reignited just by being near him, as if he left a toxin in them that will only heal when I have my vengeance.

"I did it because it's the right thing." Even now, his arrogance is costing him. He's always had a problem with authority. He's always looked at our fathers and despised my family because his father wasn't the chosen leader when our grandfather died. He's always been jealous that I would be the chief of this family one day, and he waited until our fathers died to enact his evil plan.

"You don't know right from wrong…" I push the glass harder against his skin and see the first droplets of blood appear, staining the broken shard. "This isn't what your father wanted."

"My father was a fool. He let your family rule everything when he had more ability and desire to be the head of this family than anyone else." Eamon grips my wrist with both hands and snarls at me. He's going to take his anger to the grave rather than confess that he is wrong and beg forgiveness. It would be honorable if he were actually right, but this cockiness is disgusting.

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