Page 29 of Lorcan

Bridget

The sun was unbelievable as I lounged in the garden by the estate. Saverio’s brothers had been the perfect hosts, along with their maid Antonella, who had made sure we were all happy and kept us entertained with stories of the brothers when they were younger. I’d felt more at ease being here than ever before and I was loathe to leave the sun and the incredible Italian cuisine.

“There’s been news,” Sloane said, her voice tense. I immediately sat up and grabbed my sunglasses to shield from the bright rays. “Something’s wrong. Come on.”

I followed her inside, my heart hammering in my chest as we headed inside and toward the great room where they usually housed us at night, as we watched Italian soap operas.

Everyone was sitting around the table, Mateo, Bastian and their men. Teeghan was looking down at a computer, her eyes wet with tears.

“What is it?” I asked. “What’s happened?”

There was always a chance something could happen. They were going to war. It was why they’d sent us away so we would be safe.

“Lorcan’s been taken,” Teeghan admitted. “Killian and their men were able to be released, but Lorcan’s been taken by the Moriarty’s.”

My family name brought unto it a certain amount of fear. They couldn’t take him. They couldn’t hurt him. I wouldn’t allow it. I may have wanted to escape from him but only to protect him from my life. I liked Lorcan. Not only because he was a stone-cold fox, but he was sweet, he was charming and I loved how I felt in his arms.

Safe.

My father and brothers were brutes. They’d killed my younger brother because he wouldn’t fall in line. They’d tried to sell me into the sex trade, to a man who no government could touch. I would have been lost forever if I hadn’t escaped.

I couldn’t let them hurt Lorcan.

He wasmine.

The sudden possessiveness that came over me was like nothing else I’d ever experienced.

“Take me back,” I commanded.

Mateo stood. The strong silent brother who never interacted with us if he could help it. “No. He wouldn’t want us to do this.”

His strong Italian accent would probably do wonders for the women in Italy, but for me, I wanted my Irishman. I wanted my Lorcan to be safe and if that meant I had to return, I would.

“Whether you take me or not, I will find my way back.”

“We all would,” Sloane said. “You take us back today, or we’ll do it ourselves and probably put ourselves at more risk than if you helped us.”

Mateo looked to his brother Bastian before he submitted. “Fine. We’ll take you, but back to Galway. Conor can deal with this from then on.”

“No,” I said. “Sloane, Teeghan, you should stay here. Safe. I am Bridget Moriarty. My family took Lorcan, and they did it because they want me back. I am the only one who can save him.”

Everyone looked at me like I was a leper.

The very reason I hid who I was in the first place.

“I will take you,” Mateo said. “Everyone else stays put.”

Sloane and Teeghan tried to complain but I held my hand up. “No,” I told them. “This needs to be me. If they aren’t worried about you, and your safety. We may survive this.”

Teeghan stood up and came over to me, hugging me tight.

“You need me, you call me or get a message to me, and I will be there. Alone or not, I will fucking be there. You hear me?”

I nodded, thankful that she understood me, and I followed Mateo out of the room. My heart was aflutter, I knew returning home was a death sentence. But I would save the man who had made me feel alive again.

If it was the last thing I did.

I would save Lorcan from my family.

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