Page 25 of Lorcan

“Because I’ve heard grumblings from people I know down there that they are auctioning girls to the black market, specifically, the sex trade.”

I felt the bile rise in my throat. Was this what Bridget was running from? She was so sweet, so full of sunshine, except when she was angry at me for forcing her onto the plane, that is. Could she be running from this?

“How do we fucking stop them?”

“There’s one way,” Ace said. “I don’t know if you want to call Killian in for this, but there’s definitely a way to disrupt them.”

Killian was an expert at the bad shit, the shit I didn’t want to do. He did it with a calm demeanor and if he weren’t my brother, I would have had him locked away a long time ago. He had his woman, the place he felt safe, and the place he could block the darkness out with. It was his only saving grace, but she wasn’t here now. She had to go and hide to stay safe.

Maybe we needed the dark Killian back.

I picked up my phone and messaged him to meet us. Ace and I were silent while he waited for him to get here. I moved out of my chair and toward the bar.

I grabbed three glasses and my bottle of whiskey from behind the bar and took a seat again. I poured a drink for Ace and for myself and in silence, we drank.

Killian finally made his way in and over to us. He dragged one of my other chairs over and waited.

Ace relayed what was going on in Cork to him. I could see the anger in his expression, but only because I knew him.

He was the calm assassin to everyone else, but I saw his micro expressions of rage which led to his dark side surfacing. He was the rage that our father had, I was the strategic side of our father and Conor was the reckless side. Together, we were our father, as much as we didn’t want to be.

“What do you need?” Killian asked, knowing why he was called in. He knew as much as I did that he needed to pull the dark side of his psyche out. I only hoped Sloane could pull him back from the brink when the time came.

“Bring your toys,” Ace said. “We’re going to blow a hole through their operations and blow up their safe houses. Distract them while we find a way to protect your empire.”

I poured Killian a drink and then topped ours up. We stood, and we drank until our glasses were empty. A pact to protect Ireland.

By the end of this, I knew we’d lose people, we may even lose someone close to us, but I’ll be damned if I lose everything we’ve built.

“Pack your shit,” Killian said. “We leave at midnight.”

I nodded, and he left us in the library, the only solace my father and I have ever known in this estate.

“I’ll grab Hawk and we’ll come with.”

I nodded and watched as he left the library, leaving me alone. I felt the anger subside and overwhelming pressure mounted. Everyone was looking to me to lead, to be the person to look for and I had no fucking clue how to fix this. I’d had my eyes closed for too long, and look at the state of things now. We were in a global fucking war and Ireland was at risk of being run by someone who had no ties to being Irish.

Like hell I would let that happen.

None of us would.

I’d die before I saw Ireland in my enemies hands.

Chapter Six

Bridget

Thebalconyoverlookedthesea and for the first time in days, I breathed in relief. I wasn’t running, I wasn’t at risk of being found. I was in one of the most beautiful places on this earth and I had nothing to fear…for the first time in over a year.

I felt tears well up in my eyes, as sobs wracked my chest at the feeling of being free. I could be Bridget here. I could be me.

I gasped, drying my eyes as I heard someone behind me. Turning, I saw Teeghan leaning against the doorframe.

“Oh…sorry.”

“You don’t have to be a hardass all the time,” she said. “You’re allowed to feel what you feel.”

“Coming from my captor, that’s cute.”

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