Page 58 of Lorcan

“Help Teeghan.”

Hawk and Bear were already at her side, helping her to her feet and lifting Jye up to carry him away from the foyer.

“Fuck, he caught us so off guard,” I said. “We need to really bring this to its head. I’m sick of recovering. I need this to be over.”

Ace nodded. “Right now, you need to rest. Ronan isn’t doing anything just yet. Line these men up outside as a warning. It should give you a couple of weeks.”

I nodded and slowly made my way over to the staircase to go upstairs. My home was in shambles and my city was on the precipice of war.

But all I could think of doing was curling up with Bridget and blocking all the shit out. I approached our bedroom and noticed it was locked.

The last time I’d had to burst open the door, and needed a new lock. I didn’t want to do that again, especially not now.

I used my knuckles to rap on the door. “Bridget, it’s me.”

I heard her moving about in the room before the lock clicked and she opened the door, her cheeks stained with tears.

“Is everyone okay?”

Her eyes travelled to my wound and they widened. “Lorcan.”

“I’m okay, I just need a couple more stitches.”

Something caught the corner of my eye and I shifted to see Jye’s daughter, Ashling, pop her head up from behind the pillows on the bed.

“I grabbed her when I heard the shots,” Bridget said. “We’ve been building pillow forts.”

Thank god for Bridget.

She’d taken a scared little girl and taken her mind off what was happening below by building forts on the bed. I kissed her on the temple and moved inside to look at the little angel, with her big innocent eyes and the cute little face that only proved she was Jye’s kid. She was a definite chip off the old block.

“Heya Ash, you okay?”

She nodded. “I’ve been hiding.”

“That’s real good,” I said, offering her a smile, but I knew it would be brief. Soon, I’d have to tell her the worst news she’ll ever hear and break her little heart. “You stay with Bridget, yeah?”

She nodded. “She’s nice, I like her.”

“Me too, kid.”

Bridget smiled over at her, and I saw the sweetness I had fallen in love with all over again. It was a cruel sick joke that I would meet her just as my entire world was crumbling around me.

“Please be careful,” Bridget begged me. I grabbed both sides of her face with my hands, and pulled her to me. Her lips were soft and warm, just the kind of contact I needed, before I pulled away from her just as I heard Ashling giggle.

“That’s gross.”

Bridget chuckled. I turned around to see Ashling scrunching her face up, making me laugh as I headed out the door and back down to the mess in the foyer. My leg was feeling better but my wound was killing me. I peeled my shirt out of the opened wound and looked down at the different shades of blood, gooey and dried alike.

Shit. It was worse than I thought it was. I headed down the stairs toward the office where I left my phone. Already bodies were being cleared from the foyer, but blood, shit, piss, sweat and gunfire was heavy in the air. It was amazing what the human body did when you were scared and on your deathbed. I stepped over everything I could see and headed into the office. Killian was there, looking through files, as if he were searching for something.

“What are you looking for?”

“One of the guys with Tomas looked familiar. I’d seen him with Ronan. If I can track where he’s been while in Ireland, I might have found a way to find Ronan before he surprise attacks us too.”

“Do it,” I said. “Conor is due back any minute. Where’s Tee?”

Killian sighed. “Declan took her back to her apartment to grab a bag. Ace is going to house her and Sloane at the clubhouse for a few days.”

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