Page 78 of Ruthless

“I’ve got her.” Rory comes up next to me and kneels onto the ground to slide his hands underneath me.

“No. I can’t. Don’t ask me to.” Tears spill down my dirty cheeks as I plead with my brother to leave me where I am.

“He’ll be fine. We need to get you out of here.” Rory scoops me up in his arms and tucks me against his chest. I wince when he bumps the cuts on my back. “Feck. I’msorry,deirfiúr.”

“Fiona?” I grip the collar of his shirt and hold my breath. My back throbs and the adrenaline crash is starting to hit, but my friend’s well-being takes priority.

“Connor’s got her.” Rory sighs but won’t look at me.

“Is she okay?” I swallow the lump forming in my throat and hold my brother’s gaze.

“Ken—”

“Don’t patronize me, Ror. Is she going to make it?” I cut him off because I know he’s about to spew me a line of bullshit, and that’s the last thing I need right now. My fingers dig into the cotton of his shirt, trying to keep from passing out. I’m not distracted by staying alive, and my body is starting to come down off the adrenaline high.

“It didn’t look good.” A muscle jerks in his cheek, and my heart plummets into my stomach.

I cry into my brother’s chest until there’s nothing left in me. Everything inside me throbs and aches, but I’m numb to it all. Zane better come back to me because I can’t do this without him.

CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE

Zane

I slam the door of Axel’s truck and haul ass toward Finn’s house. The only thing on my mind is getting to Kennedy. Grady’s being taken down to Finn’s playroom by Isaac until we’re ready to dispose of him, and he can wait. She’s the only thing that matters to me right now. I can’t slow the pounding of my heart against my chest as the images of her bloody back hit me. A million different thoughts are racing through my mind, but nothing will settle the ache in my gut until I see Kennedy for myself and see that she’s okay.

Asher and Axel flank my sides, but before any of us can make it to the first step, her brothers are blocking our path. Connor, Rory, and Keegan have their legs planted wide and arms crossed over their chests.

My jaw sets as I glance around at the three of them. I’m in no mood for their bullshit right now. “Where is she?”

“Not so fast, Savage. We need to talk.” Connor broadens his shoulders, doing his best to appear much larger than me. Too bad we’re evenly matched in that department, and his intimidation tactics won’t work on me.

“Get the fuck out of my way. I’m not in the mood for your bullshit.” The words leave me in a low growl, but there’s no missing the intention behind them.

“That’s too fecking bad.” Connor steps closer into my space until we’re standing toe-to-toe. Rory and Keegan remain silent next to him, but there’s no missing the way they’re watching, ready to jump in. “She could have been killed, and it’s all your fecking fault.”

Asher and Axel stand stock still, waiting on a sign from me. They’re both pissed on my behalf and willing to cross the line. The Donnellys may be a tight-knit family, but we’re just as close. We’re Savages. We hunt together. We die together. End of motherfucking story.

I glare at the Irish prick standing between me and my woman, doing my damndest to suck in slow even breaths. An ache pierces my jaw as I grind my teeth until they crack. I’m not waiting another second after the hell I’ve been through for the last several hours. “Move.”

Connor stays planted where he is. “None of our shit is supposed to fall back to our women, and you brought it right to our motherfecking doorstep.” A vein throbs on the side of his temple.

“Last warning. Step aside,brother.” I clench my fists tighter until my knuckles protest from the pressure. Things will get out of hand and fast if he doesn’t get the hell out of my way.

“Make me.” He shoves my shoulder, knocking me back a step. That’s all it takes for me to snap, and all hell breaks loose. My fist flies out, swinging into his cheek, twisting his head to the side. The metal of my wedding ring digs into my skin, but I don’t feel it. Adrenaline is flooding my veins.

Asher and Rory go at it, swinging at each other. At the same time, I see Axel put Keegan into a headlock out of the corner of my eye. It seems all hell has broken loose in the Donnelly’s driveway.

Connor takes advantage of my distraction and nails me in the cheek with his right hook. It throws me off balance, but only for a moment. I shake it off and lunge at him with a jab, but he bobs out of the way and hits me in the temple. It looks like my brother-in-law can give as good as he gets. My face burns with each punch he lands. He bobs and weaves a few times, but I’ve figured out his pattern and slam my fist into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. He folds like a house of cards against the concrete driveway.

I step around him, but he grabs me by the ankles and drags me to the ground.

“Kennedy!” My head jerks back, hitting Connor in the forehead, but the fucker won’t budge.

“It’s all your fecking fault. She was never supposed to be there.” Connor wraps his arms around my throat in a chokehold. “She never would have gotten stabbed if it weren’t for you.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? Ken wasn’t stabbed.” I grunt out as I punch my elbow into his side and flip over onto my back. There’s no fucking way. I wouldn’t have noticed that when I checked her over, and I never would have let Rory take her if that was the case.

He grips me by the collar of my shirt and gets up in my face. “Not her, you fecking gobshite. Fiona!” The veins on his temple strain against his skin as his face reddens.

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