Page 99 of Vengeful Union

RORY

Lara’s screamspierce the air and rage washes over me as I wrestle with the third assailant.

He’s trying to take my gun, and I shoot it, over and over.

I’d thought it was over when I killed the guy trying to get to us, but there are men everywhere. It’s an ambush.

How they knew we’d be leaving the mansion is beyond me.

I don’t recognize them, but then again, I’ve been out of the life for years. I can’t tell what clan they come from, have no idea if it’s Lara's family trying to save her, and right now, it doesn’t matter.

What matters is Lara.

Rage rushes over me when I hear her scream my name, and I sweep the assailant’s leg from under him.

He goes down on one knee, and his kneecap cracks loudly.

He cries out, and I shoot him in the head, panting, unable to even process what I’m doing.

I have to get to Lara.

When I turn around, she’s being dragged backwards by a big man, his arms iron around her as she fights and yells.

I can’t focus on his face, just looking at Lara, my heart racing, my stomach clenching as I try to get a good shot. After a moment, though, when he grunts as she steps down hard on his instep, I can see his face clearly.

Dougal McDonnell. My father’s best muscle. At least, he had been. He’d retired when I was a teenager, before I left the mansion... right after my mother’s disappearance.

He freezes when I point the gun at him, but he doesn’t let her go.

“You can’t shoot me without hitting her, boyo.”

I curse under my breath.

Lara’s eyes are wide and terrified, looking at me to protect her, to save her.

Bruises bloom on her arms where he’s grabbed her, and the sight of them makes rage wash over my vision.

I don’t know what I’m going to do until I do it, rushing him, tackling him around the waist and taking him and Lara both down with me.

Lara yelps but manages to get away, sprinting back toward the car, and Dougal wrestles with me, his forearm against my throat.

I can barely breathe, wheezing in little breaths through my nostrils as he presses down harder, constricting my windpipe.

I briefly wish I’d wrestled in high school instead of playing soccer, my head feeling light on my shoulders from the lack of oxygen.

“Stop!” A voice rings out as my vision starts to blur around the edges. “The boss said to?—”

“He needs to be put down,” Dougal rasps, pressing even harder, but then he’s rolling off me, having been tackled by someone.

I gasp in painful breaths, looking up at the stars for a moment while I get myself together, and then I get up quickly, grabbing my gun from the ground where it fell when I tackled Lara’s attacker.

I stalk toward the two men, who roll around in the grass on the shoulder of the road.

The street outside my father’s mansion is private to us, so I should have known that he did it. I should have known that he wouldn’t want us going out.

What had I been thinking? Why had I trusted him even the slightest amount?

I lift the gun to shoot into the air, and the two men freeze before separating, one rolling over onto his back and the other scrambling up into a standing position, facing me with his hands out, like that might convince me not to kill him.

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