Page 76 of Black Heart

“Then, don’t.”

“It involves Marty,” Shayne said after a slight pause, grabbing Tristan’s attention in a big way.

“What about her?” Tristan asked, looking up, folder forgotten as all of his attention went to his grinning best friend.

“Looks like ye got a babe on the lass,” Shayne announced proudly seconds before his own words seemed to sink in, and when they did, his pleased expression turned horrified.

Tristan was too stunned to respond at first, but when Shayne let out a vile curse and suddenly disappeared, he found himself frozen on the spot.

Marty was pregnant?

He was having a little difficulty processing that thought when the screams for help started.

CHAPTER28

“Open the fucking door!” Tristan shouted, panic taking over as Marty’s screams for help abruptly ended and the sounds of men fighting grew louder.

“Marty!” Tristan shouted, slamming his bad shoulder against the bedroom door, barely aware of the sharp pain shooting down his shoulder to his fingertips.

After a few more failed attempts, Tristan swore as he stepped back and slammed his foot in the door. The door gave way after two kicks. Before the door had a chance to bounce off the wall, Tristan was making his way inside and ready to kill whoever had broken into his house with his bare hands.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Tristan bit out in disgust when he spotted Shayne fighting with the spirit of a large man by the bed.

He shook his head in disgust as he looked around the room for his wife. When he spotted her in the bathroom, kneeling in front of the toilet, looking pale, he wanted to kick his own ass for not taking better care of her. She was running herself ragged and it was starting to take its toll on her. She couldn’t keep going like this, not with a baby on the way.

A baby…

They were having a baby. It didn’t seem real. Only a month ago, he was prepared to step back and allow her to go on with her life, and now, they were bringing a child into this world and starting a family. He honestly didn’t know what to think about that. It didn’t seem possible that someone like him could be this blessed.

The only thing that he was certain of was that it was past time that he took better care of his wife. After shooting one last glance at Shayne as he took the intruding spirit down with an impressive chokehold, Tristan moved to go help Marty.

“Baby, are you-”

His words were cut off when a large man stepped in front of him and struck him in the chest, sending him flying across the room before he could get a good look at the bastard’s face. The air was forced from his lungs as his back slammed into the wall, his bad shoulder connecting with the edge of the windowsill as his head slammed back against the wall with a sickeningcrack.

“Tristan!” he heard Marty scream as he fell to the floor, the plush carpet doing little to protect his battered body.

His vision blacked out as he struggled to get to his feet. It took several attempts before he could manage it. His legs gave out on him several times before he accepted the fact that he couldn’t walk, but he didn’t let that stop him from going to his wife.

Squinting, Tristan crawled as he struggled to remain conscious. He couldn’t see anything, so he moved towards the sounds of Marty’s cries. Someone had her, was hurting her and he was helpless to do anything to stop them so he did the only thing that he could think of before he passed out.

“Protect her, Shayne.”

* * *

“Tristan!”Marty screamed, watching helplessly as Tristan dropped to the floor. She moved to help him when the voice that she’d come to think of as her protector spoke, drawing her attention to an incredibly handsome man with short black hair and killer green eyes. Then again, all the men in the room, seven the last time she counted, were handsome with jet black hair and killer green eyes and were no doubt related.

“Was that really necessary?” the familiar voice demanded with a heartfelt sigh as he moved to Tristan’s side.

“Aye,” the large man, who’d wrapped her up in a sheet and carried her into the bathroom only moments earlier, replied flatly.

When Marty tried to walk past him to go to Tristan, she was surprised when he didn’t try to stop her. She learned the reason for that barely a second later when four of the large men leaning back against the wall suddenly vanished only to reappear by Tristan’s side before she could blink.

“Oh, come on now, lads!” the man who’d been looking Tristan over snapped as two of the men grabbed him by his arms and yanked him to his feet and away from Tristan.

“Bring them downstairs.”

“Wait!” Marty said as she rushed to Tristan’s side, desperate to make sure that he was okay. Before she could reach him, two of the men reached down, grabbed him by the arms and disappeared, leaving her stumbling forward as her heart skipped a beat and she forgot how to breathe. The rest of the men quickly followed until she was suddenly all alone.

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