Page 80 of Iron Crown

“Fuck you.” I wanted my words to come out with venom, but it just sounded sad.

“Fuck me? Fuck you!” His voice was an angry whisper, his eyes darting to Eoghan, who was sitting, unmoved from his seat.

His black eyes landed on the two of us, and he stared for a long moment.

“Forget the fucking fact that you spent the last few minutes telling us you’d become the queen of the Mafia so that we could get these fuckers in line,” he said, leaning in, his blank expression not matching the harshness of his reprimand. “But you actually love that son of a bitch, and you know what? I can’tbelieve I’m even saying this, but he’d clearly move heaven and earth foryou.”

I flinched at his words, not because they were particularly cruel, but because it was so unexpected from a man like Blink that it made an impression.

“Christ, I can’t believe it, but you know what? The guy loves you, and he’d change himself inside out for you. That’s why he’s doing this. The guy is literally putting his life on the line to keep you safe, and taking full responsibility as a partner and father, and you’re treating him like garbage.”

He shook his head, stepping away from me.

“Cool your jets, and realize that some of us would be over the moon if the person we loved showed that level of dedication.”

He was talking about Astrid. His woman.

The one who had walked away, in his mind. The one who’d stabbed him in the back. The one he still adored with all his being. A confession I hadearnedthe first time I shot out of a moving vehicle, and hit my target.

“Bollocks,” Blink said, his placid features breaking into a frown. He looked away from me, his eyes glassy. He shook his head, and I knew he wasn’t thinking about me anymore. He was talking about something else entirely.

“Bollocks,” he said again. Then he walked away.

Well, that cooled me quicker than an ice bucket over the head.

What the fuck was I doing?

Chapter twenty-five

Should Have

Eoghan

Ishould have told her. I should have warned her. I should have done… anything but what I did. I grabbed the coward’s way out, and I knew it. But as many times as I tried to say a goodbye, the actual act of it was as abhorrent to me as flaying my own skin.

I can’t do anything right when it comes to Mrs. Kira Green.

The harder I tried, the more my madness came to the forefront.

The closer I held her, the farther I pushed her, and now she’d said the words.I hate you.

Anything short of that might have made me give in. It might have made me change my mind and tell them to send the British twat, Lutkus, in my place, as they had offered before.

But it took less than five minutes. Five whole minutes before she had disavowed me.

Before she went from love to hate.

Last night, I had worshiped her body with every part of my being, and bid her farewell in my own, silent way. Today, she was no longer mine.

So be it…I deserved it.

Maybe that was my curse, and this would all be for the best.

“Shiny,” I said, once we were back out in the early morning sun, staring at a pale blue sky above. “Make sure all the soldiers have more than enough ammo, be prepared for the shoot-out. I want to know everyone’s got tourniquets and medical kits on their person. I want a subtle reminder that your own kit is to be used on yourself.”

“Got it, boss,” she said, with a nod, foregoing her usual sarcasm, which was disturbing in itself. Maybe I really was going to die today. “I’ll make sure they’re reminded that we handle bleeding first. I’ll get with the squad leaders now.”

Exsanguination was the number one cause of death in battle. Statistically, it was significant enough that handling blood before anything else was more likely to save lives.

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