Page 48 of A Seductive Beauty
“Oh, they were, but I got them away because I knew you wouldn’t cooperate without a little incentive. Now, if I kill you and them before I take off, he won’t ever find me. I can run from both. I can leave Ireland. He only has power here.”
“He’ll never stop. He’ll find you, and he will end you after he tortures you. You’ll beg for death, and he’ll continue to hurt you.” I pray this works.
“Not if he can’t find me, he can’t.” His smile is too big. His confidence is faltering.
“He has a man you can never hide from. He’ll find you no matter where you go. You can’t hide from cameras; they are everywhere nowadays. Besides, you can’t live without money.”
“I can. I will.” He straightens his back and paces the room. He sounds like he’s trying to convince me along with himself. I can’t believe I once called this man a friend. This man right here isn’t nice and isn’t my friend. “Besides, Sir had Aidan’s men attacked today too.” My heart clenches in my chest. I think of Aidan and his men. I know my husband is still alive, I can feel it in my heart. But what if his men are hurt? His brothers. His father.
“But why? Why do you have to kill me?” The tears start again. “Why were they attacked?” I worry about my new family. My husband’s brothers have all become my family.
“Because Sir wants you dead now. Before he wanted to use you against your cousin. But now, he wants you dead because that bloody wanker had to marry you. He wants to run the Knights of Purgatory. He was going to take you from me, so I had to get to you first. You embarrassed me. You ruined me.”
I don’t know who Sir is. I just know Kayla has mentioned him. He’s the reason Aidan wanted to send me away. He’s the man I thought took my friends. And I know he’s the man who sent men after Kayla. But why her? Why would he want her dead? Why would he want me dead, for that matter? I don’t even know him.
“That doesn’t make sense. Why would he want to kill me?” I ask.
“To get even with him.”
“What?” My voice rises. I start to panic as I worry I’ll never see my husband again. I’ll never see the baby I’m carrying. Aidan will never know he was going to be a father.
“Because you are his only weakness.”
He raises the gun and fires. I scream as I feel the burn and impact against the side of my head. I look up at him in shock. He shot me but I’m still looking at him. I can still think. I reach up and touch the side of my head. I gasp when I pull back my hand and see blood. The bullet skated the side of my head before it blasted into the brick wall behind me. He missed.
“Ahh,” he yells, and raises the gun again.
Aidan
* * *
A gunshot sounds and we rush into the building. I freak out because in my heart I know when I see Fiona it will never be the same. I pray she’s still alive. I pray I get to be the father of the baby she’s carrying. I watch as Zach, Andy, Derek, and Raul—all from Securities International—rush through the doors in perfect military fashion. I come in behind them and hear more gunshots along with screams. I push past them all and see Patrick rolling on the floor. He’s holding his arm where they shot him to get him to drop the gun. My wife is sitting against the wall with blood flowing down the side of her head. She is handcuffed and red marks in the shape of hands mar her neck. I kneel down and carefully take her cheeks in my hands.
“I’ve got you, beauty.”
“Aidan. Sir sent a note that he was going to kill them if I didn’t do as he said. I couldn’t take off my bracelets. But Patrick attacked me before I could talk to Sir.” She babbles as tears roll down her beautiful face.
I gently examine her head and take in the damage to the brick wall behind her. It looks like Patrick shot and thank God missed her, but the bullet still grazed her head.
“Shane, take him to the dungeon. I want to kill him myself after Fiona is taken care of.”
When Shane doesn’t respond, I look over and see him rocking a hysterical Giselle in his arms. Brody has Moira and is already moving her out to the car so we can take her to the doctor. Someone hands me a handcuff key and I remove the cuffs before I lift Fiona into my arms and we move out too.
Hours later my men have surrounded the compound. The biker club is taking over other houses on the property. The S.I. team is on its way back to Scotland, and I’m lying in my bed holding my wife. My hand strokes over her barely there stomach as she sleeps against me. Her head has a bandage on it. The scars will be in her hair, so she won’t have to constantly be reminded of what she suffered today. But I know she and I won’t ever get over this. I won’t let her off this property without a full horde of my soldiers to protect her. She and my child are the most important thing to me from now on.
Fiona trembles in my arms. I hold her tighter and whisper to her.
“Beauty, I’ve got you. You are safe.”
She turns her head to look up at me. “Is he dead?”
“Who, my love?”
“Patrick.”
“Not yet. I didn’t want to leave you.”
“Then take me with you and kill that bloody arsehole. I won’t sleep until he’s dead.” Her jaw locks as she grits her teeth.
