Page 66 of Dirty Padraig: Dirty Dusters

He’s letting me go.

I nod at him slowly, and he nods in silent response. I walk away without looking back. When I reach the gates, I message Dylan to tell him where Fergal’s rifle and the goggles are located and that he also needs to locate the first bullet fired.

Eoin will be busy handling the clean-up, and the rest of the family will no doubt still be in shock over the fact that trouble brazenly knocked on their front door today.

Meanwhile, I’m not sure what to do next. I want to be with my babies, but I can’t. I need Irish to come and pick me up, but I’ve just told him I love him.

Right now, I wish I really were dead.

What the fuck have I done?

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

PADRAIG

The O’Connell Home, Darling, New York

I was already waiting outsidefor her, having downloaded the surveillance software onto my phone by following Dylan’s messaged instructions.

She hesitates when she sees me. We both know why. Because of what she just admitted to when she confronted death head-on. The only reason she said the words is because she thought her time was up, and she wanted to leave this life with no regrets.

I watch her as she gets into the vehicle.

Silence.

I’m still in shock. I have so many questions, but now is not the time to voice any or to expect any answers. She’s just killed two of her own sniper kind. A third was about to kill her. She would have perished had Eoin not stepped in and saved her life. Not that he realized it was Jaine, of course.

“How did he know?”

“I told him. Or at least I told him via Dylan.” I’m not going to lie. My big brother was her only chance of survival.

She spins her head toward me, her balaclava still in place, the rifle still clutched in fingers laced with dried blood.

“My hands were tied, darlin’. I couldn’t help you. You’d already told them theotheryou was with me, so I couldn’t turn up on my own. Not without revealing your identity.”

“So, what did you say?”

“I told Dylan to tell Eoin that The Exterminator had taken out two of the bad guys but that he may need a little help closing down the third. Eoin never went into the safe space with the others.”

“Why didn’t he go in there?” She sounds panicked, likely at the thought that something could have happened to him.

He wants to protect her. She wants to protect him. Neither wants the other’s protection.

You couldn’t make it up.

“He was concerned that his headstrong ex-wife may turn up when she heard about what was going on. That she would insist on returning home to be with her children. Even though you dumped him for his over-protective stance, he was still insistent on providing it because your life will always mean more to him than his own.”

It's hard-hitting but true. He loves her. He would do anything for her, including die.

My brother betrayed me. He disrespected me. They say what goes around comes around, and that’s also true. It did. He lost her, and I didn’t have to do a thing to make that happen. Karma delivered payback to him all on her own, just like she did me.

I shouldn’t feel sorry for him, but I do.

He’s still my brother, and I love him. He also saved her life, and for that, I will always be grateful.

“I only asked Dylan to tell them I was with you so Eoin wouldn’t go searching for me.”

“I know why you did it, darlin’, but given our past, he’s now going to think the worst of us.”

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