“Jesus fucking Christ,” he says in between breaths. “Not gonna let you pick off every fucking O’Gregor.” He’s not alone. I glare at the others who came with him but freeze when I see Megan.
“What the fuck are you playing at?” I ask him. I grab her arm and tug her down to the ground. “Get fucking down! You’re an easy target up here. If they see you…” She looks at me, bewildered, but falls to the ground.
“Wrap your arms around your legs and don’t move.”
I could beat Lachlan to within an inch of his life, and Christ almighty, I might do it yet.
“Had to stop you, brother,” Lachlan says. “Would’ve come sooner, but we had fucking car trouble.” He grimaces. “And I know you wouldn’t want to bring her, but we wanted to keep her safe.”
But she won’t meet my eyes. I want to gather her up in my arms and kiss her, hold her to me and promise that I won’t hurt her. Assure her that she’s safe, and that no harm will come to her. No one will hurt her. Even me.
“For Christ’s sake,” I mutter. “I wanted her home safe.”
I wonder what she’s thinking. Here’s the bloke who swore me off and sent me away, and now he’s ready to kill for me? Which one am I?
But I don’t hold her or pull her to me or ease those fears or answer those questions. Our silent conversation takes place in seconds, as I don’t have the luxury of time for such a thing, for the O’Gregors are nearly out of sight. Goddammit.
“They’ve got Maeve and Breena,” I tell Lachlan. I shove him, I’m so furious he’s interfered.
“I know,” Lachlan says. “And we’ll get them now, but Christ, Carson, you come in guns blazing without backup and you’ve got a bloody war on your hands.”
“Which is what we just agreed to.”
“Together,” Lachlan corrects, getting to his feet and glaring at me. “Not solo. What are you playing at, coming out here on your own when you’ve got a brotherhood behind you? Are you mad?”
“Shut it, you two, or we’ll miss our chance,” Tully says. “Where are they going?”
“The wharf,” I tell them. “I’ve sent messages to them. They’re going to get a fake shipment.”
“You’re bloody brilliant, you know,” Tully says with a shake of his head.
“Not so sure about that,” I tell him. “I sent them out so I could get Maeve and Breena, but then how do we get them?” I shove Lachlan. “I was planning on fucking sniping, and I bloody well would’ve gotten them.”
Lachlan doesn’t even budge, but he isn’t angry with me either. His eyes gentle, and he shakes his head. “You lost Eve,” he says. “And for that, the O’Gregors will pay. We’ll see to that, Carson. But you don’t want more blood on your hands than is absolutely necessary.”
Megan swallows and looks away, as if she can’t process what we’re talking about or how we fucking justify any of this. I can’t look at her, not now.
We hear a commotion up ahead, and all of us turn in the general direction of what we hear. Loud voices, shouts, the shuffling of feet, and telltale sounds of flesh hitting flesh.
“Bloody O’Gregors, fighting amongst themselves like fucking children,” Lach says, shaking his head, when a few of the men come rolling out into the open. I grab my gun, prepared to shoot, but this time it’s Megan that stops me. Her hand on the gun, she yanks it away.
“Don’t, Carson,” she says in a firm but gentle voice. I yank the gun away from her, glaring at her, but she doesn’t back down.
“Guy O’Gregor! Show yourself.”
We all freeze at the sound of Keenan’s deep, commanding voice.
Guy O’Gregor stands to the side of the fray, scowling at his charges.
“Keenan McCarthy,” he says pleasantly between clenched teeth. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
Keenan doesn’t crack a smile but glares, and as he comes into the clearing, I see Cormac and Nolan on either side of him, armed and furious. At the look on their faces, I suspect the three McCarthy brothers could take down the entire O’Gregor clan without breaking a sweat.
“You’ve broken code with multiple infractions,” Keenan says, like a judge about to bang a gavel. “And we’ve got you surrounded.”
O’Gregor starts, staring around, but he can’t see us. Keenan knows, though.
“Carson!” he shouts. “Show us.”
Lachlan and Megan back up. I take aim and shoot. A small twig right next to O’Gregor’s foot splinters into bits.
“Bloody hell!” he shouts. His men reach for their weapons, but Keenan holds up his hand.
“Weapons away!”
O’Gregor nods. “Put them away, lads.” Only one of his men obeys, and the others ignore his instructions. He has absolutely no command of them at all.
“Admit to the evidence, and we’ll allow you to leave alive,” Keenan says. “Though you’ve committed enough crimes to be punishable by death, three times over.”