CHAPTER THREE
Niall
“How are we supposed to do what we came here for if we are up in the north instead of down here where we need to be?” Ronan protested as Niall told him what was happening.
“I don’t know, but if Trill comes looking for her again and finds her, there’s a good chance we’ll be exposed too. If nothing else, perhaps we’ll make new contacts up there.”
“I know you don’t mean Republicans,” Ronan groaned.
“No. Not all of the North Irish are IRA.”
Ronan laughed unexpectedly, causing Niall to raise an eyebrow in his direction as the pair of them continued to pack their things for the trip.
“Sorry, I guess it’s just sort of comical to think about Irish mafia disparaging anyone for their activities. Hypocrisy at its finest.”
“We don’t blow up women and children. We don’t terrorize our community.”
“Don’t we? I mean, I think there are some people in our area who would argue that we’re the bad guys too.”
“Probably, but we protect them, not kill them.”
“We protect them as long as they pay up,” Ronan corrected.
“You have a problem with who and what we are, Ronan?” Niall asked.
“Honestly, sometimes I do. It’s not the life I would have chosen,” Ronan replied.
“Was bringing you here a mistake?”
“No. I’m not on the cusp of betraying the family. I’m just acknowledging what we are.”
“Just don’t let yourself go too far down that track. Okay?”
“Of course, Alpha.”
“That just sounds weird coming from you,” Niall replied.
“I agree,” Ronan told him. “Anyway, we ready to go?”
“Aye. Let’s do this.”
Everything moved quickly once Andrew’s guys rolled in. Within ten minutes, they were all on the highway. Ronan drove with Niall in the passenger seat and Deidre scrunched down in the back, at least until they got a ways out of Dublin. Ronan glanced back at one point to see she had laid her head down on the small duffle bag she’d brought and fallen asleep.
He couldn’t help but notice how gorgeous she was with her dark hair spilling about her face, her breathing quiet and even. She must be exhausted. Though he had noted a small cot in the attic, it didn’t look extremely comfortable, and she was probably too on edge to sleep much even if it had been tolerable.
He was caught off guard as she opened her eyes and saw him looking at her. Turning back to the road in front of them, he avoided glancing back at her again in the rearview mirror. There had been something in those split seconds between them. Something had flickered, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
“How far are we?” she asked, the words fading into a yawn.
“Couple of hours. Andrew said it’s about three and a half with the back roads and all, so still a way to go,” Ronan replied.
“I hope there’s food. I’m starving,” she said.
“We’ll find something once we get settled,” Niall told her.
“Sounds like a real shithole, this place,” she told them.
“Aye. It does. Beggars can’t be choosers, I guess,” Niall replied.
“How’d you end up getting hitched up with Trill?” Ronan asked.
“Ronan...” Niall chastised.
“What? If we’re going to be taking care of her, we need to know how she got herself into this mess,” he said to Niall before turning back to her again.
“I didn’t get myself into nary a thing,” she said, sounding indignant. “I was gotten into it by my kin. Uncle Andrew promised me to Trill to curry favor.”
“Wait? He betrothed you to Trill and now he’s helping you hide from him?”
“Aye. That’d be the size of it.”
“But why? Change of heart?”
“Aye. He thought he was doing our family a solid by marrying our clans together. Trill saw me when he was visiting and took a liking to me. He suggested it, and Uncle Andrew decided it would be a good match.”
Neither Niall nor Ronan further questioned why he had made the decision to marry her to Trill. It was typical to promise an Omega to help bond the clans together and win points that might serve both families in the years to come. What didn’t make sense was him helping her escape a match he’d agreed to make.
“And then he decided it wasn’t?” Niall asked, garnering himself a glance from Ronan, who he admonished for prying.
“Yes. When I told him what I knew about Trill, he changed his mind.”
“What was that?” Niall asked, noting that Ronan was now smiling a bit at him and shooting him an eat shit look.
There was a loud sigh from the backseat. Niall finally did glance into the rearview mirror. She wasn’t looking at them, but out the window instead. Her face was screwed up into a mask of what seemed like disgust.
“At first, I agreed to the marriage, not that I had a choice in the matter. Trill is a powerful Alpha and, well, he’s not all that bad to look at. I figured I could have been promised to worse. I was wrong.”’