"I do." Desmond never takes his eyes off me.
"And do you, Annie O'Malley?—"
"No." Annie's voice cuts through the church, clear and strong. Her eyes are fixed on mine, full of that faith, that trustthat I’m not sure I’m worthy of. Especially not right now, seeing her with Desmond’s hands on her, a few words away from succeeding at what he wants. "I don't. I’m not going to fucking marry you, Desmond Connelly. So get your hands off of me!”
She wrenches around, trying to knee him in the balls, but he’s stronger than her. Desmond's face twists with rage, and his hand comes up to strike her. I don't think. I just react, squeezing the trigger.
The shot goes wide—intentionally. I can't risk hitting Annie. But it serves its purpose. Desmond jerks back in surprise, and his grip on Annie loosens for just a second.
It's all she needs.
Annie drives her elbow into his ribs and breaks free, diving behind the altar. Desmond reaches for the gun tucked in his waistband, and I fire again. This time I don't miss. The bullet catches him in the shoulder, spinning him around.
But he doesn't go down.
He returns fire, and I throw myself behind a pew as bullets tear through the wood above my head. The priest has disappeared—smart man—and I can hear Annie's ragged breathing from behind the altar.
"Annie, run!" I shout. "Get out of here!"
"I'm not leaving you!"
Fuck. “Go!” I shout. “My men will get you safe. That’s all that matters?—”
“No!”
A snarl of frustration escapes my lips. Stubborn woman.Doesn't she understand that getting her to safety is the only thing that matters?
I risk a glance over the pew and see Desmond backing toward a side door I hadn’t noticed before. He's bleeding from the shoulder wound, but it's not enough to stop him. He fires again, giving himself cover, and then he's gone, disappeared throughthe door. I can hear more gunshots outside—his men tangling with mine again, probably. I can only hope that the casualties are on his side and not on mine.
Every instinct I have screams at me to chase him, to finish this now. But I can't leave Annie.
I run to the altar and find her crouched behind it, her arms wrapped around herself. Her face is streaked with tears, and she's shaking violently.
"It's over," I tell her, pulling her into my arms. "You're safe now."
"He got away." Her voice is hollow. "I saw him go. He's still out there. He’s going to come after me again." She’s shaking all over, now that the need to be brave has passed.
"I know. But right now, I don't care about him. I only care about you." I pull back just enough to check her for injuries. The bruise on her cheek is darkening, and I see blood on her wrists where the ropes or cuffs cut into her skin. Rage courses through me, but I push it down. "Did he hurt you anywhere else?"
She shakes her head. "No,” she whispers. “He didn’t get a chance. He wanted to marry me first.”
I see the priest starting to head toward the back, as Diego and the two men with him jog down the aisle toward me. I raise my gun, firing a shot just above the priest’s head, and he lets out a yelp.
“Don’t fucking move, or I aim true next time,” I snarl at him. “Diego, grab him. You others, go after Desmond. He went that way.” I point at the side door. “Get every man I have on tracking him down.Now.”
"Boss, there's an alley back there,” Vince says, wincing. “It leads to three different streets. He could be anywhere by now."
I close my eyes briefly, fighting the urge to put my fist through something. Desmond escaped. Again. And as long as he's out there, Annie isn't safe.
"Just find him," I say through gritted teeth.
Annie is still huddled next to me, trembling in the white silk dress that’s stained with blood now—Desmond’s blood. I want it off her. I want to get her back to the cabin. But I need to know what happened. I take my jacket off, wrapping it around her shoulders. I’m so angry I can’t even feel the cold right now, but it’s frigid in here.
“What was this?” I ask as gently as I can. “What the hell was he trying to do?”
She takes a shuddering breath. "After we left the coffee shop, he drove to an alley and we switched cars. And then on the way here, he… talked. Told me his plan. About why he's doing this." She turns to look at me, and I see the fear in her eyes. "It's about Siobhan. It's always been about Siobhan."
My jaw tightens. "What about her?"
