I keep the mag.
She’s a goddamn menace.
A delicious-smelling pain in the ass.
A dangerous, delicious-smelling, pain-in-the-ass menace who shouldneverbe allowed to touch a firearm again.
“Fucking hell, that stings just as badevery damn time.” Patrick applies pressure to his wound on the outside of his bicep as blood seeps around the rip in his coat.
“Oh God, I shot you. I didn’t mean to…” she chokes out. “I’m going to prison.”
“You’re not going to jail. It’s a graze,” Patrick says, but the look on his face betrays how much pain he’s in.
At the same time, I say, “You barely clipped him, but this is a busy area. Anyone could call the cops. Go get your son. We need to get out of here.” I nod toward the apartment building before focusing on my brother. “Get moving, Pat. I’ll get her back to the house. If the cops show up with you bleeding all over the place…”
They’d likely try to take all of us in, but I keep that part to myself.
I stride over to the area of destroyed ground, hitting my knees to dig around for the bullet. It’s probably too deeply embedded for me to locate it with my hands, but I’m still going to try.
I look over my shoulder, and Charlotte has stripped out of her coat and pulled off her shirt. She holds it to Patrick’s bicep while he stares at her tits. They’re covered by her bra, but damn, she has a lot of cleavage.
“Patrick!” I bark, catching his attention. “Get moving.”
He nods, holding her shirt against his wound to block the bleeding. “I should go. Get your son and anything else you can’t leave behind.”
Watching the woman get her sleepy son into his car seat is strange. She carried him out in his pajamas, meaning she must have taken my warning about being quick seriously. She didn’tbother changing him into real clothes, but she did have him wrapped up in a blanket. She also took the time to find herself another shirt and to get back into her coat.
I was able to find the bullet with some digging. Maybe the snow helped to buffer it—I don’t fucking know—but it only made it six inches into the ground.
I look around for a hose or anything to wash off the sidewalk, but we don’t have time to waste.
My hands are filthy from digging in the dirt, and I wipe them off before heading to the SUV.
“Get into the passenger seat. You’re not safe to drive. I think you might be in shock,” I tell her, trying to keep the growl out of my tone. It’s practically impossible, so I hold my palm out for her keys. “It’s cold. We need to get the heat running for your son, and you’re not driving like this.”
“I have to get out of Boston. You should have gone with that other guy,” she says, sounding dazed.
“That’s not happening. A friend asked us to keep an eye on the two of you, and that’s what I intend to do. You’ll come stay with us for a few days. Just until we get a better handle on what’s happening.” I quirk an eyebrow, wiggling my fingers. “Your keys, Charlotte.”
She blinks at me repeatedly before digging the keys from her pocket and dropping them onto my outstretched hand. “I don’t even know you. Why would I go with you?”
I sigh.
Is this what my brothers deal with when I get lost to the fog?
I’m annoyed, but she’s still an omega, and I’m sure this is overwhelming.
“You’re in shock,” I remind her, stepping to her side. I wrap my arm around her shoulder and guide her to the front passenger seat. “It’s normal to be confused. My name is Malachy O’Connor. Ya shot my little brother, but it was just a graze.He’ll live, but we’re never going to hear the end of it. He’ll be complaining about it until long after I’m dead.” I pull open the door, giving her a gentle shove toward the seat. “There ya go. Now, in with you.”
She climbs in without complaint.
Thank the Lord.
The kid sleeps in the back seat while his mom loses her shit in the passenger seat. I find myself driving like an old man, even if I should be focused on getting out of the area as quickly as possible. The roads are icy, and I’m not used to driving with a child in the car.
It’s intimidating, but I made a good choice with having Keegan drop me off. My original plan was to have him drive Pat back to the house, while I kept Patrick’s car, but once I spotted the SUV backed up onto the sidewalk, I had a bad feeling.
Fear took over as I spotted the gun, and now I have to live with the fact that I threatened an already terrified woman.
