I spun to see Orla standing there, the gun aimed directly at the fucker, a look of determined glee in her eyes.
“Go on, baby,” I urged. “He’s yours to end.”
The shot was loud in my ears, and then the sound of him grunting made me look at the body of the once cocky asshole, now slumped against the wall. Blood streamed out of him, his eyes closed.
I slowly took the gun off her, and grabbed her hand again, running out of the mansion and to where everyone waited. The gunfire was dying down, security detail scattered everywhere over the grounds. I saw a few MC members lying down as well, obviously fatal.
Fuck.
Once we were out of there, I made sure we were clear and pulled Orla under my arm in the back of the truck as Dario sped us back to the clubhouse, and away from enemy fire. He gave the command to the others to ease up and flee from the gunfire.
Orla clutched onto me, as if I were her only comfort. I fucking hated how much I loved it, and yet I knew in the morning, she’d not touch me again.
For now, I would relish her touch.
Orla
The clubhouse was similar to the one in Kilkenny, but obviously, most of them spoke Italian. The woman behind the bar had kind eyes as she filled my drink, knowing exactly what I had gone through and giving me endless shots.
Nothing could wipe the pain from my mind though. I was going to need time to get over what that asshole did to me, planting seeds of doubt there that had wormed their way into my heart.
The gunshot though.
I shuddered as I thought about it.
It had whizzed past my head, so fast that I hadn’t been able to hear for a few minutes out of that ear. The bullet lodged in the wall beside me, and I’d been mesmerised by it, to the point I hadn’t stopped shaking as I sat next to it for hours.
“Orla,” I heard Hawk as he sat down next to me at the bar. “You good?”
I nodded. “Want one?”
“Nah,” he said. “Gotta stay sharp. We’re gonna head out with some of the wolves soon to do a run with them, you know, since they lost some guys.”
Because of us.
“Oh,” I replied.
“Bear’s been lookin’ for you.”
I looked down at his shirt which swam on me. I hadn’t removed it when we’d come back here, his masculine scent lingering on my body made me feel safe. It hadn’t come easily, but eventually, after not sleeping for days, I had drifted off to sleep. When I awoke, Bear hadn’t been there, but I felt comfortable in his shirt.
“I suppose he needs his shirt back,” I said, finishing my shot and swivelling to jump off the stool. Hawk caught my arm and I flinched.
“Fuck, I’m sorry,” he muttered.
“It’s okay, I just…I don’t know…”
“You’re safe here, with us,” he said, and I saw there, for the first time, the pain on his face. I put my hand on the side of his face, but said nothing. There were no words that I could piece together right now. I made a move to head down to the cabin that we’d been staying in. Sheridan and Ace had been holed up in one room, her sobbing and crying had been gut wrenching but when she heard the girls were okay, she’d relaxed. Hawk was in another room, and Wolf in another, recovering from his injuries. I hadn’t seen him much, but I knew he had been tortured. Bear had me in his room. They must have run out of rooms, I thought. I opened the door and headed down to the room where I’d woken in. Bear was comingout of the bathroom, shirtless, and showing off all those tattoos on his chest.
Tattoos that I wished had been done by my hand.
“Hey,” I said. “You must want your shirt back.”
I made a move to take it off when I felt his strong hands on mine, stopping me. “It’s yours now. I have others.”
I nodded, because that’s all I could do. “Thanks.”
Catching my reflection in the mirror, I shuddered and looked away. Bear caught it and then he dragged his hands up to cup my face. “You’re safe here, Or. No one is going to fucking touch you again.”
