As if she cares. As if she actually gives a fuck whether I come back whole or in pieces.
I want to kiss her. I want it so badly my hands shake with the need. But I force myself to pull back, stand up, and create distance before I do something stupid.
“There's food in the fridge. Books on the shelf. If you need anything?—”
“Go,” she says quietly. “I'll be fine. Go. Your uncle needs you.”
I stare at her for one more moment, trying to memorize every feature. The way her hair falls over her shoulders, the flush in her cheeks, the fullness of her lips.
My little Snow White. Sweet and gentle. Fierce.
Then I turn and walk out before I change my mind. The door shuts behind me with finality.
I can't shake the feeling though. Can't shake the certainty that this will be the last time I ever see her, that she’s going to find a way out.
But she can't. She's still hobbling on that ankle,isn't she? She's not well enough. She still needs me to take care of her. She still needs… she still needsme.
Me, goddamn it.
I look at the time on my phone. I have to go. I have to go right now to get there before?—
Christ.
I text Seamus, but he doesn't respond immediately.
I throw my phone on the dash, take one last look at the cabin in the rearview mirror, and can't shake the feeling that I shouldn’t leave her.
I can't keep fucking doing this—can't keep running from Bianca and running to my family. I won't.
Something needs to give. She can't hide forever, and neither can I.
Outside the McCarthy home, I kill the car's engine and sit there for three seconds too long, staring at the house.
Part of me—most of me—wants to turn around and go back to the cabin, to make sure she's still there, still safe, still mine. But Tiernan's inside, and I need to see him.
“Ash.” Lorcan jerks his chin at me and gestures for me to follow.
“How is he?”
Lorcan scrubs a hand across his jaw and curses. “Fuck's sake, not good. Took a bullet to the chest, shattered akneecap. Lost a ton of fucking blood, brother.” His voice is hoarse as he shakes his head. “I'll fuckin' kill them.”
“Aye, lad, we all will, won't we? Let's see to Tiernan first.”
When we get to the room, my da's on one side of him and my cousin Declan on the other. There's so much fucking blood. His shirt's been cut away, and our family medic's bandaging his torso, muttering under his breath.
His eyes are open, alert and pissed off.
“There's the lad,” Tiernan rasps when he sees me. Christ, even half dead, he sounds like he's about to drag me back in the ring. “Took your sweet time, Ash.”
“Traffic. I came as soon as I could.”
“Bollocks.” He coughs, then winces and gives me the middle finger with a smirk.
I drop to my knees beside Lorcan. My hands hover over Tiernan's body, cataloging the damage. “Jesus, brother. What the fuck happened to you?”
“Didn't expect a fucking ambush,” he mutters, dragging his hand across his brow. He jerks his head at my father. “Christ, but this was easier when we were younger, Nolan.”
“Aye,” Da says, shaking his head and rubbing a hand across his face. Da married my mother when Tiernan was still a lad and half raised him. Tiernan's somewhere between his brother and son.
