Chapter 28 – Gabriella
Liam was gone before I woke up. I swallowed the birth control pill and glared at the metal tracker. That was not how last night was supposed to go. This unknown threat needed to be dealt with—right the fuck now.
Snatching the tracker, I shoved it in the pocket of my jeans, grabbed my keys, and went to tell my guards that I was going to the construction site.
I managed to drive the whole way without killing the clutch, something they wouldn’t stop teasing me about.
It didn’t matter that I’d driven the stick shift the other times without issue.
I was never living down that one incident.
I took the small victory as a good sign and followed three of the guards to the portable office.
Where I found an unpleasant surprise.
Amanda Messina, little miss lawyer, was sitting in the far back room, tapping away at her laptop.
“Can I help ya, missus?” a spry old woman asked from the desk next to the front door.
Liam wasn’t here, which in hindsight was a relief. I didn’t want to think about him sitting all day across from the blonde bombshell, even if she was married to one of the Morelli Made Men.
“I’m looking for my husband,” I answered the receptionist.
The woman leaned back in her chair, steepled her withered hands under her nose, and studied me. “I didn’t recognize you without the veil.”
Her brogue was so thick, the words garbled.
“Gabby? Is that you?” Amanda called out, taking an earbud from her ear. Her smile was dazzling, which fit her bright, sunshine ensemble perfectly.
“Hi!” I lifted my hand.
I hated her.
Hated everything that she had. She’d gone to college. Had a shining career as a corporate lawyer. Was married to a good man.
You are too.
I shook myself. Yes, yes I was. And I was here to save him.
Liam wasn’t going to like finding out that my father wanted to track him. But he deserved to know. I wasn’t cowardly enough to keep the information from him.
“Liam’s out with his parents,” Amanda explained, coming to stand in the doorway of the inner office. “You’re welcome to wait, but I don’t know when he’ll be back.”
Looking around the portable, I chewed the inside of my cheek. What was I going to do? Sit here and read while they worked? That would make me look like a productive, useful member of society.
“Thanks, I’ll catch him later,” I gulped, suddenly needing to get the hell out of the office. The perfume of ambitious girl boss was too strong in here. I wasn’t sure who wore it stronger, the young lawyer or the old receptionist with dancing, all-seeing eyes.
I stumbled back outside, nearly tripping down the steps.
My guards were nowhere to be found. Battling down the feeling of being a silly mafia princess, I hurried to the parking lot. I needed to put aside my own grievances and focus on the matter at hand. Finding Liam and telling him.
“Hey! Gabriella,” a jolly voice called out, rolling the r in my name. “Where you off to in such a hurry, cailín?”
I blinked at the tall construction worker with chestnut hair peeking out from under his hard hat. He seemed vaguely familiar.
“Hi,” I responded robotically. “I’m just headed to my car.”
“Let me walk you.” He grinned. “We’ve been waiting for you to come back to the Galway Arms. What gives?”
Recognition snapped into place. He was one of the McDonagh crew members who’d been drinking and dancing that night Liam took me there. The night after our wedding. I still didn’t remember his name, but his teasing smile was dangerously handsome.
I moved even faster to my car.
“I’ve applied to be one of your guards,” he added, falling easily into step beside me. “Liam won’t give me the green light, though. Any reason why not?”
Because you smile too much at me?
I didn’t state the obvious. I shrugged. Which did nothing to dispel the funny feeling between my shoulder blades. That sixth sense made my skin prickle. I looked around but didn’t see Liam watching from the shadows.
“Hey, let’s go this way, it’s a shortcut,” he offered, stepping in front of me to cut me off.
I pulled up short, reaching out to the chain link fence so that I didn’t fall on the planks of wood that were laid on the bare dirt.
Putting on my best managerial face, I pinned him with a look. “Thanks, but I’ve got this.”
“Come on,” he coaxed.
The funny feeling crawled up my neck, turning into a buzz of warning against my scalp. I looked around.
And spotted Connor.
The guard was behind a port-a-john, watching. He didn’t approach. I must not be in any physical harm, but the danger instantly doubled. That was Liam’s second in command. He would report the incident to his boss.
The best course of action was to slap the prick in front of me and hope that Connor hadn’t noticed me catching him spying.
“I said, I’m fine.” I pulled myself up straight—and took a step back.
As if on cue, the jolly soldier stepped forward. A spark lit in his eye. He thought he was having a bit of fun. The thrill of the chase, cornering the boss’s girl, was too intoxicating to resist.
Stupid, stupid man.
My husband was going to eat him alive.
“Go back to work.” I gave him one last warning. “Go back to work.”
He pounced.
I slapped him hard. I’d been hit enough times to know just the right spot to make his head snap to the side.
His angry growl was swallowed by the roar of a bike out on the street. He reached for me again, but I dodged, scrambling backward.
Before he could catch me, before he had time to make his peace, gunshots erupted.
I dropped to the ground, covering my head. A scream ripped from my lungs, but it was lost in the wild cacophony of noise. Terror engulfed me. There wasn’t even time to breathe! The very next second, the bullets stopped. The bike rumbled away.
Connor was there a moment later, pistol raised as he tried to aim through the fence.
“Ya hurt, cailín?” he barked.
The sound of his voice was muted through the ringing in my ears.
“No,” I croaked. The fact that I couldn’t breathe was panic-induced, not from an injury. My heart felt like it was going to explode right out of my chest.
“It’s okay. He’s gone now,” Connor huffed, holstering his weapon.
But it was not okay. As I struggled to sit up, the world spun in shades of crimson. The body on the ground was mangled, leaking bright fluid. The blood pooled over the planks, eagerly stretching out to water the earth.
I squeezed my eyes closed and prayed it wasn’t real. The saints had no mercy. My prayer fell flat, vanished in the warm summer breeze. The stupid construction worker was dead.