Chapter Four Callum
After scaling the gates of the religious order, I’d broken my first rule: never underestimate your target. I suppose I let my guard down because everything was too easy. No guards. No alarms sounding our arrival or motion detectors announcing our presence. Not to mention the ancient locks that appeared easy to pick.
Once Quinn and Dare convened with me in the courtyard, I had barked out a few orders. “Quinn, you stay here by the gate and pick the lock for us to have a clear getaway.” Glancing over at Dare, I said, “You cover my back as I head in the building. After I’m inside, move to the front room, and I’ll meet up with you once I’ve secured Caterina.”
Dare’s brows had furrowed. “You don’t want me to come with you?”
With a roll of my eyes, I had replied, “I’m pretty sure I can handle four unarmed nuns.”
In hindsight, that was a grievous mistake. Of course, it wasn’t four nuns that incapacitated not only me, but Dare as well. It was only my not so blushing bride. She’d felt like heaven when I’d pressed against her. Her full breasts had pillowed against my chest while her round, full hips had curved against me. At that moment, I’d wanted to claim her mouth and thrust my tongue against hers.
But then that heavenly moment had turned to pure hell when she racked up my balls and then bit me. The bitch had maimed me enough to draw blood. I’d yet to have an enemy make me bleed through a bite. I’d be lying if there wasn’t a small part of me that was turned on by her ferocity.
But then she had to go and fucking shoot me. The bite was nothing compared to the gaping wound in my upper thigh. I imagined without the fear and shock, Caterina probably would’ve been able to shoot me right through the heart. I gave thanks for small mercies, and the fact that Quinn knew how to tie a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
I turned my attention back to Caterina. She lay limp on the edge of the fountain. Even in the dark, I could make out how her wet cotton nightgown was drawn obscenely tight against her skin—the see-through white color leaving nothing to the imagination. If it hadn’t been so dark, I would’ve taken off my shirt to cover her so my brothers couldn’t see.
She may have bitten and shot me, but she was still mine and only mine.
Quinn tossed the syringe in his hand to the ground before glancing around the courtyard. “Where the fuck is Dare?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but a grunt from over my shoulder silenced me. “I’m here,” he gritted out as he limped over to us. He held a small bag in one of his hands. I imagined it was filled with some of Caterina’s possessions.
“Did she shoot you, too?” Quinn questioned.
“I think I would’ve fancied it more than her jabbing a broomstick repeatedly against my cock and balls,” Dare replied through gritted teeth.
Quinn winced and cupped himself. “Jesus Christ.”
I shook my head. “Look, we gotta get the hell out of here before the other sisters see us.” I motioned to Caterina’s crumpled form. “Quinn, I need you to carry her because I don’t think Dare nor I have it in us.”
When he hesitated, I clapped my hand on his shoulder. “I wouldn’t ask this of you if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.”
After staring down at Caterina for a few moments, Quinn finally nodded. Since the car bombing, he could barely tolerate anyone being too close to him or touching him. I truly hated to put him in that position.
Under my intense gaze, Quinn gently brought Caterina into his arms. I then texted Kellan to bring around the car. At the sight of us coming through the gates, Kellan hopped out of the SUV. As he jogged around the front of the hood, he asked, “What the fuck happened to you all?”
I scowled at him. “What the hell does it look like?”
“It looks like someone beat the hell out of Dare and shot you.”
“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”
“Was there some sort of militant opposition our intel didn’t include?” Kellan asked.
Dare snorted. “It was only a ripshit future nun.”
Kellan’s brows shot into his hairline. “She shot you, Callum?”
“The bullet only grazed my thigh.”
“He’s lucky I tackled her, or she probably would’ve blown his dick right off,” Dare quipped.
I rolled my eyes at him. “I think I had the situation under control.”
“Sure, mate,” Dare replied before hoisting himself into the backseat.
Kellan winced. “Christ on a cross, Dare. You manhandled a nun?”
“It wouldn’t have mattered if it was Mary Magdalene herself—she had a gun on Callum.”
Shifting his gaze from Dare in the backseat, Kellan apprised Caterina in Quinn’s arms. “Did you knock her unconscious when you tackled her?”
“No. We had to give her ketamine because she wouldn’t stop fighting us.”
As Kellan gave me a disapproving look, I jerked my chin at the passenger seat. “Save your judgment and help me in the car.”
“Hell must be freezing over for you to ask for help,” he quipped.
“Fuck you,” I muttered under my breath. Once Kellan had helped me onto the seat, I threw a glance in the back. Quinn delicately sat Caterina in the seat between him and Dare. Once she was upright, her head lolled over onto Dare’s shoulder. With a hiss, he shoved her harshly away, causing her to whimper. Red criss crossed through my vision.
As a low growl came from deep within my chest, both Dare’s and Quinn’s eyes popped wide. “Do not hurt my future wife,” I blared.
Dare held his hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry. I’m still a little pissed with her for potentially damaging my family jewels.”
“It has nothing to do with you, asshole. She was merely defending herself.”
“Is that how you feel about your thigh and your hand?” he countered.
“As a matter of fact, it is. She thought I was going to rape her, and that you were there to help. You can’t fault any woman for trying to save herself.”
A hush fell over the car. I knew each of my brothers were thinking about the same thing, or in this case, the same person. When Caterina’s head once again fell against Dare’s shoulder, he didn’t move her away. Although I was grateful to him for showing her kindness, I didn’t like how she snuggled herself against him. Like she was seeking out his warmth.
When she turned her face into his neck and pressed her nose and lips against his skin, the bastard had the audacity to wink at me. “You even remotely get off on that, and I’ll cut off what’s left of your balls,” I growled.
Dare chuckled. “Then turn the light off in the car because I can see way too much through her nightgown. Or then again, don’t turn them out. I need to make sure my cock will still rise to the occasion after her mop assault.”
Before I could bark out the order, Kellan turned the interior light off. Glancing in the rearview mirror at Dare, he said, “There’s a blanket in the third-row seating.”
“Grab it,” I ordered.
“Yeah, yeah,” Dare muttered before throwing his arm behind the seat to grab the blanket. I watched him like a hawk as he draped the blanket over Caterina’s shoulders and then wrapped it around the front. When she sighed with pleasure and then snuggled up to Quinn, I turned around. Considering his aversion to touch, I knew he wouldn’t be getting any enjoyment out of having a half-naked woman against him.
Any bump in the road sent searing agony through my thigh. “You want something for the pain?” Quinn asked.
Turning around in the seat again, I jerked my chin at Caterina. “I sure as hell don’t want what you gave her,” I mused.
Quinn chuckled before digging into his medical bag. After he pulled out a pill and a bottle of water, he handed them to me. “This will take the edge off, but not knock you on yer arse.”
“Thanks.”
After tossing the pill in my mouth, I gulped down the water. Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes and willed for the pain to subside.
After a silent drive, we made it to the airport in Palermo about an hour later. A jet sat on the tarmac waiting for us. To ensure our undetected escape, our pilot had logged a fake flight plan with a destination of Prague, rather than Catania. Seamus would be waiting for us at the house he’d rented. Since I didn’t know how much longer Caterina would be knocked out, I was glad our flight was merely thirty minutes.
Because she was already plastered against him, Quinn reluctantly pulled Caterina into his arms. She sucked in a harsh breath as he lifted her up and out of the car. After we’d all boarded the jet, Quinn took Caterina over to the sofa and laid her down. Before he fixed the cover over her, he threw an uncomfortable glance at me. “She really needs to come out of that wet nightgown.”
“We don’t have anything else to put her in, do we?”
“There’s a robe in the bathroom,” Kellan replied.
I nodded at him. “Grab it.”
As he went to retrieve it, I narrowed my eyes at Quinn and Dare. “You two turn yer backs.”
Dare grunted. “I could give a shite less about what your bitch of a bride looks like naked.”
“That’s sure as hell not what you alluded to in the car,” I challenged.
He laughed. “That’s just because I wanted to get a rise out of you. All I want now is a drink and an ice pack for my cock.”
“Then fuck off, why don’t you?”
“Gladly,” Dare replied before heading to the liquor cabinet.
Kellan returned with the robe. Without even having to be told, he turned his back to Caterina. “Always a bleedin’ gentleman,” I chuckled.
Bending over, I brought my hand to the hem of Caterina’s nightgown. I jerked it up her thighs and over her hips. Silently, I gave thanks for what I would’ve considered Nuns Knickers—the white cotton panties that covered not only her pussy, but most of her lower abdomen. I don’t know why I was surprised. It’s not like I expected her to be wearing a lacy thong.
After bringing the nightgown over her head, I tossed it to the floor. I then gently eased her arm in the robe before pulling her up against me to do the second arm. Once I was finished, I tied the lapels together. To ensure she warmed up, I added two blankets.
The pilot poked his head out of the cockpit area. “We’re about to take off, so I really need you all in your seats with your seatbelts fastened.” His gaze dropped to Caterina. “She needs to be belted in as well.”
“She’s fine as she is.”
The pilot’s brows furrowed. “But?—”
My eyes darkened. “I said she’s fine.”
He dropped his gaze before mumbling, “Yes, sir.” He then ducked back into the cockpit.
Looking at Dare, I said, “Make sure he never flies us again.”
Tilting his head, Dare asked, “You want him never flying us or never flying the friendly skies ever again?”
“Killing him isn’t necessary,” I replied in a low voice.
“Sure thing, boss,” he replied with a smile.
I grunted at him calling me boss. While it was the truth, I didn’t like my brothers feeling any less than I was simply because I was older. For our family to not only survive but thrive, we had to be one unit.
When I shifted in my seat, pain radiated through my leg, causing me to wince.
Quinn motioned his phone at my leg. “I texted Seamus to have a doctor waiting for us at the house.”
“I appreciate that.”
As he surmised Caterina, he shook his head. “You sure as hell underestimated her, didn’t you?”
“I underestimated her? I didn’t hear any of you fuckers mention her potential as an assassin.”
Grimacing, Quinn replied, “Aye, you’re right. It’s on all of us, I suppose. The girl was raised in a capo’s house with three older brothers. We should’ve imagined she would know her way around a gun and have some self-defense skills.”
Dare collapsed down into the seat next to me. After plopping an ice pack on his cock, he said, “In Callum’s defense, I didn’t think nuns were allowed to be packing.”
“I’m sure the ones in a convent don’t. I suppose it makes sense for the missionary ones to have them since they aren’t under the protection of the convent walls.”
With a grunt, Dare replied, “Can you imagine some of our teachers at St. Ignatius having a Glock under their robes?”
Quinn and I both snorted. “No, I can’t.”
At that moment, a low moan erupted from Caterina. Her head thrashed on the pillow. “Heads up, boys. The little assassin is waking up,” I mused.