Chapter 5
Mia
My heart pounded in my chest as Connor and Declan exchanged heated whispers by the study door. The warmth of the whisky had faded, replaced by an icy dread that spread through my veins. They had found me. How? I thought I’d been careful.
I twisted the unfamiliar ring on my finger, its weight a constant reminder of the bizarre turn my life had taken in the span of a few hours. From librarian on the run to future clan captain’s fiancée. If the situation wasn’t so dire, I might have laughed at the absurdity of it all.
“Mia?”
Connor’s voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. He was looking at me with concern, his brow furrowed. “Did you hear what I said?”
I shook my head, forcing myself to focus. “Sorry, what?”
He moved closer, his voice low and urgent. “I said we’re going to let them in.”
“What?”
I gasped, jumping to my feet. “How is that protecting me?!”
Connor grabbed my shoulders, his touch firm but gentle. “Listen to me. We have the advantage here. This is our territory, our rules. If we turn them away, they’ll just keep coming back. But if we face them head-on, we might be able to get some answers.”
I searched his eyes, looking for any sign of doubt or fear. But all I saw was determination and... something else. Something that made my breath catch in my throat.
“Do you trust me?”
he asked softly.
Did I? I barely knew him. And yet, in the short time since I’d arrived, he’d offered me more protection and support than anyone else ever had. I nodded slowly. “I have to.”
A ghost of a smile flickered across his face. “Good. Now, here’s the plan...”
As Connor outlined his strategy, I felt a strange mix of terror and exhilaration. This was it.
Declan cleared his throat, interrupting Connor’s explanation. “Hate to break up the session, but we need to move. They’re getting impatient at the gate.”
“Can’t we just tell them to take a hike?”
Connor asked.
Declan snorted. “We don’t even know who they are. Radley can’t get a straight answer out of them.”
“Fine,”
Connor said. “I’ll go to the gate and see what they want. Who knows, it might not have anything to do with you Mia.”
“What if they shoot you?”
I asked, my heart in my throat.
“They won’t shoot me.”
His brows snapped together as he looked at Declan. “Will they?”
“It’s possible I suppose,”
Declan shrugged. “To hell with it. We will let them come to the house. Consider it your training.”
Declan walked over to a panel on the wall and pressed a button and said, “Radley, open the gate.”
“Yes sir!”
Radley replied.
Relief flashed over Connor’s face. “Thanks,”
he muttered as he looked like he was about to throw up.
“Come on,”
Declan said, as he headed out the door, motioning for Connor to follow.
I watched from behind the curtain as they strode out to the sidewalk, their postures tense but determined. My fingers twisted anxiously in the hem of my shirt as a set of headlights made its way down the hill from the gates, and I ducked back further.
The vehicle stopped and three men got out. Even from a distance, I could tell they were armed. My heart raced as I strained to hear their conversation.
“We’re looking for someone,”
a gruff voice announced. “A girl. Brown hair, green eyes.”
Connor’s voice carried clearly across the yard. “Sorry, fellas. No one with that description here. Maybe try the next place over?”
The leader, a tall man stepped closer to Connor and the porch lights illuminated the scar on his face. “We have reason to believe she’s here. And we’re not leaving until we find her.”
Declan’s hand moved to the gun at his hip. “That sounds an awful lot like a threat, friend. I’d choose your next words carefully. Considering you’re trespassing.”
Tension crackled in the air as the two groups faced off. I held my breath, waiting for the inevitable explosion of violence.
But then Connor did something unexpected. He laughed.
“Look, I get it. You’ve got a job to do. But so do we. And our job is protecting the people here. So how about this - you tell us who you’re looking for, and if it checks out, we’ll help you find her. Deal?”
The leader hesitated, clearly thrown off by Connor’s approach. After a long moment, he nodded.
“Good. But not out here. We’ll talk inside,”
Declan said, as he turned towards the house.
As the group followed him and Connor, I scrambled back, my mind racing as I made a beeline for the kitchen, I rounded the corner and flattened my back against the wall and hid behind a huge, planted palm tree. If I didn’t move, they wouldn’t see me, but I could see them through the leaves.
As I stood there, I wondered what Declan was thinking when he suggested they talk in the house. And more importantly, what was I going to do now? Holding my hand over my mouth, I strained to hear if they were saying anything as footsteps sounded on the marble tile of the foyer.
Connor spoke first, his voice calm and steady. “How can we help you?”
So much for Declan taking the lead. I just hoped Connor didn’t screw it up.
The leader stepped forward. “We’re looking for someone. A girl. We have reason to believe she’s here.”
Declan half shook his head. “You already said that bud.”
Connor stiffened slightly, but his voice remained neutral. “There are a lot of people here. You’ll have to be more specific.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t play games with us. We know she’s here. Hand her over, and we’ll leave peacefully.”
Declan grunted. “And if we don’t?”
The stranger’s hand moved to his hip, where I could see the outline of a gun. “Then things might get... unpleasant.”
I held my breath, waiting for Connor’s response. This was it. The moment of truth. Would he give me up to save himself and the others? Or would he stand his ground?
Connor’s voice, when he spoke, was like steel. “I’m afraid I can’t help you. Whoever you’re looking for, she’s not here. And even if she was, we don’t hand over our people to strangers with guns.”
The tension in the air was palpable. I could see the other men shifting restlessly, hands twitching towards their weapons. The leader’s face darkened with anger.
“You’re making a big mistake,”
he growled.
Connor didn’t back down. “The only mistake here is you thinking you can come to our home and make demands. Now, I’m going to ask you once to leave. If you don’t, we’ll be forced to defend ourselves.”
For a long moment, no one moved. Then, slowly, the leader took a step back. “This isn’t over,”
he warned.
“I think it is,”
Declan replied, his hand resting casually on his own weapon.
The group retreated, disappearing out the front doors. As soon as I heard the deadbolt turn, I stepped away from the wall and stared right at Connor.
“Why did you let them in the house,”
I demanded. Not that I had the right to demand anything, but it wasn’t everyday that hired thugs were invited into the home of the Irish mafia.
Declan looked me in the face, and smirked. “Because if things got out of hand, we would have taken care of them inside. No witnesses.”
I swallowed hard. The rumors about him were true. He was a hardass. “Now what do we do?”
I whispered, fearing they were standing outside with their ears pressed to the door.
“You weren’t fucking kidding when you said they meant business were you?”
Connor muttered.
I jumped when Rory yelled from the living room, “Got it!”
“What does he have?” I ask.
Connor’s eyes lit up at Rory’s exclamation. “Come on,”
he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the living room. The warmth of his fingers intertwined with mine sent an unexpected jolt through my body, momentarily distracting me from the gravity of our situation.
As we entered the room, I was struck by the stark contrast between its cozy, traditional decor and the high-tech setup dominating one corner. Rory sat hunched over a bank of monitors, typing away on the keyboard as lines of code scrolled rapidly across the screens.
“What have you got?”
Connor asked, leaning over Rory’s shoulder to peer at the displays.
Rory swiveled in his chair, a triumphant grin spreading across his face, gesturing towards the largest monitor. “While you two were playing nice with our uninvited guests, I was running facial recognition on the security camera feeds.”
I stepped closer, squinting at the grainy images on the screen. They showed multiple angles of the men who had just left, their faces highlighted by green boxes.
“And?”
I prompted, my heart racing with anticipation.
“And we wait for Colin”— he waved a hand at Connor and Declan — “their cousin to get back to us on those faces,”
Rory said, folding his arms across his chest.
“Who is he?”
I felt like such a snoop asking all these questions, but I had to know.
“Their cousin, I just said that,”
Rory said with a chuckle.
I looked down at the cuff of my sweater and picked off a loose thread before saying, “I know, but what does he do? Is he part of the family?”
Rory swiveled in his chair and looked up at Declan. I didn’t miss the look they exchanged, and I felt like kicking myself for the slip up.
But I had to know.
“He’s a cop,”
Declan said, watching me.
I feigned a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness,”
I said with a smile. “I think I’ll go find Wren, get her to show me where I’ll be sleeping.”
As I walked away, I could feel two sets of eyes boring into my back, while in a low voice I could hear Connor say, “What did I miss?”