Chapter 36 Arran
ARRAN
Iwas running after Ery through woodlands. Something was chasing her I needed to protect her from, but every time I’d call to her, she’d keep running. Every time I thought I was gaining on her, she’d slip from my grasp.
Now there was a banging sound in the forest, and my terror increased tenfold as she moved farther and farther away.
The banging grew louder.
“Arran! Wake up!”
My eyes flew open.
The annex. I was in my bed in the annex.
Relief made me sag against my sweat-dampened pillow. It was just a stupid bloody nightmare.
“Arran!” Bang. Bang. Bang.
What the fuck? I jumped out of bed at Lachlan’s hammering. A quick glance down at my boxer briefs reminded me I wasn’t completely naked, so I yanked open the door and squinted against the daylight pouring in.
Lachlan scowled at me.
He was dressed for the day in one of his expensive three-piece suits.
“What time is it?” I muttered, scrubbing at my tired eyes.
“Six o’clock in the morning. I thought you were an early bird?” My brother strode past me inside.
“Usually I am, but I took ages to fall asleep last night.” I’d texted Ery at around midnight asking her to meet me, but she hadn’t texted back. On that thought, I moved past Lachlan and lunged across my bed for my phone like a desperate man.
Hope gave me a burst of adrenaline when I saw I had a text from Ery asking me to meet at her place this afternoon. My shoulders relaxed as I typed out a reply. Maybe I could fix this between us after all.
“I didn’t come here to watch you moon over your phone.”
I looked up at my brother. He appeared so imperious this morning. “What’s up?”
His imperiousness turned to seriousness. “I have news. One name you gave me, Maranda Peters, the girlfriend of your friend Colin …”
“Aye?” I dropped my phone, giving Lachlan my full attention.
“She’s working at the University of Bordeaux. Something to do with marine biology.”
“Bordeaux?” Where the emails had originated from.
“The internet café is on the campus there.”
“Fuck.” Goose bumps prickled over my skin at the thought of Maranda holding Colin’s death against me for so long. I’d never liked the girl, but I’d felt awful for taking Colin from her. “Maranda? All this time?”
“It’s looking that way.”
“What do I do now?”
Before Lachlan could answer, my phone rang.
It was Eredine.
“I have to take this.”
“Of course.”
“Hey, gorgeous, I need—,” I answered, ready to blurt out everything we’d discovered.
“Uh, is this Arran?” an unfamiliar woman interrupted. She had a Scottish accent.
Alert, I stood from the bed, giving Lachlan a look as I replied, “This is Arran. Why do you have my girlfriend’s phone?”
Lachlan’s head jerked at my words, and he took a step closer, so I switched on the speaker.
“My name is Ashley. I promised your girlfriend I’d call you to let you know she’s in the hospital at Golspie. She was attacked by a woman with a knife on the beach this morning. My husband and I stopped to help.”
I barely heard anything after the words attacked by a woman with a knife.
“Arran?” Lachlan bent his head into my face. “Arran?” Scowling, he peeled the phone out of my hand and barked at the woman for details.
Thankfully, the hospital in Golspie was only twenty minutes from Caelmore.
I couldn’t have been in the passenger seat of Lachlan’s Range Rover any longer than that.
As it was, we’d already sniped at each other four or five times over my wanting him to break the speed limit and him refusing to do it.
“I’m worried about Ery, too, but I don’t see how killing us will improve matters!” he’d eventually yelled.
I shut up then but was a jittery mess, and as soon as he swung into a visitor’s parking spot, I jumped out of the car.
“Arran, wait up!” he called, but I was already jogging across the car park and through the main entrance of the small community hospital.
That she’d been brought here instead of airlifted to Inverness meant her injuries weren’t severe, and Lachlan said the stranger on the phone had explained as much.
But rational thinking wasn’t taking hold of the reins right now.
I just needed to see Ery.
I hurried over to the reception desk. “My girlfriend?” I asked without preamble. “She was brought in with a knife wound. Eredine Willows.”
The receptionist gave me an abrupt nod and checked her computer. “Yes, she was brought in half an hour ago. The doctor is with her. If you’d take a seat, we’ll let you know when you can see her.”
“I need to see her now.”
She pursed her lips. “She’s being treated by the doctor, so I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
“I need to know she’s okay.”
“Sir, she was admitted with a minor knife wound. We’ll update you beyond that as soon as possible.”
Fuck that.
I turned to find Lachlan marching across the reception. “They won’t let me see her, but she said her wound was minor.”
He jerked his head and walked out of reception toward a set of double doors to the rear left. Hurrying to follow, I fell into step beside my brother as we entered the wide corridor.
“Where are we going?”
“Minor injury unit.”
I slapped him on the back in thanks before we pushed through another set of double doors into the department. We each took a side and peered into the wards as we passed.
Before we even reached the third set of wards, I heard a familiar American accent.
“She’s there.” I hit Lachlan on the arm, and we both hurried toward the ward and burst into it in unison.
Eredine was upright on a bed, looking at the ceiling, chatting as a doctor stitched up her forearm.
“Fuck me.” I practically melted into a puddle in relief as I scanned her body and saw she was otherwise unscathed.
Her gaze flew to me as the doctor turned to scowl at our rude entrance. “Arran?”
“Gorgeous.”
Her lower lip trembled, and tears brightened her eyes.
My heart broke at the sight of her fear.
I hurried over to her other side.
“Be careful,” the doctor warned as I leaned in to hold her. “I’m trying to work here.”
“You’re okay,” I whispered over and over, more to myself than to her, as I peppered her cheek and temple with kisses. “I’ve got you.”
And I did.
I would never put distance between us again.
“I’m really okay.” Eredine reached out to squeeze my hand. “You can stop fussing.”
A snort behind me made me look from my girlfriend on the couch pushing off blankets I’d tucked around her to Lachlan, who leaned against Ery’s dining table with a giant smirk on his face. “What’s your problem?”
My brother shook his head. “Nothing. Just never thought I’d see this day.”
“What day?”
“The day my wee brother fell into the same trap Robyn set for me.”
“Christ, man, don’t let her hear you call it that.” Mac shot him a warning look.
“Oh, it’s a trap I willingly fell into.”
“Rewriting history now?” Eredine asked.
I chuckled because she’d told me all about how Lachlan didn’t want to admit he’d fallen in love with Robyn Penhaligon.
“How did this get turned around on me?” Lachlan huffed.
“Because you were being a smart-arse.” Mac gave him a wry look and turned to Ery. “How are you feeling?”
“Seriously, I’m okay. I don’t need blankets.” She grinned. “It’s summer.”
I gave her a sheepish smile.
Since we’d returned from the hospital, I had been mother-henning her.
“Pain okay?” Mac asked. “A slash like that can hurt.”
He would know. I frowned at Ery’s arm. It was a long wound, but thankfully, it wasn’t too deep. The doctor had stitched her up and bandaged it to protect from infection.
“I might need some painkillers in a bit, but I’m okay at the moment.” Ery gave me a reassuring nod and then turned to Mac and Lachlan. “You have news about who that woman was this morning?”
Fury shot through my veins at what Lachlan had relayed while I waited for Ery’s discharge paperwork. I sat next to Ery and kept her hand in mine as Lachlan talked.
“Before Arran got the call you were in the hospital, I’d just come over to tell him we’d discovered Maranda Peters, the girlfriend of Colin, the man who died in Thailand that night with Arran—”
Eredine squeezed my hand, and I gripped on to her silent comfort.
“—Is living in Bordeaux and working at the university there. The emails were coming from the internet café on campus.”
“It was her on the beach,” Eredine deduced.
I squeezed her hand tighter, guilt threatening to consume me. Eredine’s brows drew together in concern at what she saw in my eyes.
My brother continued, “I’ve spoken with the police, and yes, Maranda is the woman who attacked you on the beach.
They ran her prints and discovered that two former boyfriends back in Ireland had filed reports of harassment against her.
From what our guys have been able to deliver in the last few hours, it seems Maranda has been living in Bordeaux since Colin’s death.
She was arrested for assaulting a boyfriend, but the charges were later dropped.
Considering her previous history, and that she confessed to attacking Ery as revenge for Colin’s death, the police are holding her without bail.
They said they’ll be in touch to interview you both soon, so expect a knock on the door. ”
“I knew I never liked her,” I growled. “Colin was too good for her. You know he was going to propose … you have to wonder how that might have turned out if he’d lived.” I tried to pull my hand from Ery’s to stand up, but she held fast.
Her gorgeous eyes pinned me to the couch. “You are not running away again.”
I was the reason she’d been attacked, for fuck’s sake. Every time I visualized what that must have been like for her, I flinched.
“Hey.” Ery soothed a hand up my arm. “I’m okay. And we have Robyn to thank for that.”
“Robyn?” Mac and Lachlan asked.
Ery grinned proudly. “I remembered her self-defense lessons. They just rushed back, and honestly, it took seconds after Maranda swung to take her down.” She looked back at me. “It wasn’t some harrowing fight. I promise. It was over before it started.”
“I still brought this into your life.”
“And you want me to blame you?”
I glowered and looked away.
“Hey.” She tugged on my arm again. “Do you want Thane to blame Regan for Austin assaulting me and hurting the kids?”
“Of course not.”
“Or Arro to blame Mac because someone tried to shoot her?”
I looked over at Mac who still, quite rightly, appeared pissed off at the mention of his past coming back from Glasgow to take revenge on him with Arro getting caught in the crossfire. “You know I don’t.”
“So, why on earth would you think I’d blame you for this? Arran, this family has attracted some crazy people—”
Lachlan snorted unhappily, and I smirked at the understatement.
“We could have our own show. And I’m including myself in it because I have an ugly past too.
Baggage. Everyone comes into a relationship with it.
I will never blame you for what happened today.
It was Maranda’s fault, and I pretty much hate her for bringing this all back up for you when I’ve been trying so hard to make you see that what happened with Colin was just a terrible accident. ”
“I love you,” I blurted out unexpectedly.
Her fingers tensed around my arm as her eyes widened at the pronouncement.
Fuck.
I huffed. “And I blew that too. I didn’t exactly plan to say that for the first time with my brother and brother-in-law standing at our backs.”
Despite the throat clearing behind us, I didn’t dare look away from Eredine.
Her eyes welled, and a smile prodded at her full mouth. “Does that mean no more running away from me for my own good?”
I moved closer. “I promise. I’m sorry for doing that to you in the first place.”
Ery grinned that beautiful, knee-weakening smile. “I love you too.”
“Thank fuck for that,” Lachlan muttered.
“Aye, that could have been awkward,” Mac said.
While Eredine giggled, I looked over at my brothers. “Do you two mind?”
“Leaving.” Mac grabbed Lachlan, who was watching me like a proud bloody father. “We’ll let you know when we hear more about Maranda.”
The door had barely closed behind them when I pulled Eredine toward me to kiss her until we were both panting. “I love you,” I repeated against her lips.
“I love you too. So much.”
I groaned into another kiss as her words filled an empty place inside me I hadn’t even known existed until then.
Feeling her fingers slip under my T-shirt, I reluctantly curled my hand around her wrist to stop her.
Breaking the kiss, I leaned my forehead against hers to compose myself.
The combination of adrenaline and Ery reciprocating my sentiments had made me harder than I’d ever been. “Fuck. We can’t. You need to rest.”
“But—”
“Please.” I stroked her cheek. “Tomorrow. We can wait until then.”
“I hate waiting for you.” She pouted uncharacteristically, and fuck if it wasn’t adorable. “I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life for you.”
Grinning with pure joy, I nodded. “I feel the same way.”