Chapter 11 #2
The tension thickened in the room and our men shifted closer to us, giving us silent support. Young groaned, holding his face in his hands as blood soaked his palms while it gushed from his nose.
“This is finished. Now,” Fionn said, voice strong and commanding. He sounded like a true leader. “What will it be? Quick and painless or shall we prolong your suffering?”
The men glanced around at each other, but Young snatched a gun from one of them and stomped forward regardless of the blood that poured from his nostrils. He came right at us, and I moved to protect Fionn. Young placed the muzzle of his gun against my forehead while I shoved mine to his chest.
“Is this how it’s going to end?” I stared at him seriously.
“You shoot me, I shoot you. It doesn’t change the outcome, does it?
Except the boss will get out of jail and he’ll torture every single one of your family members.
He’ll make it hurt. Everyone who ever knew you will curse your name and your stupidity. ”
Blood oozed into his mouth and his tongue darted out to lick his top lip. His gaze flicked to Fionn, then back to me. I was sowing doubts.
“Do it,” I whispered, a crazy part of me wondering what death would be like. Sloan’s mom seemed to be having a good time.
Behind Young stood Dad again and his lip curled in disgust. “You’re weak.”
“Pull that trigger,” I murmured, wondering whether I was talking to me or Young. Maybe both. My arm began to shake as the continual ache took hold of it. I wouldn’t be able to hold my gun up for much longer. “Do you have the balls?”
“Do you?” Dad snapped, storming up to stand right behind Young. “Do you, Conall?”
This standoff between me and Young would end now, whether it was through bullets flying or him backing away.
“What is going on here?” Sloan’s voice filled the room.
I froze.
All at once, everyone spun around to look in the direction of the archway. I closed my eyes, too scared to do the same in case it was another hallucination. My heart couldn’t handle the pain if it was.
“Why do you have a gun pointed at my pet’s head, Young?” Footsteps echoed in my ears, and I opened my eyes again.
Young spluttered as he stared over my shoulder.
Someone stopped beside me, and I inhaled deeply before I allowed myself to look.
Sloan was here, as if he’d never left. Back straight and shoulders wide, he was a force to be reckoned with. Other than the dark brown of his hair because he hadn’t bleached it in jail, he was the same man as before. Tall and strong, calm yet powerful, and dangerous.
Fuck. Sloan is here!
“Boss,” I whispered. How?
Sloan’s gaze never left Young. His jaw strained and twitched, and his eyes burned with the kind of fury that might’ve turned me on if I didn’t feel like garbage. “Drop the weapon. Now.”
Young swallowed deeply and his bottom lip shook. “Lor—Lorcan Lee deserves to be boss. He’s—he’s a Killough, too.”
I winced. Bad move.
Sloan’s entire demeanor changed. It was more than power and strength that vibrated through him, but something else I couldn’t put my finger on. He seemed wired and hungry for a fight. Whatever control he had left hung on by a single thread until it snapped.
He barely looked at me before he threw himself forward, knocking the gun out of Young’s hand and propelling him to the floor.
Sloan landed on top of him, knees on either side of Young’s body, slamming his fist into Young’s face.
There was nothing calm or in control about the hits he landed.
He was more than angry. He was on edge, emotions overwhelming, and enraged.
This wasn’t the Sloan I knew and loved. He was unhinged.
Every punch he landed into Young was pure madness. His eyes were wild and his hits unrelenting. His knuckles busted Young’s nose all over again. He worked over his cheek and jaw and eyes. Blood spurted across Sloan’s face and white dress shirt, and splattered the floor around them.
No one moved, too shocked to say a thing. We’d never seen Sloan act this way. He was a man coming apart at the seams.
Young yelled and pleaded, until all that was left was a sick gurgle before he went entirely limp under Sloan’s attack. He had to be dead.
I gaped, my arm finally giving out and dropping to my side.
I placed the gun back into the holster and took a step forward, then another.
My heart throbbed hard and fast, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I was feeling like shit or because of Sloan’s reaction.
My Sloan would never kill a man with this lack of finesse. It was primal and fueled by emotions.
“Sloan?” I laid a hand on his shoulder as he stilled, his chest rising and falling in deep breaths. “Boss?”
The word shattered him out of whatever frame of mind he was in and he snapped his gaze up to me. He stood, towering over Young’s lifeless body as the victor while covered in blood, and winced. His hand went to his shoulder and he muttered under his breath.
Sloan looked at the traitors and his nostrils flared.
“You’re young and stupid, so I won’t kill every single one of you, but you’ll give your names to Daire and you’ll be demoted.
Out of my house, away from my nephew and pet.
If I hear that you’ve tried to backstab us again, I will make you scream in agony before ending you, and then I’ll do the same to your families. Violently. Am I clear?”
It didn’t make sense. Sloan wouldn’t just let them go, which meant he was up to something. Whatever he was doing, I trusted him. Completely.
The men nodded sharply, eyes bugging. Some of them shifted uncomfortably, one moving toward the archway like he wanted to escape. Run. I didn’t blame him for one second. He was lucky they weren’t killed on the spot.
“Get out of my fucking house.” Sloan threw his arm out and the men scurried away.
Daire nodded at Sloan before following them, probably to take down their names.
When they were gone, our loyal soldiers filed out, leaving me, Sloan, and Fionn in the dining room.
“Sloan?” I stepped forward, then hesitated. Was he really here? I peeked at Fionn and noted that his eyes were shining. He stared at Sloan with an expression that couldn’t be misinterpreted—full of love and happiness. Fuck, he was here. I wasn’t imagining it. “How?”
Sloan’s nostrils flared as he exhaled and his hands shook at his sides, which was new.
I didn’t know what to make of it. He was fired up, letting his emotions take control.
He clenched his eyes shut and took a deep breath, and I moved on instinct, eating up the distance between us to throw myself at him in a hug.
He curled his arms around me, and all at once, everything was okay. Sloan was here. I buried myself in his warmth.
“Pet.” The name was a mixture of a growl and an actual word, and his hold on me tightened until I gasped. “Pet, I should’ve been here sooner.”
“You’re here now,” I whispered, hating how desperate I sounded.
I clawed my fingers down his back and pressed my face closer to his neck, breathing him in.
His heady, intoxicating scent filled my nose and it was perfect and raw and belonged to me because he was mine.
“I thought I was seeing things. How are you here?”
“Cashmore managed to get the judge to drag up the hearing and I was released due to lack of evidence.”
I pushed away from him but didn’t back out of his arms. “When? Why didn’t you tell me it was happening?”
A rush of emotions hit me. I hated how vulnerable I sounded. Fuck. Didn’t he want me to be there? Instead, like with everyone else, I found out when he showed up at the house.
“I didn’t want you to be disappointed if he didn’t release me. So, I waited. When he found my incarceration unconstitutional, I came directly here.” He cupped my face and his eyes softened. “I came back to you.”
I melted. The fucker knew exactly what he was doing.
“I love you, Pet. I’ll always find a way to be with you.”
I sucked in a deep breath, surprise like a sledgehammer to my stomach.
His words echoed in my head, over and over again, until I forced myself to concentrate and be in reality with him.
“I love you, too, Boss.” I poked his chest. “Don’t do that again or I’ll join you in prison.
I’ll be your bunkmate. Fionn can look after the Company by himself. ”
He laughed. “Noted. Come here, let me kiss you.”
He grabbed my shoulders and dragged me in, his lips meeting mine in a desperate battle of our mouths until it felt like my bones completely disappeared and I was nothing but goo.
He stroked my neck above the collar, and I leaned into his touch, hungry for more despite the heat that flushed through me from a fever I’d been struggling with all day. When would this flu or stress or whatever the fuck it was go away? Now that Sloan was out, maybe it was time to let Rory see me.
Fionn cleared his throat, and Sloan broke the kiss, stepping away. He grinned at Fionn. “Come here, nephew.”
Fionn didn’t need to be told twice. He crossed the space between them in two steps, and then, Sloan was dragging him into a strong hug, the first I’d seen them in. It was a beautiful sight to see. I didn’t miss the wince of pain from Sloan, but I would talk to him about it later. Why was he hurt?
Sloan thumped him on the back and pressed a hard kiss on Fionn’s temple. “You did me proud, son. You’re the right choice to be my apprentice. You handled business affairs, legal and illegal, with the professionalism I expected from you.”
I didn’t have to see Fionn’s face to know how much the words meant to him, and I grinned, my own pride for both Sloan and Fionn sweeping through me. Maybe after being in jail, Sloan realized how important it was to tell his nephew that. I’m glad he did.
“Fucking pussy.”
I stiffened and glanced at my dad, standing over in the corner of the room. Half of his face was covered by a shadow, but he appeared gaunt and had over the last couple of days. His eyes were sunken, his mouth thin, and his skin pale. The more he stuck around, the worse he looked.
I exhaled a shuddery breath and sent him a glare but didn’t respond. Sloan and Fionn couldn’t see him, and I wasn’t going to give them a reason to think I’d finally gone insane.
“They raised them stronger in my day. No one competed with Niall Killough. His son’s a fucking pussy.”
I gnashed my teeth. I couldn’t kill a dead man. It wasn’t possible.
Sloan and Fionn broke away, and Sloan eyed me curiously, his deep sea blue eyes inquisitive, and I forced a smile onto my face. A throb began in the middle of my forehead and I resisted the urge to massage it.
“Pet, you’re flushed.” Sloan focused on me again and pressed the back of his hand against my cheek, frowning. “Fionn, call Rory. I want him here. Now.”
“I’m f—”
“Don’t say it,” Sloan snapped, tilting his chin to stare me down. “There’s no more ifs and buts. I’m home now, Pet, and you will listen. Come with me, we’re taking you to lie down.”
I had no choice but to let him slide his fingers into mine and guide me upstairs.