Chapter 20
CONALL
One night without Sloan was hell. It’d been different when he was in jail because we didn’t have a choice then, but I’d purposely chosen to sleep in another bed without him.
Never again. My night consisted of tossing and turning until I was frustrated and angry at myself.
I could be irritated by his actions at home, close enough that I could still sleep with him at my side. I needed him in reaching distance.
As soon as I arrived home, I entered the home to find the cousins in a conversation with Fionn, Daire, Cillian, and Aspen. It was Fionn who saw me first.
He sighed in relief. “Thank fuck, you’re home.” He closed the distance between us and dragged me into a hug. “He’s been walking around like a ticking time bomb. The men have been avoiding him.”
I didn’t need to ask who Fionn was talking about.
“I thought you were gone for a few days.” Fionn pulled back to narrow his eyes at me, a smug smile curving his lips.
I shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep. The Virtue’s too cold.”
It was a lie. There was nothing wrong with the Virtue, other than having Terrance stare at me knowingly. Forrest was worse because he wasn’t afraid to voice how silly I was for being there. Exes were arseholes.
“What’s going on here?” I asked, glancing around the men who had gathered in the foyer.
“We were talking about what we were going to do about Sloan.” Tiernan grinned. “But looks like we don’t need to now.”
Cillian’s upper lip curled and he shot a glare at Tiernan. I had a feeling Cillian didn’t like him very much. It was me he spoke to, though. “Sloan’s dealing with Lorcan.”
“Alone?” I frowned, a strike of concern piercing through me. My stomach knotted at the thought of him getting hurt or being alone right now. He needed me. “Where? In the basement?”
“Nah, out near the greenhouse,” Cillian answered. “He’s decided of a new way of punishment and death for the wee coward.”
“How?” I didn’t wait for an answer. A desperation to see Sloan, even though I’d only been away less than twenty-four hours, welled in my chest and I shot past them. I needed to get to Sloan for my own mental health. My fingers itched to touch him and my lips burned to taste his.
I stalked out the back of the house, but the sight that met me made me freeze. Beside the foundation of the greenhouse was Sloan on his knees surrounded by five men. Even from here I could see him grinning, face bloodied as one of the men pointed a baseball bat at him.
I moved before I had time to consider my options.
“Conall!” Fionn cursed behind me, but I was already running across the lawn.
I had to get Sloan and put a stop to whatever was happening. Were these our men? Yes. I recognized Gilmore with a handgun hanging at his side. The man with a baseball bat was O’Nunan. That fucker. I’d trusted him.
The only person who got Sloan on his knees was me and it was when he sucked my dick.
A shovel on the ground caught my eye as I rushed closer and I scooped it up as O’Nunan’s voice filled my ears.
“I’m going to kill you how you killed my brother,” O’Nunan said. “Say your final words.”
“He doesn’t need to, but you do,” I snapped.
O’Nunan turned at the same time I swung the shovel. His head snapped to the side, his neck cracking so hard a shiver bolted down my spine, before he collapsed to the ground—his eyes as lifeless as the rest of him.
His men went to move, but ours had already caught up to me, and Cillian tackled Gilmore before he could use his gun.
The others didn’t have time to pull out weapons.
Cillian knocked Gilmore in the head with his elbow, and Gilmore groaned, struggling, but Cillian was a lot heavier with more muscle. He didn’t have a chance.
I dropped the shovel and fell to my knees in front of Sloan, reaching out to touch his face before hesitating. Blood coated his right temple and cheek and splattered across his eye. It leaked from his mouth, sliding down his chin.
“Fuck, Sloan. Those fuckers.” I spun toward Fionn, the only one who hadn’t jumped into the fray because he didn’t need to. “That new doctor’s in the house. Go get him. Please.”
Fionn gave me a sharp nod before rushing back toward the house.
Sloan grinned, blood staining his teeth, and stroked his fingers over my cheek. “I’m a big boy. I can handle a child’s tantrum.”
Anger and anguish stirred inside me as I glanced toward O’Nunan. I regretted killing him. I should’ve kept him alive so I could do some real damage.
Sloan grunted and fell back on his arse, stretching out his leg. He massaged his knee.
The cousins, Aspen, and Cillian had the others on the ground, while Daire came over to us, crouching.
“Sir, I’ll call the emergency helicopter for you.”
Sloan shook his head. “No. No hospitals.”
I frowned angrily at him. “Sloan, stop being stubborn. You’re hurt. They fucking hit you. If this was me, you’d be forcing me to go.” I turned to Daire. “Call them. Now.”
Daire gave me a short nod and walked away to do as I’d instructed.
Sloan chuckled. “I like it when you’re bossy with our men, Pet.”
I huffed and pouted at him, an urge to slap him for not having other men around making my fingers twitch. “They could’ve killed you.”
“They should’ve instead of trying to seem tough,” he drawled. He tilted his head and stared at me for a moment. “I’m sorry for what I did to the greenhouse.” He gestured at the foundation. “I’m rebuilding it.”
I groaned and seized his hands, kissing them, even though he had some blood on them from touching his face.
“I don’t care about a fucking building and the fact that you didn’t talk to me about it right now.
We can hash that out later. I love you, boss, and you nearly fucking died.
If O’Nunan wasn’t already dead, I’d fucking torture him. ”
Sloan laughed, then winced. “Yeah, well, at least we’re weeding out the traitors.” He narrowed his eyes in thought and glanced toward Tiernan, who was pressing the face of one of the men into the grass. He grinned, obviously enjoying it when the man spluttered.
Tiernan looked at him. “Boss?”
“I think it’s time to bring over some men from Ireland. Family, too. The soldiers here in New York need reminding of what true loyalty looks like, and we need to flush out the rats. Think you can make some calls?”
Tiernan’s smirk was downright terrifying. “Sounds like a brilliant plan to me, Boss. I know some blokes that’d love to make the trip.”
“Make it happen.” Sloan groaned and pressed a hand to his forehead, and the ache in my heart deepened. I nearly lost him. The thought stirred nausea in my stomach. I’d left angrily yesterday and if that’d been the last day I’d seen him, I would never have forgiven myself.
“I’m sorry.” I eyed the blood on his face and yanked off my shirt. I pressed it against the cut in his temple. “I shouldn’t have left. I was a bad partner.”
Sloan smiled. “Pet, I did something stupid. I reacted to emotions and I’ve always taught Fionn not to do that. But I see you sick and hurt and I react badly.”
I laughed quietly. “I know that feeling.” My heart was still racing. The sight of him on his knees ready to accept death was in the forefront of my mind. Never again. “I won’t ever leave you, even for a few days, no matter how angry I am. I promise.”
“Good.” He laid a hand on the back of my neck and drew me in for a kiss, and while I should’ve protested because he was injured, I let him because I needed to feel his lips against mine.
My love for him was a balloon in my chest, expanding until it was hard to breathe, but I wanted to float with the feeling.
Footsteps sounded behind me and I glanced to see Fionn had brought the new doctor.
I hadn’t even had the chance to learn his name yet, but he was different than what I’d expected.
With sandy blond hair and a pair of semirimless glasses that were black on top, he had the appearance of a stereotypical nerd rather than a mob doctor.
He was short, too, and only came up to my shoulders.
I didn’t know what I’d anticipated—maybe another broad shouldered, tall man like the rest of the Company men—but he certainly wasn’t it.
“Are you old enough to be a doctor?” I asked before I could stop myself.
The doctor blinked his big hazel eyes at me. “Uh, yes? I’m thirty-five. I specialize in emergency medicine.”
I glared. “You better be because our boss needs help and if you hurt him, I’ll hurt you.”
Fionn made a sound of amusement, but I ignored him as I forced myself to move away from Sloan and stand. I gestured to him. “Help him then.”
The doctor swallowed and nodded, but as he went to crouch, Sloan raised his hand in a stop motion.
I opened my mouth to argue with him, ready to fight fire with fire and use some blackmailing on top of it, but Sloan shifted to his good knee before I could.
He stretched out his bad leg, I guessed because he couldn’t put any weight on it, and held out his hand toward me.
“Come here.”
“Sloan—”
He raised that damned eyebrow, and my stomach fluttered when he stared at me expectantly. His blue eyes gleamed in the sun, and despite the urge to protest, I stepped forward to stand in front of him.
“No one’s touching me until I say what I need to,” he whispered.
He grasped my hand in his, and I bit my lip when I took in the awkward position he was in. I hated it, nearly as much as I hated all the blood on one side of his face and over his chin. Some of the bleached strands in his hair were stained red, too.
“I don’t want any more apologies,” I hissed quietly so only he could hear. His grip tightened on my hands.
“I’m not apologizing.” He grinned and his blood-painted teeth made me wince.
I fucking loathed seeing him like this. The moment we were allowed, I was washing him down until he was clean, then putting him to bed where I could keep an eye on him.
He raised my hands to his mouth and placed a kiss on the back of both.
“Conall Morrissey, you told me to wait until I was out of jail, and now I am.”
I inhaled sharply through my nose, my memory jumping back to that day. I knew exactly what he was talking about. But he wasn’t going to . . . .
“I thought I could wait until a romantic getaway, but the truth is that this is who we are. I’m a mob boss and you’re my pet and our lives will always be filled with danger and people who want to either kill us or lock us away.
” He winced, his right eye closing for a short moment like he was in pain, but he kept going before I could cut this short.
“We will bleed, but we will heal. Together.”
I exhaled a breath I’d been holding and smiled because he was right. It didn’t matter what we went through, we fought and won. My chest filled with warmth and the overwhelming emotions made my eyes tickle, but I couldn’t cry. Not right now.
“Conall Morrissey, will you do me the honor of becoming my husband?”
“Yes,” I managed to gasp out as I fell to my knees in front of him. I cradled his face between my hands and laughed. “Yes. You fucking know it was going to be yes, you arsehole.”
Sloan chuckled before I slammed my mouth against his. Behind us were cheers and catcalls, and I swore I heard Cillian say, “This is the last thing ye’ll ever see, mate, because ye’re dead meat,” and I realized he was talking to Gilmore.
I tapped Sloan on the chest. “You still owe me a few romantic getaways, though. You don’t get out of that.”
He nuzzled my cheek, and I closed my eyes, reveling in him being so close. All the anger from yesterday was gone because he was here and safe, and it could’ve gone terribly wrong if I hadn’t come back. I’d never leave this house with that kind of fury at Sloan again.
“Your wish is my command, Pet. You name the place and I’ll take you there.”
I smirked. “I have a few ideas . . . .”
The new doctor cleared his throat. “Congratulations to you both, bosses. Now can I please look at my patient?”
Sloan grunted and fell back on his arse again. He waved his hand at our men for them to handle the traitors while the doctor crouched beside him to get to work.