Chapter Thirty-One
I t took Sloan thirty minutes to talk herself into action.
Part of her just wanted to stay in this room until it was all over, keeping her baby safe, but her fear that something would happen to Jude rose with every lap she paced around the room.
He was more than capable of taking out a few of Romanov’s men, but that didn’t mean her brothers wouldn’t double-cross him.
She’d heard Aiden. He might say that he’d keep his word, but he wouldn’t lift a single finger to help Jude if he was injured again.
Her gaze landed on the lamp sitting on the side table. Hefty enough to do the job . She turned to face the man she barely knew, but who cared about Callie. “You have to let me go. I’m the only one who can stop this.”
Micah looked up from the chair he’d been sitting in since he hauled her into this room. He shook his head. “I have my orders. You don’t walk out of this room until I get the all clear.”
That was what she’d been afraid of, though she’d expected it. Sloan ducked her head, her hair falling forward to shield her face. She skittered back and let a droop into her shoulders that she hadn’t had in what felt like a lifetime. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
Through the curtain of her hair, she saw Micah’s expression soften. “I know. We all get in over our head sometimes. It happens. Once your brothers take care of this asshole, you can get back to normal.”
Her hand closed around the base of the lamp. “That’s what you don’t understand,” she whispered.
“What?” Micah frowned and stood. “I didn’t catch that.”
“I said…” She dropped her voice even further, drawing him a step closer. Sloan brought the lamp up with all her strength and slammed it into the side of Micah’s head. She cried out as she did it, hating that she had to hurt him, but the alternative was out of the question.
He hit his knees, looking dazed, and she hit him again. She barely paused to listen to his groan before she grabbed his gun, leaped over him, and slammed the bedroom door. He wouldn’t stay down. She’d heard too many stories from Callie about how tough her main bodyguard was—how driven.
She had to get out of the Sheridan house before he roused enough to sound the alarm.
Sloan retraced her steps to the front door, her heart pounding with every second, expecting someone to appear and demand to know why she wasn’t where she was supposed to be.
But the house was eerily empty, her footsteps echoing on the hardwood floor.
This is what it will be like always if Jude isn’t able to stop Dmitri Romanov .
She couldn’t let him face that threat alone.
She just prayed she was in time.
A dark town car sat at the curb outside the house, and she slowed to a stop and stared. It was entirely possible that it belonged to the Sheridans—or even the O’Malleys—but some instinct made her walk toward it. She was painfully conscious of the gun in her hand, the metal warming against her skin.
The back window rolled down, and her breath caught in her throat.
She’d only ever heard him described, but there was no way this attractive man with dark hair and eyes was anyone other than Dmitri Romanov.
He motioned her closer with a hand marked with tattoos.
“Sloan O’Malley.” His Russian accent made her name sound exotic.
She could run. She might even get half a block before he or his men caught her. If some well-meaning neighbor tried to interfere, she’d be signing their death warrant. That, more than anything, had her drifting closer. “Dmitri Romanov.”
“Smart girl.”
The temper that had awoken during her time with Jude roared to the forefront. She lifted the gun and pointed it at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
He didn’t so much as blink. “You’ll have to be more specific.”
“You tried to frame Jude. You are pushing a war with my brothers. You were going to kill Callie and her baby.”
That got a reaction. He narrowed his eyes. “Baby…”
He didn’t know . That didn’t make it any more justifiable. He still had had every intention of murdering her friend. She braced the gun, her finger on the trigger. “I don’t care if you didn’t know Callie was pregnant. You’re still a monster.”
“Put that gun down before you hurt yourself.”
“I don’t think I will.” She wasn’t a murderer. She’d never given much thought to ending someone else’s life, even after Devlin died and she’d hated the Hallorans as much as she hated anything in this world.
But Dmitri Romanov had been the cause of so much misery for her family. No one would cry if he died. It might even be the act that allowed her and Jude to be free.
“Your man broke his word to me.” He said it casually, as if remarking on the weather.
“If you’re dead, there will be no one here to collect on that.” The gun was becoming heavy in her hands. She couldn’t hold it like this much longer. She had to decide. “I want to bargain.”
One corner of his mouth quirked up. “Do wonders never cease?”
She ignored that. “Let Jude go—let us both go—and I won’t shoot you.”
“Generous.”
“Take it or leave it.” She shifted her grip on the gun, hating the way her palms had gone sweaty.
“I have a counter offer. You and MacNamara leave. I’ll search for you, but I won’t search hard. After a reasonable amount of time, I’ll let you go— if you never come back to Boston or New York.”
It sounded too good to be true, which meant it likely was. She frowned. “Why?”
He chuckled. “As I said before—smart girl. I have my reasons, which are no concern to you. Suffice to say that allowing you to escape unscathed suits my current purposes.”
Meaning he had a plan and would leverage her safety to get what he wanted.
She didn’t like the sound of that…but Dmitri had her backed into a corner despite the fact that she held the gun.
She gritted her teeth. “If I see you again, I will shoot you—and that’s not even going into what Jude will do to you. ”
He gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “It’s been a pleasure.” He rolled up the window before she could decide whether she should shoot him anyway, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t feel a bit of relief as his car pulled away from the curb and drove down the street.
She belatedly realized she was still holding the gun in a neighborhood where that sort of thing would be reported and lowered it.
“Sloan.”
She jumped, and then mentally berated herself for jumping. Micah stood in the doorway, a truly impressive bruise blossoming on the side of his face. She tensed, starting to raise the gun again, but he shook his head. “There’s a phone call for you.”
“What?” She took the phone from him, though she kept ahold of the gun in case it was a trap. “Hello?”
“Start walking.”
She obeyed before she registered that it was Aiden she was talking to. Sloan shot a glance over her shoulder, but Micah was nowhere to be seen. “What’s going on?”
“Do you choose Jude?”
That, at least, she had no confusion about. “Yes.”
“He’s the one you want—truly want? It’s not some Stockholm syndrome like Teague claims?”
She picked up her pace, reaching the end of the block and crossing the street. “I love him, Aiden. I won’t have anyone but him.”
Aiden cursed long and hard. “If you change your mind, you call me. I don’t care what time it is, or what I’m doing—I will come for you and I will get you out safely.”
Hope burst in her chest, and she found herself grinning like a fool. “You’re letting me go.”
“Yes. I can’t speak for Teague, though, so you need to get your ass to Carrigan’s.
She’ll protect you until Jude comes for you, and then you two need to get the fuck out of Boston.
Don’t come back, Sloan. I won’t look for you, and I’ll have Cillian erase any path you do leave, but that’s all I can promise.
You won’t have a safety net to fall back on. ”
“I don’t need one.” She’d miss Boston. She already knew and had made her peace with that.
She even understood why Aiden was only offering this much.
In the grand scheme of things, a sister’s happiness ranked lower than the safety of the family.
She didn’t want to be the thing that pushed the situation in Boston into a full-blown war any more than Aiden wanted her to be. “I love you.”
“I love you too, little sister. Be safe.”
“You too.” She hung up and flagged down a cab.
Sloan dropped the phone in the trash can on the corner and slid into the backseat.
“Southie.” She rattled off the address Carrigan had made her memorize after they landed in Boston, and patiently waited for the cabbie to stop trying to talk her out of it.
“I’ll pay double if you get me there in half the time. ”
“You got it, lady.” But he shot into the street and headed for Southie.
She sat back and wished she had taken the time to call Jude before she threw the phone away. It was too risky, though. The longer she had the phone, the greater the chance one of Teague’s men would track her down. She had to trust that Jude would come back to her safely.
Worry battled with the hope still trying to take hold. She forced herself to set both aside. It could wait. Everything could wait until Jude was back with her. He was safe.
He had to be.
***
Jude walked into the O’Malley residence without knocking.
Aiden knew he was coming and he didn’t have the time or patience for a pissing contest with the hired muscle.
He stopped in the foyer, taking in the place.
Dark wood dominated the room, bold accents creating a look of understated elegance.
It wasn’t in-your-face, but the whole place reeked of money.
A man stepped out of the hallway leading deeper into the house. “Aiden is expecting you.”