41. London
The doctors had assured me there were no broken bones, no concussion, just a few bumps and bruises. But boy, did those few bumps and bruises ache as I got off the train in Oban.
Cammie refused to let me deal with my luggage, so she was handling mine along with her own like a champ.
I felt awful for ruining their Sunday. They’d spent the morning in a Glasgow hospital with me while the doctors ran a bunch of tests.
The hotel had refunded our stay after Nee gave them a scathing dressing down about the use of the blue light system and the too-high pitch of their fire alarm sirens.
She thought that had led to my disorientation that precipitated my fall.
Once they realized they were talking to the daughter of hotel empire royalty, I think they quickly shit themselves.
In an effort to appease her, they refunded our whole stay. Of course, the sirens and lights were only partly to blame, but Nee didn’t know that until we got on the train to Oban.
Taran had stayed at the hospital with me while Nee and Cammie dealt with the hotel and packed up all our luggage. They brought it back to the hospital just as I was discharged and we hailed a taxi to Glasgow Queen Street Station.
“I told Murray you’d left your phone at the hotel,” Nee had assured me when I realized my cell was dead. “He knows everything. I’ve updated him. But you can use my cell to call him if you want.”
I wanted to.
But say what?
Nick tried to kill me through some unknown associate?
Part of me wondered if I’d imagined it, but I knew I hadn’t.
Someone had deliberately pushed me down the stairs.
It hadn’t fully knocked me out, but I was definitely dazed, hurt, and in shock.
The alarm and lights had gone off (we found out there was no fire and someone had pulled the alarm, surprise, surprise) and that’s when Nee spotted me collapsed on the stairwell and an ambulance was called.
No one had wanted to move me in case I’d broken anything, and I was too in shock to know for sure.
My ribs ached so badly I was sure they were broken, but scans concluded I had only a tiny hairline fracture on a rib on my right side. They did note an older, bigger fracture that had healed in one of my left ribs and I lied and said it was from a car accident. It wasn’t.
It was from Nick’s foot.
The fresh, tiny hairline fracture was enough to hurt like a motherfucker. The doctors informed me the pain was inflammation and put me on a course of anti-inflammatories.
Having to deal with all this while on my period was super fun.
When I told the girls on the train home what had really happened, I thought Nee was going to lose her shit.
“You have to calm down,” I’d demanded. “You’re pregnant.”
That had shut my best friend up. Or at least lowered her volume setting. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us. We need to tell the police.”
“And say what?” My lips trembled as the situation dawned on me. Nick had managed to get to me after all. “That someone whose face I didn’t see pushed me down the stairs after telling me my ex sends his love? Yeah, that’ll go down well.”
Taran touched my arm tentatively, her concern deeply etched into her features. “London, somehow, he’s watching you. He knew when you were leaving the island, and he had someone in place to hurt you.”
“No one leaves her alone on this train.” Nee glanced around, staring at the other passengers in suspicion. “And I’m calling Ramsay right now.”
“Wait!” I reached across the table toward her and flinched as pain streaked up my right side. I slumped back with a frustrated groan.
Taran tsked. “Please take it easy.”
“Let’s wait.” I pleaded with Nee.
“No. Let’s not. I want an escort from the train station back to Leth Sholas.”
Realizing this wasn’t just about my protection, I reluctantly agreed. A few minutes later, Nee handed me her phone because Ramsay wanted to know exactly what had happened. After I told him, a moment of silence stretched between us.
His voice sounded rough, like sandpaper. “I’m sorry, London. I promised you he couldn’t get to you.”
“This isn’t your fault.” I met Nee’s gaze across the table and her eyes glistened with worry. “He only managed this because I left the island. Right?”
“Anyone would be a fool to cause mischief on the island with very little means of escape. Look at the arsehole who attacked you and Taran last year. But I don’t want to take any chances. Until I get a lock on Nick’s situation, you can’t go anywhere alone. I’m sorry.”
I sighed shakily but quietly agreed.
“Hopefully it won’t be for too long.”
“Right.”
I handed the cell back to Nee who asked her husband to meet us at the Oban train station. When they ended the call, I gestured to Nee’s phone. It felt wrong that Ramsay knew the truth of what happened and Murray didn’t. “Can I …?”
“Of course.”
I scrolled through Nee’s contacts until I found Murray. He answered on the second ring, like he’d been waiting for Nee’s call.
“Tierney, how is she?”
The sound of his familiar, beautiful voice filled me with a different ache. I squeezed my eyes closed and a little tear escaped. “It’s me,” I choked out.
Murray let out a ragged exhale. “God, it’s good to hear your voice. Are you okay? I’ve been worried sick.”
“I’m a little sore but nothing too serious.”
“Tierney said it happened because of the hotel’s dodgy fire alarm system.”
I didn’t know how he would react to the truth, so my voice shook with nerves as I explained, “It was partly that, but the truth is someone deliberately shoved me down the stairs.”
“What?” Murray barked in shocked outrage.
I winced, pulling the phone from my ear. “Loud.”
“Sorry.” He exhaled heavily, like he was trying to calm himself. “Tell me everything.”
I relayed the events of the early morning and then listened to his harsh breathing on the other end of the line as he processed this new information.
“I’ll kill him,” Murray finally stated with quiet menace. With sincerity.
It was so unlike him. Because of his own upbringing, I knew violence was the last resort for Murray.
“You’ll do no such thing,” I whispered. “He’s not worth it.”
“You’re worth it.” His words were ragged with emotion. “He tried to take you from me.”
Fresh tears trembled on my lids. “But he didn’t. I’m still here. And the best way to beat the bastard is to pretend like he doesn’t even factor in. Okay?”
I heard him take another shuddering exhale. “I just want you home.”
Home.
“I’m coming home to you,” I promised, hoping he heard more than what I said in those words.
A beeping in my ear made me sigh as I pulled back to check the phone battery. “Nee’s cell is dying, but I’ll see you tonight. Okay?”
“All right. London, I—” The phone suddenly cut out.
My heart raced, wondering what he’d been about to say. “Sorry.” I handed the cell back to Nee.
“No problem. Glad you got a chance to talk to him.”
The rest of our journey was quiet, a pall cast over our fun weekend by Nick’s harassment. “Sleekit antics,” as Cammie called them. We dozed off at one point, but when I opened my eyes, I found Cammie still awake.
“Keeping watch,” she whispered so as not to wake the others.
Affection warmed me. “You sleep now. I’ll take the next watch.”
“No, it’s fine.”
“I’ll take the next watch,” Taran murmured as she awoke. “Both of you get some sleep.”
We took turns dozing, too tense and on alert for all of us to sleep at once. Thankfully, the three-hour train journey was over before we knew it.
Again, Cammie insisted on taking my luggage for me as we alighted from the train onto the station platform, which was right on the pier at Oban. This meant we could stroll directly into the ferry terminal.
However, standing at the entrance to the station were four familiar figures.
Murray, Ramsay, Quinn, and Forde were waiting together for us.
I could feel the sob working its way up my chest, my strides picking up. Murray spotted us first, hitting Quinn’s shoulder to let him know, and then all four of them were marching across the station to meet us.
The only thing stopping me from flying into Murray’s arms was the pain that still throbbed in my body. My neck in particular hurt, the muscles strained from the fall and exacerbated by my upright sleeping position on the train. I ignored the aches as I reached my husband.
My husband.
As he gently wrapped me in his arms, the sob broke loose.
“A ghràidh,” Murray murmured gruffly, peppering kisses over my forehead. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
I opened my eyes just long enough to see Ramsay embracing Nee, Quinn kissing Taran like she’d been gone for a million years, and shockingly, Forde holding Cammie tight in his arms, his expression strained with worry.
Murray kissed the top of my head again and pulled back, searching my tear-streaked face with a mix of affection and constrained fury. “You’re all right?”
“I am now.” I glanced behind him. “Where’s Kelly?”
“She’s with my mum. I didn’t know how to explain this to her, so I said I was going with the lads to pick you up.”
I grimaced. “I don’t know how to explain this either.”
He cupped my face. “We’ll talk about it on the ferry.”
“I said I’ve got it.” Cammie’s annoyed voice snagged our attention.
Forde scowled as he tugged on my suitcase. “For fuck’s sake, woman, let someone help you for once in your life.”
“Cammie, you’re being ridiculous,” Taran scolded with exhausted impatience. “Let him help you with London’s luggage.”
“I’ve got it.” Murray solved the issue by taking hold of my carry-on before either of them could protest.
Forde then reached for Cammie’s small suitcase and yanked it out of her grasp without waiting for permission and stalked off with it, his body bristling with agitation.
“Just let him.” Taran waved a frustrated hand between them before Cammie could open her mouth to argue. “He came all this way to make sure we’re okay.”
Cammie’s shoulders slumped. “Sorry. I’m a crabbit cow when I haven’t slept.” She hurried after Forde.