AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But tomorrow is another day.
Headlights sweep across the front window, and she steps back. “Someone’s here.”
I peek out and nod. “That’s Aiden. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Laine
The night air is still damp and brisk as we step out of Rose’s house, my heart pounding against my ribcage. Tag has an arm around my hips as he leads me down the driveway toward the black SUV. His grip is firm but not unkind, his touch sending an inexplicable shiver down my spine.
Either he means to keep me safe or to keep me from running. It’s impossible to know which.
Likely both.
The moment we step off the porch, a blond beast of a man gets out of the driver’s seat. I recognize him as the one who rushed into the office to cover our butts when the McGuires attacked. “Are the two of you whole?”
“We are.” Tag guides me straight toward the passenger side door and then frowns at the redhead sitting in the front seat. “And why is Siobhan here?”
He shrugs. “You needed a pickup, and I came straight as soon as I heard. She was in the truck.”
Tag gives him a look I don’t understand but lets it pass. “Laine, this is Aiden Kelly, my right hand.”
“I recognize you from Tag’s office. You held back the McGuires while Tag and I escaped. Are you in one piece?” I look him over and because it’s night, and he’s wearing all black, I wouldn’t be able to tell if he’s whole or if he’s bleeding to death.
“Right as rain, lass. And speaking of rain, let’s get out of it.” He shifts his gaze over to Tag. “Where to? The loft? The clubhouse?”
“The house.”
Aiden straightens, then looks from his boss to me and then back to Tag. “All right. The house it is.”
Tag opens the door to the back seat and helps me inside with a gentleness that conflicts with the man I now know him to be—the head of the Quinn family.
And though I’m not familiar with it, growing up on the streets of Chicago, I can extrapolate. It’s the name that would whisper danger in the dark corners of pubs and alleys.
Tag climbs in on the opposite side and reaches across me to grab my seat belt. The sudden nearness of him consumes the space and eats at my resolve. I push at his chest. “I’m not a child. I can buckle myself?—”
“It’s done,” he says, frowning at me and retreating to his side of the seat. “I told you I will take to get you back to your life whole, so don’t fight me if I want to make sure you’re safe. Do you know how many times people have tried to run me off the road?”
My mouth falls open. “Do you know that’s not a normal thing people ask someone? Jesus, Tag.”
He shrugs. “Welcome to Dublin.”
The woman in the front seat laughs. “Same old, Tag. You’ve always had a way with the ladies.”
Tag sends her a lethal glare. “Shut it, Siobhan, or Aiden can pull over and you can feck off.”
Good. It’s good for me to see the angry, ruthless side of him. It will keep me focused on leaving this madness behind me.
I turn to watch the streets pass in a blur of city lights. Despite his assurance that he’s looking out for me, I can’t help but feel like he’s taking me prisoner for his own selfish reasons.
I reach for the window button and drop the tinted glass an inch to let in some air. Exhaustion is clawing its way over me, and I don’t feel safe falling asleep in this truck.
The drive to the Quinn house is shrouded in silence. Aiden focuses on the road, Siobhan takes the threat to stay quiet to heart, and Tag focuses on his phone.
That leaves me with my turbulent thoughts.
The landscape shifts from quaint rural roads to more secluded estate homes with wooded grounds. Every turn takes me further away from what little I know in this country, and deeper into the enigma that is Tag Quinn.
