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With her safe, Aiden and I move toward the hive of activity of my men readying to deploy.
I scan the scene. “The call came from the house?”
Andrew nods. “Just before you pulled up.”
We breach the side door in military form, eight bodies advancing with only the quiet weight of boots hitting marble. I can barely see beyond the haze of my fury.
Everyone in Dublin knew the Quinn brothers would be at the fight tonight. The McGuires targeted my home to get at Laine.
And they’ll die for it.
“Shit. Cora.” Aiden breaks off and kneels on the floor just inside the dimly lit hallway. She’s on the ground, bound and bleeding.
I rush to her side as Aiden removes the gag. “Cora, who’s in the house and how many?”
“Just one that I know of—Laine’s husband. He’s here to kill her but wants her money first, so he can get away.”
Rage, cold and sharp, slices through me. I signal for one of Andrew’s men to help Cora and tap Aiden’s shoulder. “You’re with me, mate.”
The two of us head for the stairs at a run and take the risers two at a time. Laine’s husband?
Why the fuck would he want to kill her?
The weight of that betrayal and the threat against Laine consumes me. He has no right.
Laine is mine.
Mine to protect. Mine to love.
My grip tightens on my gun—an extension of my resolve. As we reach the top stair, I hear the faint sound of voices down the hall. The protective fury that fuels me sharpens my focus. This man invaded my home and threatened my family. He’s dead.
As I burst through the door to the king’s suite, the scene before me freezes my blood. A man has a gun pointed directly at Laine and she’s backed into a corner with nowhere to go.
I step fully into the doorway, my weapon raised and trained on him. “Touch her and die, asshole!”
Marco’s head snaps towards me, surprise flickering across his face.
“Get the fuck away from her.” The fury in my voice fills the room, echoing off the walls.
It’s all the distraction Laine needs. With a swift, brave motion, she grabs a massive bedside lamp and swings it with all her might. The heavy base connects with Marco’s head with a sickening thud.
The impact makes him tense up as he drops and he squeezes the trigger. The gunshot explodes in the room, and I feel the burning impact as the bullet rips into my flesh.
Laine screams, but I can’t go to her, not yet.
Pain flares, bright and hot, but it’s background noise, my focus on Marco and the threat he still poses. The asshole has crumpled to the floor, disoriented by Laine’s counterattack, but he’s still clutching the gun.
I stomp on his hand with the heel of my dress shoe and twist until he cries out. When he recoils, I kick the gun across the floor.
“How dare you think you can take her from me!” I stand over him, my weapon aimed directly at his chest. “Laine is mine.”
Our eyes meet, mine filled with the fury of almost losing Laine to a man who never deserved her, his filled with shock and a dawning realization of his imminent end.
There’s no hesitation. I squeeze the trigger twice and end the threat to Laine’s life. Then I turn to her and let her see the man she shares a bed with.
This is the real me.
I warned her of the beast that lives within me, but now she is seeing the monster firsthand. No matter how badly I burn to hold her in my arms, I hold my position, giving her the time and space to understand what just happened.
