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“How did he find you?” His voice is a low growl that sends a shiver down my spine.
“He said an Irish chick called him and told him not only where I was but to come at me tonight when you’d all be gone.”
The room seems to grow colder at the revelation, and Tag’s fury radiates off him like heat from a fire. He lifts his phone again. “Aiden. Get the fucker’s phone and look for any incoming calls from Ireland. Laine said he was told where she was and when to come at her. I want to know who called him.”
He hangs up and stares at the screen. “Cora, the men have Connor. He was tied up and gagged behind the stables. Looks like he might’ve broken his leg when he went down, but he’s all right.”
Cora lets off a groan and sags forward, sobbing.
The doctor finishes checking me over, showing Tag the swelling on the back of my neck and shoulder and the gash that caused the bleeding. “I wouldn’t rule out a concussion, but you are well versed in how to care for that.”
Tag nods. “Aye, I’ll watch over her.”
“Now you,” I insist.
A tall black man in a tactical uniform knocks on the door. “Just wanted to let you know that I sent the boys down to the stables with the backboard and the truck. We’ll have Connor up here as soon as possible.”
“Thank you, Andrew.” Tag points to Cora. “Escort Cora to the den across the hall. She’ll be more comfortable there until her husband arrives.
Andrew dips his chin and moves to wrap a protective arm around Cora to move her out of the little medical room.
When they’ve gone, Tag takes a seat up on the exam table and works at the buttons of his shirt. “Maybe you’d be more comfortable with Cora in the den, luv. Doc Kelvin can patch me up and I’ll join you in a few.”
I face him, push his bloody fingers away from the buttons, and take over undoing his shirt. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re shot because of me. I’m not leaving your side.”
The shirt comes off him in a bloody, sopping mess and I plop it into the stainless-steel sink. By the time I turn around, Doc Kelvin has released the straps of Tag’s bulletproof vest and is easing it over his head.
I gasp at the two massive purple bruises blooming on his chest. “How many times did he shoot you? Did I black out?”
Tag chuckles. “No, luv. There was trouble on the way to the fight and we got diverted. That’s actually why we were back early. These two shots are courtesy of the McGuires.”
The reality of him being shot three times in the past two hours has my head spinning and the room swims. He opens his knees and pulls me forward, so I’m against the exam table and firmly wrapped in his protective embrace.
With my face tucked into the crook of his neck, I breathe in the scent of him, and my world rights itself.
“That’s it, wildcat. Just breathe.” Tag runs a caress of gentle circles on my back, and I sag into his hold. He has become my safe place, my harbor from the storms of life.
“Promise me you’re all right.”
His hold on me grows tighter as he eases back and meets my gaze. “As long as you are safe and in my arms, I’m fine. Now, let’s let Kelvin patch me up and we’ll go upstairs and rest together, pushing the scare of the night out of our minds.”
I meet the strain of the evening in his gaze and swallow. “I’d like that.”
Tag
I barely hold it together long enough for Doc to stitch me up and bandage my side. In the end, I thank him as quickly as I can, tell Aiden to get everyone sorted, and take Laine back upstairs to my childhood bedroom.
No matter what she might say, I don’t want her facing the king’s suite with the images of me gunning her husband down so fresh in her mind.
Especially with what I need to do next.
“In here?” she asks when we arrive at the door to my old room.
“For tonight, yes. We’ll see how you feel about being back in the suite tomorrow after everything is cleaned up and washed with the light of day.”
She doesn’t argue, so I take her inside and turn on the bedside lamp. “How’s the headache?”
She prods the back of her head with a tender touch and then shrugs. “I’ve got one hell of a lump, but Kelvin says it’ll go down in the next couple of days.”
