Page 74 of His Kidnapped Irish Mafia Virgin

That was enough. I turned away from the tunnel and walked through the warehouse doors. Outside, the morning sun had broken through the clouds, casting warm light across the rows of vehicles waiting to return home.

Home. The word settled comfortably in my mind.

Nora was waiting for me at the house. This time, I was going back to her knowing there was nothing left in the shadows chasing her. The nightmare was over, and our future could finally begin.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Nora

The sound of engines rolling through the front gates pulled me away from the window, where I’d spent more time than I cared to admit. Ever since Liam left last night, I’d tried to distract myself. I’d helped Maeve in the kitchen and pretended to listen whenever Sofia started another conversation.

But none of it truly reached me because every thought eventually circled back to the same question: was Liam safe?

Every passing hour had made the silence feel heavier, and every distant sound outside had made my heart race before disappointment settled in again.

This time, it was different. Several black SUVs entered the courtyard one after another, their tires crunching against the gravel. Armed men climbed out with the exhausted movements of people returning from a long and difficult battle.

I didn’t stop to think. I just opened the front door and hurried outside as quickly as my healing arm would allow. My eyes moved desperately from one man to another, searching every group that stepped away from the vehicles, but Liam was nowhere among them.

I was starting to worry when the driver’s door of the lead vehicle opened. Liam stepped out slowly, speaking briefly to Diggs before closing the door behind him. His clothes were stained with dust, his jacket had been torn near one shoulder, and a thin cut crossed his forehead. But none of that mattered, because he was standing on his own feet and breathing.

He was alive. Relief swept through me so suddenly that it stole the air from my lungs. I broke into a run before I even realized I was moving. Liam looked up just in time to see me crossing the courtyard toward him.

“Nora,” he said.

I threw my arms around him without slowing down, and he caught me immediately. I buried my face against his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat while his arms tightened around me.

Neither of us spoke for several moments. Words felt too small for everything we’d been carrying since he left. I could feel the exhaustion in him, the tension still locked inside his body after hours of fighting, yet the way he held me told me that he’d been thinking about this moment just as much as I had.

“I told you I’d come back,” he said quietly.

“You did,” I whispered, my voice shaking despite my attempts to stay composed. “I kept telling myself you would, but it didn’t stop me from being terrified.”

His thumb brushed gently across my cheek, wiping away tears I hadn’t even noticed falling.

“I know,” he said softly. “I’m here now.”

I searched his face for the answer I’d been dreading all day, and he understood the question before I found the courage to ask it.

“It’s over,” he said. “Victor Hale is gone. He’ll never hurt you again.”

I stared at him, hardly able to believe the words I’d spent years wishing to hear.

“Gone?”

He nodded. For years I’d lived with Victor’s shadow hanging over every decision I made, every place I ran to, and every night I tried to sleep. Now, standing safely in Liam’s arms while the convoy returned behind him, I felt that shadow finally begin to disappear. At last, my future belonged to me.

***

The house slowly returned to its usual rhythm as the excitement of the convoy’s return faded. Men carried equipment back into storage and medics finished checking minor injuries.

Maeve smiled knowingly when our eyes met and gently ushered everyone else toward the kitchen, giving Liam and me the privacy neither of us had to ask for.

Liam slipped his hand into mine. “Come on,” he said softly.

We went upstairs. My fingers remained wrapped around his as though letting go, even for a second, might somehow make him disappear.

When we reached his room, Liam closed the door behind us and leaned against it for a moment, letting out a slow breath that sounded like he’d been holding it since the operation began.