Mitch was telling us the other day that he asked Alison what she thought about homeschooling. I get where he’s coming from. It might’ve been nearly two years since that day he found his son, but the feeling is still there that he could lose him all over again.

  “Maybe her house,” Zoe offers.

  “We’ll check there.” I growl and look to Zoe. “I want you to stay here for the time being. Don’t go anywhere until I get back,” I order, earning an apprehensive nod. Pulling Zoe into my arms, I tilt down and give her a kiss. “Be back.”

  Letting her go, I nod to Dean and everyone. It’s time to go find the bitch and get Raya back. Then I’ll worry about what Mavis’s reasoning for taking my daughter is.

  Zoe

  Marc leaves to go after Mavis, and I pray to God that I’m right about where she would have taken my daughter. I don’t like the fact I have to stay behind while he goes after her, but I get his reasons.

  Unable to sit still, I pace the length of the room. Aisling and Bridget both have stayed quiet, talking to each other as I do so. Aisling refuses to go to the hospital until she knows Raya is safe. No matter how bad her face looks, she is toughing it out.

  My phone vibrates in my hand, and I hold it out to see a message pop up from an unknown number. Frowning, I open the screen up to find it’s a picture of Raya in a straw carrying basket. The message attached to the image causes my heart to nearly stop beating.

  This child is a creation of sin. I will not allow the Devil to bring forth his diseases. You learned, and yet you didn’t listen. For that, you will be punished. Now come to me and be rebaptized, or I kill the child and let the blood of the Devil seeping through the waters, turning the river red.

  Oh God, I’m going to be sick.

  How could I forget about the place at the river? The one where the church she attended would uphold baptism. The very same place she forced it upon me.

  Tears prick my eyes, and I excuse myself from the room and go to the bathroom first. Neither of them can go with me, and I need to get out of here as soon as possible. Time is not on my daughter’s side.

  In the bathroom, I wet my face trying to calm myself from going over the edge into hysteria. I need to keep my cool right now. I need to be strong for Raya. Reaching out, I grab some paper towels and dry my face. I then pull up the message from Mavis again so I can forward it to Marc and tell him to meet me at the location.

  I leave the bathroom and make a run for it, hoping that Bridget left the keys to her SUV in the ignition. Otherwise, I’ll have to find another way. Taking a deep breath, I know what I’m about to do is stupid—I’ll do anything it takes to get my daughter back, even face death itself.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Zoe

  Making it to the river, I let out a shuddered breath and hope Marc saw my message. I pull into the parking lot leading to where I know Mavis will be waiting for me and park. Before I open the door, it’s thrown open—I scream in fear when I come face to face with my worse nightmare.

  “Told you I would see you again, bréagán,” he mutters, and I finally put the name to my rapist.

  Ian.

  A man Marc told me not too long ago was a traitor who he was looking for. Ian evidently had a hand in Enya’s kidnapping that led to her being assaulted.

  “Wh—what are you doing here?” I stammer, wishing I could get away from him.

  “You already know the answer to that,” Ian cackles, giving me a sadistic grin. “Best of all is the fact I was able to use my nutty aunt to pull off what I needed her to do.”

  Oh, God.

  Was Mavis Ian’s aunt?

  “Now get your ass out, and I’ll allow you to see our daughter before I sell her off,” Ian scoffs.

  Sell her?

  Ian was going to sell my baby.

  No, I can’t allow this to happen.

  Finding my courage, I need to fight back; I turn to get out, and as I slide down I plant my feet on the ground. I allow Ian to think he’s got the upper hand which seems to work as he steps directly in front of me, pressing his front into mine.

  Deciding now is the time I bring my knee up to make contact with his groin at the same time pulling my fist back to punch him in the face when he bends over from the pain.

  Taking off running, I head in the direction of the river. The only thing on my mind is getting to my daughter. Nothing else matters but Raya at this moment.

  Seeing Mavis holding my daughter in her arms at the water’s edge, I scream Mavis’s name, but I don’t make it to her. Instead, I find myself tackled to the ground.

  “Nice try, mo bréagán. You shouldn’t have done that,” Ian sneers into my ear, grinding himself against my backside. “I’m going to enjoy setting you in your place once again.”

  “Let me go,” I screech, thrashing and trying to push Ian off of me.

  “Not going to happen. I risked a lot coming here, and I’m not leaving until it’s handled. Now behave, or I’ll kill the brat myself instead of selling her,” Ian declares venomously. I stop fighting him at that moment. I won’t see my daughter killed. I can only hope Marc gets here soon.

  Marc

  Halfway to our destination, I get a text from Zoe with a forwarded message and a location that causes my stomach to churn. Tossing my phone to Dean, I tell him to plug in the address Zoe sent. I don’t know what the fuck the crazy old bitch is talking about, but I won’t be letting her kill Raya. I’m sure with seeing that message, Zoe has decided not to listen and go after Raya herself.

  “Address is thirty minutes in the opposite direction,” Dean growls, no doubt having read the text message.

  Whipping my car around, I follow the directions Dean gives me—the other three cars following behind us.

  I cut the trip in half, spinning tires, pulling into the rock parking area. I throw my car in park, not worrying about shutting the engine off. Opening my door, I immediately hear my woman screaming Raya’s name.

  Shit.

  Taking off at a dead run in the direction I heard Zoe’s screams, my heart is pounding against my chest. The thought of something happening to her sends me into a fit of rage.

  I pull out my gun I keep tucked in the waist of my jeans. Holding the grip of the gun tightly in both my hands, I raise it just in case I need to pull the trigger quickly.

  When I spot Zoe, my stomach twists at the sight of Ian snatching her up by her hair. Worse, Raya is in the arms of Mavis at the water’s edge.

  Fuck.

  “Don’t come any closer,” Ian snarls as I meet his gaze, but I don’t miss the fact he places the muzzle of his gun against Zoe’s temple.

  “Let her go,” I demand, stopping maybe fifteen feet away from them both.

  “Easy, Marc, you don’t want either of them to get hurt,” Beau mutters from behind me.

  “I’ll go after Mavis. You take out Ian. Let’s end this shit.” Mitch growls.

  “I’m not letting her go. This álainn bréagán is mine. I marked her as mine, taking her from you, I’ll kill her before I give her to you,” Ian sneers, jerking my woman’s body in front of him even more.

  “Marc,” Zoe whimpers my name, but I ignore her for the time being. I can’t look at her right now, or I’ll lose focus.

  “What was your game plan here, Ian?” Dean demands.

  “Simply, I was taking you all down. Slowly but surely, I intend to ruin you all. The Supreme Masters want you out of their way, and I’m here to make it happen. That and take this bréagán and m’iníon with me.” The asshole isn’t taking my family anywhere. Raya and Zoe are mine.

  Everything seems to happen in slow motion, and I’m unable to stop myself as I pull the trigger, knowing I’m a better shot than Ian ever will be. The bastard’s gun goes off, and Zoe’s body jerks.

  “Zoe,” I roar, seeing her and Ian falling to the ground together.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  Time stands still as I run to Zoe to check to make sure she’s not dead. I can’t lose her. My brothers jump into action behind me. Beau and Kenyon join me at Zoe’s side, pushing Ian’s heavier body off of her.

  Mitch and Dean go after Mavis shooting her in between her eyes. Dean reaches the vile woman’s side and snatches Raya from her arms as she falls into the water.

  Knowing they’ve got my little girl, I focus on my woman, seeing the blood coating her face. I’ve never feared the sight of blood, but right now, it scares the hell out of me as I check to make sure she’s okay.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Marc

  Seeing the woman who has ensnared my heart covered in blood will forever haunt my dreams. I don’t know who is looking out for Zoe, but someone had to have been keeping her safe when Ian pulled the trigger. Somehow, Ian only ended up grazing my woman’s temple. How she ended up only getting that graze is beyond unreal to me.

  Watching her as she sleeps in the hospital bed, I can’t take my eyes off of her. The staff brought in a crib for Raya to lay in because I refuse to leave either of them out of my sight. I don’t think I’ll be able to for a while. I nearly lost them both. If I close my eyes, I can still see the gun being held at Zoe’s temple.

  Bringing her to the hospital, they told me she was damn lucky to have only been grazed. I want to say, Zoe managed to turn her head at the right time to keep herself alive. What worries me now is that she’s not woken up. Connors said it’s probably due to the trauma of the day and her mind is trying to heal.

  I get what she’s saying. Zoe has been through hell in the last year at the hands of a man who was supposed to be one of us. She’s been violated in the worst way possible, then nearly lost her daughter, our daughter, because of a stupid bitch helping her nephew. I wish we’d found out the full story, but we weren’t able to do so. Not when both Zoe and Raya’s lives were at stake.

  Leaning back in the uncomfortable chair, I stare at Zoe, wanting nothing more than for her to wake up. Show me herself that she’s okay. That we’ll be okay. The sight of the bandage on the side of her head is pissing me off.

  A knock on the door causes me to look over to see Ezekiel coming into the room. He looks grim and ready for murder when he locks eyes with me. I’d tried to call him earlier today, only for his phone to go to voicemail. I ended up calling Jackson and telling him to get ahold of Zoe’s brother. Informed him it was an emergency, and he needed to get to the hospital soon as he could. Jackson said he was already on it. Ezekiel was on an assignment, and Jackson was sending a man to replace him.

  “How is she?” he demands gruffly.

  “She’ll be okay. Bullet grazed her temple,” I respond, looking back to my woman.

  “What the fuck happened?”

  Letting out a harsh breath, I stand and start pacing while I recap the day’s events for Ezekiel. Everything from Raya’s kidnapping to Mitch and Dean saving her while I took out the man who not only held Zoe at gunpoint, but he was also the same man who attacked her. I don’t miss the way the man in front of me goes from pissed to ready to commit murder.

  “He should have suffered more than a bullet,” he growls.

  “Yes, he should have. I wanted to string him up and make him pay in a far worse way. Only I chose Zoe over his torture,” I say, curling my lip in disgust. Not at Ezekiel but rather the sight of my woman being held at gunpoint.

  “And she’s okay?”

  “That’s what the doctors say.” I shrug, glancing in her direction, hoping to see Zoe awake.

  I glance back to Ezekiel to see him nod and look at Raya. “I could’ve lost them both today,” he grumbles, raking a hand through his hair.

  “Yeah, but we didn’t,” I state and go back to sitting in my chair next to Zoe’s bed. Ezekiel grabs a chair and sits on the opposite side, getting comfortable.

  Neither of us will be going anywhere until she wakes up.

  Zoe

  My head feels like it’s being splilt open by a saw cutting into it. The beeping sounds are driving me nuts.

  Slowly I open my eyes to find Marc, sitting in an awkward position with Raya in his arms holding her against his chest while the two of them sleep. I frown and glance around the room, seeing it’s a hospital room. Then it hits me as I see my brother on the side of me.

  Panic starts to seep in—taking hold of me in a vise grip that won’t let go.

  “Easy, Twinkle,” Zek says soothingly, drawing my attention to him. “Focus on me, on my voice.” I do as my brother tells me, which helps me in regaining control of my breathing. “That’s it, Zoe, you got this,” he grunts, reaching out to take my hand. “You’re safe. Raya’s safe. Marc’s got her.”

  I’m safe.

  Everyone I love is in this room with me. I sigh, leaning back against the bed I’m on.

  It’s over. I can breathe freely and not have to look over my shoulder anymore.

  “I wanna go home,” I whisper, trying not to wake Marc up.

  “We’ll get you out of here,” Ezekiel declares, squeezing my hand reassuringly.

  Nodding, I relax and look to Marc to see him stirring. He wakes and locks eyes with me, giving me a grin when he sees I’m not sleeping.

  “About time you woke up, grá.”

  “I’m sorry,” I utter, not knowing what else to say.

  “Nothing to be sorry, Zoe. I’m just glad to know you’re alive and have a face I can still see,” he murmurs, standing from the chair to bring Raya to me. “I’m sure you want to hold her.”

  More than anything.

  Smiling, I hold Raya to me and keep my gaze locked on Marc. “I don’t want to ever lose either of you again.” Marc’s voice is low and scary the way he growls the words.

  “I don’t want that either,” I whisper.

  I didn’t. Marc ensnared my heart the first day I met him, and I don’t want to live without him. He means everything.

  “I’m just gonna go get the nurse,” Ezekiel grumbles, giving Marc and me the space we need for a moment.

  Marc leans over me and presses his lips to mine tenderly, “Love you, lómhara. I don’t think I can live without you in my life anymore.”

  “I love you, too, Marc. You and Raya are everything to me,” I whisper, a single tear falling down my cheek.

  “Marry me,” Marc says rather than asks.

  “Yes.” I breathe without hesitation. I’ll marry him tomorrow if I could.

  For once, my life is definitely going in the right direction, and I couldn’t be happier.

  Epilogue

  Marc

  Two Months Later. . .

  “It’s final, everyone agrees that the contract between you and Belvin is finished. Tomás has terminated it and will contact your mother to let her know,” Dean says, tossing his cell phone on the desk in front of him.

  “Good, and Finn?” I ask, already knowing the answer. A week ago, I spoke to him when we were all out there for Finn’s wedding. He knew I wanted to marry his cousin.

  “Finn’s agreed,” Dean confirms. “He did say you better treat her right, or he’ll kill you himself.” Of course, the man would. Finn knows what Zoe’s been through.

  Ezekiel ended up moving out of the house and in with Aisling. They claim they’re roommates and nothing more. I get the reasons. Plus, according to Zoe, Aisling is coming to Enya’s wedding as Beau’s date. It makes me wonder if we’re about to have some type of love triangle or something.

  I get it’s none of my business what the three of them do, but I don’t want to see any more drama for a while. I’m still recovering from nearly losing Zoe and Raya.

  “Come on, Marc, we gotta go get ready. Kenyon will be pissed if we’re late to his wedding,” Dean chuckles. That he would be. Kenyon has waited long enough to marry Enya, but she wanted to wait until after their son was born. Good thing she had everything planned and only needed her dress, considering the little boy was born a month ago.

  “At least after the wedding, I can tell Zoe the good news.” I’d explained to her after I asked her to marry me while she was in the hospital about the contract to another woman. To say she was pissed is an understatement. She didn’t like the whole contract situation, but she realized after talking to Bridget and the rest of the girls it’s the way things are between them all.

  Heading out of Dean’s office, the two of us catch up with Mitch and Kenyon in the main room. We’re all ready and just have to wait for the limo to take us to the church. “Everything okay?” Kenyon asks.

  “All’s good.” I smirk as my phone rings.

  Groaning, I pull it out of my pocket and grimace at my mother’s name on the screen. With a shake of my head, I swipe a finger across the screen and bring the phone to my ear. “Yes, Máthair?”

  “How dare you?” she screeches through the line. “You are an insufferable child who needs to learn to listen to me. I told you, Marc, you are to marry Belvin, and you go against me and have your contract terminated.”

  “Máthair, I will not discuss this with you. It’s over and there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m marrying the woman I want. If you can’t accept it, then don’t bother calling or coming anywhere near Zoe or our daughter,” I grunt.

  “Have you lost your mind? You can not have a daughter with a woman who is nothing more than a soith a chodlaíonn le duine ar bith atá sásta í a fhuadach.”

  “Goodbye, Mother, don’t worry about calling me again. From here on out, you are out of my life. I want nothing to do with you.” I don’t give her a chance to respond. I hang up and slide my phone back in my pocket.

  “You good?” Mitch asks, quirking a brow.

  “Yeah, I’m good. I’ll tell y’all about it later. Today is Kenyon and Enya’s day, I’m not going to taint it with Carah’s negativity.” I shrug.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8