Page 116 of Lesson In Forgiveness

“This is the last thing we need, Grit. Ashford, Darius, and the other brothers want her brought under control. I don’t care if she’s smart and runs rings around the general population; the intel proves Donaghue is just as smart and twice as ruthless. One mistake and she’ll end up being tortured, raped, and murdered. Is that what you want for her?”

Goddamn him. Of course, it wasn’t. Tabitha was a fighter down to the bones. Even captured, she’d be a handful. It wasn’t in her nature to be calm and placid unless she was triggered. But she’d rather be dead than imprisoned at the whim of her brothers, and nothing anyone said would dissuade her from pursuing the path she’d taken.

“No,” Grit snapped.

“Did she give any indication of where she was going? That she knows where Donaghue might be holed up?”

“There’s nothing.” Just a gaping hole in his chest where his heart should be.

“Clusterfuck. I can smell the clusterfuck coming from a mile off,” Jasper muttered. “Evander and Elias are on the move?”

“As we speak. Evander switched leases on their current vehicle, upgraded it to an SUV with higher safety specs. Both he and Elias are packing heat. They’re keeping an open line with Anarchy for the duration of the journey, as agreed.”

“At least some people fall in line when their goddamn lives are hanging in the balance. Find my kamikaze sister, Grit, and tail her stupid ass. With any luck, Archie or Ashford will find Donaghue before Tabitha does, but she’s always had a knack for tracking prey.” Clucking his tongue thoughtfully, Jasper deliberated their next course of action. “If, when, she finds him, get her out. Tackle her, chloroform her, do whatever is necessary to get her out of harm’s way. Atticus’s team will do the rest.”

It was a reprieve—a small one, but a blessing nonetheless. Not that it mattered; Grit would’ve disobeyed one direct order or ten to keep his little tiger safe, and seeing as Jasper had his own woman, he was aware of what a man in love would do to defend the love of his life.

“On the video,” Grit said suddenly, remembering Tabby’s stark warning, “she was adamant that Elias is to be protected at all costs. Something about the ramifications of him dying being catastrophic. Do we have any data on what that’s all about?”

“You have the same information I do. I’ll get the research team to dig deeper into him, see if they missed anything pertinent. Donaghue wants him dead for a reason; I figure that reason comes down to usurping the Dublin throne.”

“Christ, it’s a mess.”

“Hmm. He can’t help who his family is or where he comes from, anymore than I could. The devastation Dominic wreaked on my family, my friends, my home was the result of me walking away from him and refusing to comply.” Pain radiated in his words. “Wyatt’s death, the blood and terror that followed… it’s not my responsibility because it was Dominic’s actions that caused the sordid mess, but that doesn’t stop the guilt. If we don’t stop Donaghue, Elias will end up carrying that same weight.”

“We won’t let that happen.”

“Start praying,” Jasper advised.

They needed more than prayers, Grit thought dourly as he ended the call. Right now, he was wishing he’d gone against his moral objections to injecting Tabitha with a tracking chip; it would’ve come in handy about now. Instead, utilizing his brain was the only available option, and he needed to start thinking like Tabitha.

Not the easiest thing to do when she operated on a wholly different level to anyone he’d ever met. She became a predator in every aspect of the word, setting aside her humanity to narrow her focus on the primary objective.

Donaghue was the objective, which meant he was the key.

Ashford was the fount of knowledge on this mission.

Wondering if the next couple of days were going to give him ulcers, Grit called him next, bracing himself for a second round of lectures from yet another Fairfax brother.

“Little tiger, your ass is gonna be so sore by the time I get through with it…” Hell, there wasn’t a threat strong enough to finish the sentence.

As Ashford picked up the call, Grit gave a silent prayer to whomever was listening up above, asking that she be kept safe so she could come home where she belonged.

It felt like the only avenue he had left.

*

Tabitha

The monster was elusive.

Using her own tech skills and the tidbits of data Aisling kept sending through, it didn’t take long to realize Donaghue was no longer in Chicago, but right under her nose here in Denver. It was a concern, especially with Elias sitting in the crosshairs beside her, and she was eager to get this job over and done, so she could haul her grief into a safe place and mourn.

By now, Grit would’ve found the phone and the video she’d left for him. Their fledgling relationship was no more, and she hated that it hurt more than his loyal allegiance to his friends taking precedence.

It didn’t stop her mind swinging back to the big bed, recalling what his touch felt like on her skin, or prevent her body from responding to the memories like a dirty little slut. She was wet and achy, unable to do anything to alleviate the cravings without letting him back through the blockades she’d erected to keep him out of her head.

Obviously, those blockades weren’t sufficient.

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