Unraveling, I step forward, unable to control the growing rage within me. “You know what happened to your men? This—” I gesture at the two bodies behind us, “was nothing compared to what I’ll do to you if you don’t tell me where she is.”
“You think killing me will save her?” He snaps back, but I see the cracks in his bravado. “You made your choice the moment you and your amigos shot your way into my business.”
I quickly realize, this back and forth with him is getting me nowhere. No matter how many times I ask, he won’t tell me what I want to know, so he doesn’t need to keep breathing. With a single breath, I take my shot. A clean hit, right between the eyes,and Hector collapses to the ground. My heart races as I quickly move back toward the center of the warehouse, the urgency driving my every thought.
“Find her!” I shout to my men, my mind only focused on Nola.
My feet lead me where I need to go, because all my mind can formulate is a picture of her face, the softness in her skin, the way her laughter mingles with the chaos of my world. I race up the staircase that was near the door I entered through and start looking in every room as I pass.
I get to the last door in the dark hallway, the only one closed all the way, and it opens before I can even grab hold of the handle.
“Fergus!” Nola gasps, relief flooding her voice as she throws herself into my arms. Folding my arms around her, everything else fades away—the chaos of the day, the dirt and filth all around us, the dead bodies downstairs—it’s all gone. Here, wrapped in her embrace, I’m home.
“I’m here, Nola. I’ve got you,” I whisper, pulling back to run my hands over every inch of her that I can reach, making sure she’s okay. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
“We need to go,” she insists, her voice cracking with urgency. “They were waiting for you, Fergus. They’ll come for us!”
“You’re safe, mo ghrá,” I whisper as I tug her back into my embrace for a kiss. “They’re all gone. You never have to worry about those monsters ever again.”
Nola tugs on my cheeks until our eyes lock, a mixture of worry and wonder staring back at me. “Are you sure?”
“There were only three—”
“Jasper, Jordan, and who else?” she interrupts, but I can’t blame her. She needs to know she’s safe, that we’re safe. And we are . . . I just need to convince her.
“His name was Hector. But they’re all dead now.” I explain as I take my first look around the room she was left in. Formerly what was an office, all that’s left behind is filing cabinets, a desk, and one chair.
I grab hold of her hand, and notice some redness on her wrists. “Where you tied up?” I ask as I reach for her other hand and see the same mark on that wrist as well.
“Yea,” she replies with a small nod, but it’s her smile that confuses me until she continues. “But I managed to wiggle one hand free, then cut the rest of the ropes with a box cutter I found in the desk.”
Damn!
“I’m so proud of you, álainn.”
“Can we go home now?” she asks after I kiss her breath away.
“Of course.” I slowly lead Nola down the hall to the stairs. “I’m sorry you were taken like this. I don’t know how he found outabout you, but Hector took you because of his shipment that my guys intercepted last night. That’s also what Corrin called me about when we were getting ready for bed.”
She starts shaking her head. “I don’t know who Hector is. It was Jasper and Jordan who drugged me and brought me here.”
Halfway down the stairs, I freeze. “They what?” I roar.
For the first, and hopefully last time, I see a small speck of fear in Nola’s eyes . . . fear of me. I can’t let that happen ever again.
Picking her up, one arm under her knees, the other around her back, I hold Nola tight to my chest as I traverse the rest of the stairs down on my own. Once we hit the bottom, Tadhg is right there holding the door open so we can step out into the sunshine.
“My Remi will be so happy to see you,” he says with a big smile.
“Tomorrow,” I grunt before she can say anything in response.
With her arms around my neck, Nola burrows into my warmth and I don’t let her go until I have to get in the SUV.
Corrin has the back door already open for us, so once I set her inside, I climb up behind her and pull her right back into my arms. “Straight home,” I tell him when he gets in the driver’s seat, and we’re off.
“What happened to Jordan and Jasper?” she whispers while toying with one of the buttons on my shirt with her finger.
Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I tip her chin up with my finger. “Mo fhíorghra, I’m sorry that I didn’t know your bosses were enemies of mine. Had I known, I never would have let you go back to work.”