Page 115 of Possessive Mafia Vows

“We checked the property.” Damon faces me with his legs planted firmly apart, weathering the storm like a seasoned fisherman who has tamed the sea. “There’s no one else left.” He glances at Nick’s corpse and back again, barely acknowledging it.

Patrick steps forward, taking control. “Sienna is about a dozen feet down on a narrow ledge. It broke her fall.”

Damon’s eyes flit back and forth between us. I know what he’s thinking: she got lucky, but she isn’t out of danger yet.

“Is she conscious?” he asks.

“Difficult to tell.” Patrick spreads his hands towards the sky.

Cillian and his pal join us. I wait for Damon to explain the situation, their expressions never faltering. They’re here to do a job; they won’t walk away until it is completed.

They crouch on the ground and unpack the equipment stowed inside their backpacks. Ropes. Metal hooks that resemble anchors used for mountaineering. Harnesses. Without a word, the two lads step into the kind of heavy-duty harnesses used by professional climbers and skydivers. They fasten them around their bodies and attach the ropes to the metal hooks, then peer behind them at the woods.

A couple of men dutifully run with the ends of the ropes and fasten them securely around the widest trunks. It’s a seamless organization, each understanding their role in the process.

“I’m coming with you.” I yell above the wind and stand in their way.

“You done this before?” Cillian asks. There’s no judgement in his tone, or none that I pick up anyway.

“Nope. But that’s my woman down there.”

He smiles and claps me on the back. “Stay here, pal. We’ll take good care of her, I promise.”

They don’t linger on the cliff’s edge. They don’t give any instructions to the family members standing in the clearing. Without me noticing, several men have taken up position along the length of the two ropes supporting the climbers. Damon and his brother Aiden are lying face down on the ground, their heads and shoulders over the edge of the cliff, waiting to play their part.

Patrick and Mom flank me, and the two young men disappear over the side of the cliff. The ropes pull taut. I freeze. My ears strain to hear the signal that they reached her, but the wind appears to have gotten stronger, whipping the trees and our clothes into a shrieking frenzy.

I can’t keep still. I need to do something.

“It should be me down there.”

I don’t even realize that I said the words out loud until Mom wraps a trembling arm around my shoulders, comforting me in the only way she knows how.

It feels like an eternity passes by before a head appears from behind the cliff. Damon and Aiden scramble closer to Cillian, while two burly men grab their legs and dig their heels into the soggy soil. They brace themselves, working as a team, everyone an integral part of the operation to rescue Sienna.

The two brothers half-disappear over the edge, head down, and my heart is in my throat. What if something goes horribly wrong? What if we lose them? They’re only here because of me when they should be at home looking forward to the holidays.

Then they’re being dragged backwards, and there’s a bedraggled figure between them, and I’m running to Sienna, my mom and Patrick close behind me.

Sienna’s body flops onto the ground like a fish out of water. Her eyes are closed. Her skin is gray, and her lips are turning blue.

“No. No. No.” I lean my face close to hers, my cheek pressed against her icy lips. “Come on, Sienna. Don’t die. I’m here now. I’m here…”

I can hear someone sobbing, my mom maybe, but I pay them no heed.

I rest my head on Sienna’s chest, searching for a heartbeat. Behind me, I hear Cillian and his pal clambering back into the clearing. Patrick kneels on the other side of Sienna and takes her wrist in his hand.

“She’s alive, lad.”

That’s when I hear the faint heartbeat.

I pull Sienna into my arms, transferring what little body heat I have to her, rocking her back and forth. “I’ve got you, Sienna. Everything’s going to be okay because I’ve got you. I’m here, Sienna. I love you. Hold on to that, mo leoin. I love you.”

The ambulance rushes Sienna to Letterkenny University Hospital. I go with her, cradling her icy hand in mine while the paramedics monitor her vitals. Her body is covered with a foil blanket to raise her body temperature. She opens her eyes several times, and her eyelids flutter, but she doesn’t regain consciousness.

“She’s going to be alright,” I murmur to the paramedics. “She isn’t going to die.”

“Her body has gone into shock,” one says. He’s a middle-aged man with graying hair, and a kind round face. “Lucky you found her when you did before hypothermia set in.”

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