Page 75 of Dublin Beast

It may seem odd to someone like Logan or Kieran looking at us from the outside, but we’re friends.

I make another pacing loop of the suite, glaring at my phone. Nothing. Bryan hasn’t texted. No updates.

I run my hands through my hair, which after the past hour is likely standing on end, rivalling the crazy nest of hair Einstein is famous for.

The beep of the security pad has me spinning toward the door, heart racing.

The door bursts open, and Bryan strides in, soaked from the rain, hair a mess, black T-shirt plastered to his chest. His gaze locks with mine, and I’m across the floor and in the air.

He catches me as my legs wrap around his hips and my lips press against his mouth. He’s alive and though he’s wet and looks bedraggled, he smells like leather and sin, like always.

Thank his Celtic goddess.

Lost in the relief of knowing he’s alive, I miss the tension in his kiss until he pulls back. Something dark in his emerald gaze doesn’t bode well, and I drop to my feet and ease back.

Right.Greeting him like a needy koala went beyond the parameters of us being friends.

I take a step back and give the man some space. “Sorry. I’ve been worried. What happened?”

He exhales hard and closes the door behind him. “The assault team was well-armed. Trained. Whoever they came for, they had the kind of firepower ye don’t waste unless yer after someone important.”

My stomach knots. “Was it Siobhan?”

“We still don’t know.” He pulls off his wet jacket and tosses it on the kitchen counter. “We think it was a woman, but we haven’t seen her face yet. Two men grabbed her after the firefight ended.”

“Did you recognize either of them? Could they have been from the rival family from the other side of the river in Dublin?”

“No, but if Billy Gravely is arming his own army outside McGuire rule—which we believe he is—the men he sent wouldn’t be McGuire men. Us not recognizing them doesn’t mean anything either way.”

He notices the bags sitting by the door and looks at me surprised. “Good girl. How’d ye know?”

“I figured the farmhouse is blown. No matter what happens next, we’re on the move, right?”

He tilts his head and arches an ebony brow. “We’re a ‘we’ now, are we?”

I nod slowly, dread pooling in my chest. “I’m invested in you finding Siobhan and when you find her, you’re still going to help me take down Eddie and his sex auctions, right?”

He dips his chin. “Aye, we are. I gave my word, and my word is my bond.”

I swallow. Okay, good. I got a little freaked out there that I missed something and was getting played.

If Bryan notices my moment of insecurity, he doesn’t let on. He bends to his bag, opens the zipper, and grabs a dry T-shirt. He removes his gun holster, swaps shirts, and has his gun and his jacket back on in no time.

“Are ye ready then?”

I jog over to the table, slot my laptop into my bag, and sling it over my shoulder. Next, I close his and pull the plug for his charger and bring it to him by the door. “Ready. Where are we off to?”

Bryan sets his laptop inside his duffle. “Kieran flew the drone from the passenger seat, and we tracked them to an out of the way roadside inn. It’s a quiet place, middle of nowhere.”

“You left him there alone?”

Bryan straightens, picking up his and Kieran’s duffle bags as well as Kieran’s shopping bags. “Och, alone isn’t a concern. He’s got an arsenal of firepower if he needs it and a clean sightline to their room. He’ll be fine.”

Still, after seeing the violence of the evening on the camera feed, I don’t like the idea of him being on his own. Kieran may be gruff and less than enthusiastic about me being around, but he’s grown on me.

After one last scan of the hotel suite, I grab my suitcase and open the door. “So, he sent you back for your stuff?”

Bryan gives me an annoyed look. “Kieran doesn’tsendme to do anything. I’m his boss. And no, our stuff needed to be collected, sure, but yer the one I came for. We’ve got a window while these guys patch themselves up before they move again.”

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