Page 66 of Iron Cross

A bond that I was bitterly not a part of.

I grabbed Kira by the arm, and dragged her to the back passenger door.

As my mind screamed for me to have patience, the dire circumstances commanded me to just throw her in the back seat, and damn all the rest.

"Sorry, love, we didn't get a chance to go to Toys”R”Us while we were out. We'll have to make do." Lives were at fucking stake, and if she wanted a car seat with a five point racing harness, I’d get her one. But for now, I fucking needed them all to just get in the damn car so we could go!

"They're inbound," Shiny said, "Sorry Kira, we'll have to do it some other time."

At Shiny's words,not mine, Kira finally acquiesced, stepping into the back seat as I held the door open, the boy on her lap, both her arms tightly drawn around him.

My irritation was palpable, when I got in the driver's seat, with her in the back. Shiny got into the front passenger seat, slumping into the chair, and gritting out, “Chill with the sourpuss, Eoghan.”

In her own way, she was trying to help me. Being short with Kira now, even with the imminent Italian arrival, was not a good fucking idea if I wanted marital contentment.

"The trunk is armored, so are the windows," I said, just to have something useful to say. Something that my wife mightactuallylisten to. "Stay down until we're safe. We'll get a bloody car seat when we stop."

I could have been a bit calmer about it, but overall, not bad.

"How did they find me?" Kira asked. "Did you lead them to me?"

She was accusingmeof leading them to her? That was bloody annoying.

She had no idea how many people I had killed to protect her, how many daggers in the dark I had broken, how many sleepless nights I had spent interrogating bastards that were trying to find her. How I would do it all again, if I knew that she’d be alright in the end.

As I pulled the car from the curb, I saw headlights moving into a vacant spot behind us.

Fucking Italians were as amateur as they came. Brute muscle, but not a lot in the brain. Durante’s people were fucking amateurs. Untrained.

"Watch them," I told Shiny, nodding at the rearview mirror.

I didn't need to tell her. She was already doing it, but it felt good to order her around. That's what little sisters were for, after all.

The car got to the curb, and two men ducked out, running into Kira's building.

"Italian," she confirmed. "I see their weapons on their belts."

She didn't know they were Italian, per se. But we didn't need to fucking confirm it either.

I leaned on the gas, still trying to make sure we seemed like we were nothing but a normal family on a drive.

"Any of them glance at us?" I asked.

"Yes," Shiny said, reaching under her seat to pull out a Desert Eagle, charging it, before handing it over to me.

If they were smart - which the jury was still out on - they’d memorize our plates. Or, at least, the make and model.

I pulled a cigarette from my inner pocket, and put it to my lips, before pulling out the lighter and lighting up.

“Eoghan!” Shiny punched me in the arm.

“What?” I said, glaring at her for a moment before sticking my eyes on the road.

I had smoked in the car for as long as I had known her, and she’d never bitched about it before. What now?

“Second-hand smoke isn’t good for a toddler!” Kira said, as Shiny grabbed my cigarette, and said, “You fucking moron.”

“Bollocks,” I said, annoyed, feeling the need for nicotine as I drove away, agitated that everything that could possibly go wrong, was.

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