Page 26 of A Temptation Too Great

I need to know if it’s him. I reach for the mask, but he strikes first. I stumble back, and he jumps up, pinning me against the wall. I steady my breathing, letting my body go slack to throw him off. Then I move. I bring my arm over his, slamming it down to break his hold. I deliver an elbow to his throat and slam my palm in his ear.

He cries out and falls back.

That’s when I remember the most important lesson I learned in Krav Maga training. Don’t linger. Get away.

I take off running, screaming for help at the top of my lungs.

Two of Niall’s guards round the corner and rush past me toward the alley. Then I see Niall. He takes me in his arms. That’s when I collapse, and pain explodes through my body.

“Feck, mo stóirín, your driver wasn’t supposed to let you out of his sight. Brody is going to kill him. Come.”

Niall helps me to his car. I’m out of breath, and every inhale sends a sharp pain through my chest, making me cry out.

“Hospital. Now,” Niall tells the driver, and I can’t help the fear that overwhelms me.

“I think it was Eoin. He fought like him. He didn’t say much, but when he did, I’m sure it was his voice. Promise me, Niall, if it’s him, I get to speak to him before your men do anything. He might have had something to do with my mam’s murder. Please, Niall. Promise me.”

Tears stream down my face as the car slows. When we pull up to the emergency room, Arianna rushes out.

I turn to Niall. “I need Brody.”

“I’ll get a message to him, but he had something to do this evening. That’s why my men and I were keeping an eye on you.”

I remember Brody mentioning a meeting at the harbor when he came by for lunch. I knew not to ask for details. Now I wish I had, because I’m scared. And I need him.

Ari accompanies me to the back while Niall is told to wait in the lobby. I’m shaking the further I get away from my protection.

I lie down on the bed and cry when they’re finished examining me. Brody would have been here if I hadn’t run from him. He would have been here if I had told him I loved him back.

My mam’s words roll through my mind. Love with your whole heart.

“Ms. Kelly, we need to talk,” a doctor says as he steps through the curtain.

Brody

* * *

The boat rocks beneath my feet, and I widen my stance to steady myself against the waves. Looking back at Belfast in the distance, it’s just a faint line of lights as night washes over the town. I wonder what my girl is doing, then shake it off as I hear the man mumble against the gag forced into his mouth. His eyes are bulging from their sockets as he looks at Carson, Seamus, and me.

We’re about an hour out of Belfast, anchored in the middle of the North Channel, far off the ferry routes, in the middle of nowhere. We’ve been sitting here for thirty minutes, letting the idiot go into full-on panic mode. He’ll open up after watching us move around the boat, preparing to get rid of him. There is a cinder block with chains attached he keeps glancing at. A saw sits on a table as Seamus organizes other torture devices around it. The blowtorch is one of my personal favorites. I’m sure I’ll be using that tonight. Seamus has his long knives strapped to his back and another to his hip.

The idiot is watching him with worry in his eyes. Normally, I’d agree with the idiot and think Seamus was the most dangerous man on the boat, but he doesn’t know I hold that title tonight. I’m the vengeance my girl needs. She wouldn’t be able to do this, and it needs to be done.

For six years this idiot has gotten away with murder. Tonight, he will meet his maker. But before he does, he’s going to tell me why he killed her. According to what Lex uncovered, this idiot had only committed petty crimes and some armed robbery. Never had he killed until that night. She was his first and only.

It’s finally time when he frantically turns to all of us as Carson pushes the cinder block closer to him. The idiot hasn’t figured out yet that he’s already chained to the block.

“I’ll chum the water.” Carson’s deep voice breaks the quiet, and that’s when the idiot starts screaming, his cries muffled from the gag.

I approach him and punch him hard in the stomach. He’s not very big. Maybe five seven, five eight at the most. He’s thinner than he was when he killed Moira’s mam.

“I’m going to remove your gag. If you scream, I’ll shoot you in the knee.” I pull my gun from my back holster, and the idiot nods vigorously. As soon as the gag is out of his mouth, he takes a deep breath.

“I didn’t do it. I don’t know why the Beast would send his men after me. I’ve only been back in town a couple weeks for my da’s funeral.”

I set the gun down on the table beside me and smack him, open-handed. “The Beast didn’t send me. Do you know who I am?” He nods his head. “How about him?” I point to Seamus.

“He’s the Bogeyman.”

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