Page 59 of Merciless Promise
I was still a bit dazed from the drug, but I tried my hardest to no avail. Tears were now streaming down my face, and I didn’t even recognize the one calling my name as I could see nothing through the curtain of tears.
“Ekaterina. It’s okay. I’m going to help you,” the man said.
It wasn’t Kingston, Nolan, or Eli, but I had heard it before. That thickly accented Irish voice and calming tone. “Cillian?”
“Shhh,” he said. “It’s going to be okay.”
And I believed him as he grabbed my wrists, then pulled me to safety. I could finally breathe once there was somethingother than metal or air beneath me. At least until it also made a creaking noise. I tried to scramble to my feet, but ended up wobbling. Instead of falling to my death, he swept me up into his large arms, then carried me back inside.
We had no sooner entered the room when I heard a gunshot. Then another. “Kingston,” I cried out, and I knew Cillian had tensed up as well, especially when it went quiet.
Finally, the door was flung open, and my prayers were answered. In the doorway stood Kingston. “Puisín,” he rasped to me, and quickly hurried over to me. “What did they do to you?” he whispered.
I was about to respond, but I heard another gunshot. Was it Aram? Nolan? The two men with Aram? Or was it...?
“Eli’s down,” I heard the moment Nolan appeared in the doorway.
“Fuck,” Kingston cursed.
“Noooo,” I cried out. My very own protector had been injured, or possibly killed, and all because I had snuck away after knowing the danger that could befall me out there.
“Their two guards are down, but there is no sign of Aram or Boris.”
“Her father’s dead,” Cillian said to him.
“And soon all of you will be, too,” I heard Aram say.
Another shot rang out, and this time, Nolan fell face-first to the floor. I screamed, Kingston growled, and Cillian attacked the man. The gun slipped out of Aram’s hands and went crashing to the floor. It was too far for me to grab, but Kingston and Cillian wouldn’t need one.
Cillian dropped to his knees to check on Nolan, who was squirming in pain, and I saw the lethal focus in my husband’s eyes. The way he held the weapon...The calm composure he was displaying...The hollow deadness in his eyes...I knew in that moment that Kingston had killed before and would again.
I had no sooner thought it when a final shot rang out around me, and this time Aram fell to the floor. Unlike Nolan, there was a rapid puddle of blood expanding under him, and no movement whatsoever. He was dead. But as Nolan groaned while trying to sit up, I saw the black under his shirt and realized he had a bulletproof vest on.
The next hour passed by in a blur. No police were called. In fact, the only call placed was to a clean-up crew of Kingston’s. This seemed to be normal to all the others, and it struck me in that moment that the Branningtons were every bit as dangerous as my father had ever proclaimed them to be, but not where I was concerned. At least not anymore.
After the crew Kingston called had arrived, he carried me downstairs and outside to the SUV. Eli was injured, but like Nolan, he had come prepared for battle. Once we were all in the car, the others took off their vests, and I knew they all had been prepared. Everyone except for me.
“Are you okay, puisín?” Kingston asked me.
“I am. Can we just go home?”
“I have something to do for Daideó, but I’ll fill him in on what happened here. After, I’ll meet you at your place.”
“See you soon, Cill,” he said to his cousin, then I watched the blond speed away in his sports car.
We soon followed, and as the adrenaline began wearing off, I snuggled against my husband. He was still so rigid, and I knew there would be hell to pay for me later, especially as I had been responsible for all of this happening. As if he suspected I knew he was mad, he finally relaxed, then kissed his way to my ear.
“Once I know you’re physically fine, I’m going to spank that ass until you can’t sit.”
“I would expect nothing less,” I murmured as I snuggled even closer to him.
“You could’ve been killed, or worse, taken to fucking Armenia.”
“That’s exactly where he’d planned to take me, but I knew I’d never make it there.”
“How could you know such a thing?” he asked me.
“Because I always knew you would find me. After all, a promise is a promise. A vow is a vow. You swore to always protect me, and I swore to?—”
