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“Get me to the hospital,” Davenport said through clenched teeth.
Cash snorted. “No way in hell.”
“You have to get me to the Society hospital.” Davenport grimaced in pain. “I’m a member you must take care of me. Get me to the Society hospital,” he demanded again.
Cash gave him a cold smile. “You’re outside the walls of a Society location. I don’t have to do jack shit for you. And you tried to kill another member.” Cash raised the gun and shot Davenport right between the eyes.”
“Oh my God.” Riss put her hand over her mouth.
Cash turned to her. “Stay right there,” he instructed. He pulled out his cell and placed a call. “Dante, I need a cleanup now. You know where I am. Is Antonio with you? Good. Do what you need to do to clean this up.”
He put his phone back in his pocket and walked away after grabbing the handle on her luggage. He pulled it behind him as he came to her and took her hand. “Come on. The guys will take care of this mess.”
Riss followed him out of the alley. She didn’t know where they were going but she didn’t care. It was over. Finally over. She let out a long breath. “Thank you for saving my life.”
Cash glanced over at her as they turned onto a busy street. “Thank you for saving mine.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Riss leaned her butt against the old rock wall and turned her face to the sun. Her heart overflowed with joy. She opened her lids and took in the view. Grass so green it almost hurt her eyes. Sheep chatting with her as they grazed. If heaven existed surely it had to be this. Of course, maybe she only felt this way because it was her family’s land, her land, but she suspected everyone who came to Ireland felt a little like this.
“It is a sight for sore eyes, Riss-girl. A sight for sore eyes. Thank you for bringing me along.” Bill O’Toole leaned against the wall a few feet away. “I can tell by the look on your face that you feel it too. This is what it’s like to be home, Riss. Never mistake it. You’re connected to this.” He waved his arm to encompass the rolling hills of her farm. “You’ll always feel like this the moment your feet hit this land. It will never go away. It’s in the blood.”
She took a deep breath and filled her lungs with soft air. She suspected he was not wrong.
“Now, I’m gonna scoot along to see some friends. Do you want me to drop you somewhere first?”
“No. I think I’ll stay a while. I’ll call an Uber when I’m ready to go.”
Bill snorted. “You’ll do no such thing. You call me and I’ll send one of the lads to get ya. They’re all taking bets on which one can buy you the first drink.” He winked at her and then started off across the field.
She had no doubts they were taking bets, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t about the first drink. They were all gonna try their level best to get her in bed. She knew it from the twinkle in their eyes. Riss laughed out loud. The O’Toole’s, all twenty-thousand of them, or that’s what it seemed like, had opened their arms to her as had the rest of the community. She had an instant family. And a lot of it. If truth be told, their welcome was a wee bit overwhelming. She’d get used to it, Bill assured her. Riss hoped so. Having all those people up in her business was going to take some serious adjustment.
“Hey, kitten. Penny for your thoughts.”
Riss whirled around to find Cash leaning on the other side of the wall. She hadn’t heard him come up. “Cash, what are you doing here?” The thudding of her heart was so loud she was sure he could hear it.
“Came to see you.” He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead and then ran a knuckle over her jawline. “You look happy, kitten. Ireland agrees with you.”
Her heart rate ticked up a bit higher. His touch had always done that to her. “It’s home. I finally found a home.” She drank him in.
He’d cut his hair shorter. His hazel eyes were greener today, a trick of his recent haircut or the rolling green meadows surrounding them. A five o’clock shadow on his jawline suited him well but none of it hid the dark circles under his eyes or the fact that she was pretty sure he’d lost weight. His black sweater didn’t stretch as tautly over his chest as it used to, although she was pretty sure his ass still looked divine in his faded jeans.
“Are you going to move here permanently after your leave of absence is up?”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Checkin’ up on me?”
He grinned. “Always, kitten.”
She frowned. “To answer your question, I don’t know. Part of me wants to, but it’s a lot of change to take all at once. The O’Tooles seem to have adopted me, and whoa boy, that’s a lot of new family members. I think I’d prefer to ease into it gradually.” As she spoke, she realized she already had made up her mind. “I think I would like to build a home on this land. One I can maybe spend vacations in for a while. Adjust slowly. Then, if down the road I want to live here permanently, I can.”
Cash nodded. “It’s a good plan. I’m sure you’ll be happy here.”
“What about you? Did you get in trouble with Archer? Was he angry” She’d worried a lot about that in the last two months. It warred with her trying to stop thinking about him altogether. A task she’d finally decided just wasn’t possible.
Waiting for his answer, she studied him. A glint in his eyes awoke the nervous flutter in her stomach.
He gave her a tight smile. “Angry? It’s his default state, to a point. But if you mean about Davenport, then no. Davenport attacked you. It was off Society premises. I made a decision. He respects that. It didn’t interfere with the Society in any way so it’s fine.”
