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“She been killed, then?” Lachlan asks.
I cringe at his words, though I know it likely true. I wonder how her mother’s death would impact Sheena. Sheena hates her, and I don’t blame her based on what I’ve heard myself, but the woman’s still her mother. And her loss will impact… well, damn near all of us.
“I don’t know,” I tell him. “But it wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Anyone been in touch with the police?”
“Aye,” Lachlan says. “Just this morning. Walsh says he’s heard nothing from the O’Gregors at all. Thinks it isn’t good news, though, that they’re planning something big.”
Cormac groans. “Fucking figures.”
Keenan shrugs. “Nothing new, though, brothers. They’ve been on us for years. So now they have an excuse to retaliate? They’ve wanted a piece of what we have since we buried dad.”
“Aye,” Tully says. “’Tis true.”
Alright, then, so I forgive both of them. They had a chance to throw me under the bus, and they didn’t.
“Nolan,” Keenan says. “Tell us what you’ve planned to do with the lot of them, then. Have you thought about this?”
I take in a deep breath, my chest rising, then falling as I exhale. I nod, meeting Keenan straight in the eye. “Aye,” I tell him. “To be honest, I like having them here. Brings a certain softness about things, doesn’t it, having children around?”
“Aye,” Cormac says. He’s changed since he’s become a father himself. “They aren’t family, though,” he says, and he isn’t wrong. “Is it safe for us?”
“That’s the problem, isn’t it?” Keenan asks. “It’s one thing to have a flat right here on our property, to be part of the clan by blood. But it’s another to be brought here as guests. You know we’re safe here, all of us. With our location, the safety measurements in place, aye… we’re as safe as can be. But with them not being family...”
“And we know now that her brother was involved with the O’Gregors, don’t we?”
Keenan knew this. I told him first thing, after I found out. Not everyone else did, though. There’s murmurs and curses as the others realize our predicament.
“Yes, we do,” I tell them. “I’ve questioned him at length. He’s had no contact since he came here, and Lachlan and I are confident he’s no spy.”
“Sure he isn’t,” Lachlan says. “Hell, truth be told, I think he’d be a fine asset for us to have. If we enrolled him at St. Albert’s like you did me, the lad’s got what it takes to be a brother of The Clan.”
Keenan raises his brows heavenward. “Really, Lachlan?”
Lachlan doesn’t back down. “Aye.”
“I’ve thought so myself,” I tell them. “I’ve been teaching him at the weekend. Boxing, fighting, wrestling, and damn, he’s a quick study. He’s got a temper like his sister’s, but you know… well, tempers can be sorted. Can’t they, Lachlan?”
Lachlan gives me a sheepish grin. It took time for us to help him learn to control his temper, but he’s mastered it now.
Boner snorts, and Cormac shakes his head, rolling his eyes to the ceiling.
“Honestly, though, I trust him. He isn’t with them anymore.”
Keenan nods. “Aye. Agreed. But you know, Nolan.”
He’s got that look in his eyes I’ve seen before. The one I’ve learned to heed, because he’s hatching some sort of plan.
“We could move things along with the O’Gregors, couldn’t we?”
Foreboding roots in my belly at his words. I’m no fool. I know how these things go. Any plan at all that would “move things along” with the O’Gregors would likely endanger Sheena.
“How so?” I ask, my voice tight with apprehension.
The room stills as Keenan strokes his chin. “The O’Gregors were responsible for the death of Sheena’s father. We know that now.”
“Aye,” I say.
“We further know that they’re planning retaliation, because we’ve set foot on their territory and assaulted one of theirs. And, the complication with Tiernan.”
“Aye,” I repeat.
“We know they’re likely suspicious because her brother’s on our property now. Think of the danger that puts him in. If they think he was a spy for us, the second he sets foot off our property, he’s endangered as well.”
I nod. I don’t like where this is going, not one bit.
“There’s not a doubt in my mind that they’re planning something. Are you men in agreement?”
Murmurs of assent go up around us. Even I find myself nodding. Yes. Yes, of course they will.
“I don’t like this game,” Keenan says. “Lying in wait, as it were, waiting for the rattler to strike. Anxious for the sound of his rattle.”
“I agree,” I tell him. He’s right, and hell, Tiernan and Sheena are made of sterner stuff than the others even know. I hate the idea of leaving this property and going somewhere else, but it has to be done. “We need to bring them out of hiding, then.”
Keenan looks to me, and his eyes are sympathetic. He knows what it’s like to love someone, how you want to wrap them up and keep them safe, and protect them from the dangers that lurk outside your door. How you want to shield them from anyone and anything that could bring them harm.
