Page 376 of Romeo

The room narrowed until there was only Mac, Fiona, and the space between us.

“Let her go.”

Mac took a step backward, forcing her to move with him. His gaze dropped to the pistol still clenched in my hand.

“Put it on the floor. Nice and easy.”

I lowered the gun without taking my eyes off him. Fiona’s gaze stayed locked on mine while Mac watched my hand, and I could see how hard she was working not to panic. Her breathing came too fast, but she listened. That mattered.

“Why the fuck did you call my wife Kaitlyn?”

Mac’s mouth moved in something that wasn’t quite a smile. “You always were quicker than people gave you credit for.”

That was enough.

No misunderstanding. No explanation I had missed.

Mac.

Sal’s man. One of the men closest to him. A bastard I wouldn’t have thought twice about turning my back on five minutes ago.

And he had come here for Fiona.

“Sylvia?” I asked.

“She wants Steele’s daughter.”

“She ain’t Steele’s fuckin’ daughter.”

A flicker crossed his face before he hid it.

He hadn’t known.

That realization lodged somewhere in the back of my head for later, assuming I could get Fiona away from him long enough for later to fucking matter.

Mac tightened his arm when she shifted, and Fiona’s face pinched.

“Don’t,” I warned.

“Gun, Romeo. On the fucking floor.”

I lowered the gun another inch. Fiona glanced down, just once, then looked at me again. Her gaze dipped toward Mac’s feet before returning to mine.

I knew what she was telling me.

I opened my fingers.

The pistol struck the floor with a heavy thud.

Mac looked down.

Fiona drove her heel onto his foot, and I launched myself at him.

Her scream ripped through the cabin when I hit them, sharp with shock as all three of us went sideways. I caught Fiona around the middle before we crashed and twisted hard enough to throw her away from Mac. She hit the floor near the couch and rolled while Mac and I went through the small table beside it. Wood cracked beneath our weight, and his gun skidded away across the floor.

“Move, Fiona!”

I saw her scrambling away before Mac’s fist caught me across the mouth. My head snapped sideways, and blood filled my mouth almost instantly. I drove my elbow into his ribs, felt him grunt beneath me, and tried to get on top before he could recover.