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“Stay here,” Connor shouted before he vanished into the night.
Tahlia stared at the empty window in dismay. She wanted to call him back but words failed her. How he could even consider going out there after this was beyond her. She couldn’t quite decide if it was incredibly brave or ridiculously stupid.
“Let’s get this house secured,” Oscar sighed once the bottle had been thrown back outside.
“We can’t,” Tahlia protested. “How do they get back in?”
Oscar uncharacteristically swore.
“Right. Wait there,” he commanded before he handed her the beater and stalked out of the room.
Tahlia stared after him before nervously eyeing the empty window. She had no idea what she was supposed to do if someone attempted to get in, so stood tensely until Oscar returned. She eyed the old hunting guns he had tucked beneath each arm and lifted her brows at him.
“Well, we have to use something,” he said defensively and proceeded to load shot into each gun before handing her one.
She studied it in horror. Oscar’s sigh was full of masculine superiority. So much so that it irritated her. Shaking off any lingering worry, she squared her shoulders and listened attentively while he told her what to do if any would-be intruder tried to get in.
“I can do it,” she announced firmly, unsure if she was trying to convince Oscar or herself.
“Are you sure?” Oscar challenged.
He took one look at the temper on her face and clamped his mouth shut. A wise man knew when to retreat, and Oscar was no idiot. With a nod, he hurried out of the room to check the rest of the ground floor.
Connor and Isaac raced across the lawn toward the high wall that bordered the property. Their quarry was only a few feet ahead, and had no trouble scaling the high brickwork as they charged for freedom.
Intent on capturing the culprits, Connor and Isaac were not far behind. It was only when their boots hit the cobbles of the narrow alley that they realised they had been set up. The incendiaries thrown through the window had been nothing more than a ruse to get the men guarding the house to leave. They had made an amateurish mistake.
?
?Damn it,” Connor snarled when he became aware of Isaac standing at his back.
They both studied the men waiting for them at either end of the alleyway. They were nothing short of street thugs brandishing their weapons in sinister threat. Connor knew he and Isaac could do a lot of damage to their opponents. At any other time, he would have been the first to launch the assault, all guns blazing, without any fear as to the consequences or potentially deadly outcome.
Now that he had Tahlia and Joseph, he wouldn’t take the risk. Nothing was worth the sacrifice to his life if things turned deadly. He had the prospect of the kind of future he had always wanted, and he had to protect it, even if it meant avoiding confrontation with men like these.
“It’s Sayers’ mob,” Isaac growled. “I recognise at least three of them from his gang.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Connor whispered for Isaac’s ears only.
“I was about to say that. There are about eight of them this side,” Isaac murmured.
“Same this side.”
“There may be more in the garden,” Isaac warned.
“I would rather fight them in the garden than out here,” Connor breathed as he studied their surroundings. “There is too much of a risk of being ambushed where we are.”
“Go,” Isaac snapped.
Neither man waited for the other. They were side by side as they vaulted back over the wall behind them. The battle cries of the men they left behind warned them that they only had a few seconds’ head start before the sound of someone climbing after them drew Isaac’s fire.
Neither man broke their stride as they pelted for the house.
“Get inside,” he called to Oscar who had stuck his head out of the window to see what was going on.
“What the Hell have you got there?” Connor thundered when he saw the gun Tahlia held in her trembling hands.
He had worked for the Star Elite for many years, but had never witnessed anything as terrifying as the sight of Tahlia holding a gun.
