Page 79 of His Ruthless Queen

“Saoirse. That’s a horrible idea. The boys are going to kill us.” But her hazel eyes sparkle with amusement. “What are we gonna do with Finn?”

I roll my tongue along the top row of teeth. “Child lock the back doors. It’ll give us enough time to make a run for the plane and get buckled in our seats. He won’t physically remove us. You’re pregnant and I’ll cry in pain the second he touches me. Scotty will kill him if he hurts me.”

She nods. “We need to get his guard down. We’ll have to go to the bakery first. That’ll give us enough time to call in a flight.”

“Right. And I’ll make sure they don’t push the call-out to Callum.”

The bedroom door opens, and Finn walks out. Haley steps away, acting like we weren’t just conspiring. Her gaze darts to the ceiling while he heads down the hall, until he reaches where the open floor plan splits the living room from the kitchen.

“Let’s go,” he huffs, clearly not excited about the idea of dessert.

He brushes past us, while I grab my purse from the coat hanger, and he opens the door. “If either of you tries anything, you’ll pay for it,” he warns.

I flash him my best innocent look, eyes wide and mouth gaped. “What would we try, Finn?”

“We could duct tape his arms behind him and stuff him in the trunk,” Haley offers. “Then drive to Albany. We’re two hours behind, but really, I can drive fast. We’ll catch up, so long as there’s no traffic.”

“He’s too strong. He’ll get out of duct tape,” I deadpan as we head out of the apartment.

Finn grumbles, slamming the door behind us. “I can hear you.”

“That’s the point,” I toss over my shoulder.

“I’m good at tying knots,” Haley offers. “Perks of being a trauma surgeon. Got any rope, Finn?”

“No, but if you don’t shut up, I’m calling Cillian to deal with you,” Finn says, unimpressed by the back and forth banter happening.

My mouth twitches. For a moment, I’ve forgotten about what’s happening right now.

“How are you so calm?” I ask, eyeing Haley.

Her smile falters, but she doesn’t let on that it bothers her otherwise. We continue down the hall and to the elevator. “There’s no use in letting it bother me. I try not to think about it. Cal’s made it forty years; he’ll survive this, too.”

I nod, biting down on my tongue. This pain helps keep the ache in my chest from becoming too unbearable. “I can’t do that. I don’t know why. I just think of the horrible things that could go wrong.”

“Yeah.” The word leaves her mouth in a soft whisper. “It’s probably because you’ve grown up around it. When was the first time you saw a dead body?”

I shiver, recalling the way Liam Doyle looked. Callum refused to let me see, but I needed to. His death was on me. I ratted him out to Callum. Yeah, he was older than me, and knew better. He made me uncomfortable, touched my breast, and said things that still hurt to this day. But if I had kept it a secret, he’d be alive right now.

Sure, he did something wrong, and now I understand not to feel guilty. But then, I was a kid. I didn’t know, and it wrecked me.

“When I was fifteen,” I finally say.

“So you’re used to this. You know what it looks like. I’m sure you’ve been to countless funerals?” Haley continues.

“More than I can count.”

“Assuming death is natural to you at this point. It’s just like me. Meeting new men …” She sighs, her head shaking. “Meeting new men gives me hives. I assume they’ll all hurt me the way my stepfather did. Our childhood trauma fucks with us, it makes us react in certain ways.”

We step off the elevator, and head through the lobby. Scotty’s apartment doesn’t have a parking garage or a doorman. So, we head out into the streets of the city to walk a block to a garage where Scotty’s been parking one of the security cars.

The rest of the walk Haley and I chat, while Finn quietly leads the way. He’s listening, even if he’s acting disinterested. His head turns in every direction, on alert for a security threat. And when we finally reach the garage, the nerves come back in full force.

When I land in Albany, I’ll be met with Scotty’s full wrath.

Chapter Thirty-Three

“Firstfloorbathroom,clear,”Corbin’s strangled breath sounds off through my earpiece.

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