AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh Christ,” Cillian grumbled. “I hate it when you get like this Lilianna.”
“What’s happening here?” Savage asked.
“She feels as though you’ve challenged her,” Cillian said. “And when Lil finds a challenge, she usually takes it up and finds a way to solve it. I think that she might be trying to solve you as we speak.”
Savage threw back his head and laughed. He seemed to do that a lot around her. “Good luck trying to figure me out, Lil,” he said.
“Yeah,” Dallas said, carrying a bowlful of mashed potatoes past her husband. “I’ve been trying to figure him out for years now and I’ve got nothing. Let’s eat.” Everyone filed into the dining room and sat around the big table, passing food, and eating like a big family. It had been some time since Lil had a family meal and having Cillian on one side of her and Cian on the other felt right.
“What’s the plan?” Viv asked. Lil liked her sister-in-law. She seemed a perfect match for Cillian—something Lil thought her brother would never be able to find after having to overcome his past.
“We need to leave town for a bit,” Cillian said. “I’m sorry, darlin’.” He reached for her hand and Viv put hers into his, smiling over at her husband.
“I’m the one who’s sorry,” Lil said. “If I hadn’t shown up here, your family would never be in danger and your lives wouldn’t have to be uprooted.”
“Not your fault, Lil,” Cillian promised.
“He’s right,” Cian said. “It’s my fault. I should have never been gullible enough to believe that the Dead Rabbits had me doing jobs that were on the up and up. I was an idiot and now, I’ve got you all involved. I’m the one who should be apologizing.”
“Shit happens,” Cillian said. “I got involved with a gang that I shouldn’t have, and it landed me in jail for years. I lost so much time. You were lucky to get out before any of that happened to you, Cian. We’ll get through this next part,” he promised.
“Cillian’s right,” Savage said. “You got out and that’s all that matters now. We’ll find a way to help you make it permanent and keep you all safe in the meantime.”
“Thanks, guys,” Cian said. “I’m not sure what I would have done if Lil hadn’t reached out. I wasn’t going to make it out there on my own.”
“That’s a rough road,” Savage said. “No one should have to go through something like that alone, and now, you won’t have to.” Cian nodded and Lil reached her hand under the table to find his, linking their fingers. It felt right to touch him, almost like she was right where she was supposed to be—by his side, holding his hand.
Savage cleared his throat, garnering her attention. “As for the plan, one of our members, Ryder, is a pilot. He even has his own plane and will fly Cillian’s family to the little beach house that we own on the coast. Ryder will double back here and take the two of you up north, to a cabin that another member has up in Maine. It’s cold up there this time of year, so we’ll make sure topack you both some warmer clothes. I’m not sure how long you’ll be up there, but we’ll plan for the worst-case scenario.”
“Which is?” Lil asked.
“Which is that the Dead Rabbits won’t meet with us, and you and Cian will have to stay hidden away. I know it won’t be ideal, but I’m sure that with time, they’ll give up looking for you guys.”
“You don’t know Sid,” Cian mumbled. “He won’t ever stop looking for us. I’ve wronged him and he’ll take that personally. Hell, he’s already gone after the only person I care for.” He squeezed Lil’s hand under the table, and she smiled over at him. She had so many questions that she wanted to ask him but now wasn’t the time. She’d wait until they were alone and then, she’d hit him with her barrage of questions.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Savage said. “I’ll reach out to the Alabama Chapter of the Dead Rabbits and see what I can do—one club Prez to another.”
“We appreciate that,” Cian said. Hearing him refer to them as a “We” made Lil’s heart race. “Are we leaving tonight?” he asked.
“Yes,” Savage said. “The sooner the better, so eat up.” They all did as ordered and by the time they were finished, Lil had to say her goodbyes to her brother and his family. She hated that she just got them all back into her life and now, she was having to let them go indefinitely.
“I’ll be seeing you real soon, little sister,” Cillian promised. She nodded and smiled, pasting on her brave face. They both knew that it might be some time before they saw each other again, but she had to stay positive—it’s what had gotten her this far.
Cian
Cian felt enormous guilt that his mistakes were tearing Lil’s family apart—especially now that they had all found each other again. Lilianna tried to be brave, smiling and telling him that this little trip to Maine was going to be an adventure, but he could feel her sadness when her brother left. It nearly gutted him.
They hung around Savage’s home, waiting for Ryder to get back from flying Cillian’s family to the coast. He seemed like a decent guy and when he flew them up to Maine, promising to return to check in on them soon, Cian believed the guy. He was easy to take at his word.
They had been outfitted with warm clothing, food, and everything that they’d need to survive for weeks up at the cabin. They were given new cell phones so that their old ones couldn’t be traced, and Savage had Bowie wipe their social media pages out of existence. They were nearly untraceable and that worked for him. Savage had given them strict instructions to stay offline, off-grid, and to only contact him in an emergency. It all should have scared the hell out of him, but all Cian could think aboutwas the fact that he and Lil were finally going to be alone, and he was going to have his chance with her.
Would she want that with him though? He knew that she cared about him. Hell, she had held his hand all through dinner, but that didn’t mean that she’d want him the way that he wanted her.
She had been the annoying kid who followed Cian and her older brother, Owen, around like a puppy dog. At first, he thought that she was pretty cute, but as they got older, he began to find her more of a nuisance. By the time he went away to university, he was happy to be rid of his little secret admirer, until he went home on a holiday break. It had been almost two years since he last saw Lil, and she’d grown up. She’d grown up well.
They were at her parent’s holiday party, and he wasn’t sure if she had even noticed that he was in the room. She didn’t so much as look in his direction and God, it was all he wanted—just a bit of her attention. He wished she’d follow him around the old house, asking him a million questions, and begging him to be her boyfriend, just as she had when she was a little kid. Lil was in her last year of Secondary School and all he wanted to do was walk across that room and beg her to be his, like the lovesick puppy she portrayed all those years, but he didn’t have the nerve.
Cian had gone back to university and Lil was all he could think about. He wanted her and the only way he could see that happening was if he quit school and moved back to town. He was afraid that Lil would graduate from school and find someone to settle down with, and then, he’d be too late. Cian couldn’t let that happen, so he foolishly flunked out of university that semester and went home with his head hung and tail between his legs. Secretly, he was overjoyed to be back and find out that Lil hadn’t settled down at all. In fact, she was the wild, crazy spirit that heremembered chasing him around, and that made him fall for her even harder if that was possible.
