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Rory
I feltthe adrenaline drain from my system the longer Dev had his hands on me. The protective stances of Alex and Bex helped me relax, too, the three of them silently guaranteeing my safety.
Even when a new set of footsteps echoed across the planks of the porch, I stayed relaxed, watching as the three of them went on alert. Bex and Dev pulled guns from their waistbands, aiming toward the door, while Alex put Seamus in his sights. The three of them moved in sync, their actions so attuned to one another. It was easy for me to see what my father had seen in them during that first inevitable meeting.
The door opened to a standoff, guns pointed in both directions until a voice broke through the tension.
“Rory?” My father’s voice sounded frantic, the most worried I’d heard him in my life. He burst through the front door moments later, pushing between the men that had preceded him. The familiar faces of Cormac and Patrick, my father’s right-hand men, finally registered. The two men looked relieved to see me, lowering their guns once they realized I was safe. My father didn’t even glance at the guns Dev and Bex held, his footsteps carrying him to me before I could even start in his direction.
Dev held me steady until my dad took my weight, pulling me into his arms before checking me over. He winced at the bruise on my cheekbone, inspecting the bandages Dev had wrapped around my ankle.
Cormac wasn’t far behind, hugging me close and doing his own thorough inspection before stepping to the side, giving my father back his place. Only once they’d both ensured my well-being did my father finally speak.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, eyes shimmering as he took in his uncle sitting in the corner, trussed up and bleeding. “I should’ve known that-”
“He’s family,” I said, cutting off the blame I knew Dad planned to place on himself. “I trusted him, too. It’s not your fault. Besides, I’m okay.”
“Hewasfamily,” Dad said, his voice cold, making it clear he was now anything but.
We stood there in silence for a handful of minutes, both of us content to simmer in our grief, our anger. At Seamus’s betrayal, but also at the idea of losing another family member. Seamus was the last of our living family. My father had been an only child, and Seamus had never had children of his own. My father and I were all that was left of our branch of the McLoughlin bloodline.
“Sir,” Patrick said, interrupting our tormented retrospection. “There’s a car coming up the drive.”
Alex waved off my father, allowing him to stay by my side as he peered out the front door, groaning in exasperation at whatever he saw there. Dev followed behind him, laughing and shooting a wink down at me over his shoulder before he gestured for me to join him.
“Stand down,” Alex grumbled to Patrick and Cormac as I stepped up beside them. I couldn’t help but admire his boldness, telling my father’s men what to do as if they belonged to him.Especially when they followed his direction without question, pocketing their guns in their holsters as the familiar, compact SUV pulled to a stop.
Alex sighed, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose while he took in his fiancée and one of his best friends as they hopped out of the car. The two girls ran across the grass separating us, haphazardly making their way across the planks until my father’s men took pity on them, holding their arms as they strode across. Wren shot beaming smiles at the two of them in thanks, making them blush, while Ames accepted the help with a simple nod of her head.
As soon as they were across, their arms wrapped around me in a group hug, the air evaporating from my lungs in surprise. I felt their concern in the tight grip they both had on me, in the way their bodies shook slightly as they took in my injuries.
Alex waited until we’d broken apart to speak, turning toward Ames and Wren with his arms crossed over his chest. “I just texted you both that it was safe. How did you get here in,” he glanced at the watch on his wrist, “five minutes?”
“We parked a couple miles down the road!” Wren answered on a chirp, looking pleased with herself as she admitted to totally ignoring the direction I assumed Alex gave to them to stay and wait at home.
Bex took in her girlfriend as she walked into the house, smiling even as she shook her head. “Sneaky little bird.”
“Wren was there for me when Peter took me, and I was there for Wren after she shot Alfie. We both had to be here for Rory.” Ames crossed her arms, mirroring Alex even as her eyes narrowed at him, as if daring him to complain. He just opened his arms, allowing Ames to fall into his chest as he hugged her close.
“How did you know where we were?” Alex asked as he brushed his lips across Ames’s forehead. “I didn’t give you the address until just now.”
“I gave her access to track your phone,” Bex said with a shrug. “Seemed only fair, considering we have enough surveillance equipment to track the three of them to the moon. Plus, sister trumps boss.” She shrugged, looking decidedly unapologetic for her actions.
“Well, if we aren’t expecting anyone else, I’d suggest we take our leave,” Dad said, glancing at Alex with a brow raised.
“Let’s get out of here,” Alex agreed. “Rory’s buyers didn’t seem to know the marriage was against her will. But either way, I suggest we try to avoid making any more enemies if we can prevent it.”
“I’d definitely prefer not to get kidnapped again,” I said, laughing at the winces that crossed the faces of Dev and my father. “What, too soon?”
“Definitely too soon, big sis,” a familiar voice said, and I turned to find Callan leaning against the doorframe, casually stylish in a pair of ripped jeans with a cream sweater tucked into the front. He clapped Dev on the shoulder as he lightly pushed him aside, gathering me in a hug so tight my feet lifted off the floor.
“What are you doing here?” Cormac asked, exasperated. “I purposefully didn’t call you.”
“I have my ways,” he shrugged, winking at me with a grin. “But I think the better question is how anyone expected menotto be here for my sister.”
“You’re supposed to be in class,” Cormac argued, though it seemed half-assed, as if he knew he’d lost the argument before they’d even had it.
“Fuck class. Fuck whatever else. Rory comes first,” Callan said.
