AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“…but you should now that I’m in love with Hayden, too, and he fucks me so good.”
His eyes widen and he grimaces, opening his mouth to spout whatever bullshit he has to say about that. “You fucking fa…”
Bang.
My gun is gripped tightly, still held in front of me aimed at my father’s head but it’s no longer upright. Sydney is slumped backwards on his chair, a bloody hole between his open eyes. I am surprised by the sickening feeling that descends over me and have to swallow a couple of times to control the bile threatening to rise. Brent gently pushes at my arm until my gun is lowered and clears his throat, bringing my eyes to his.
“I, Brent O’Reilly, pledge my loyalty, my services, and my life to you, Lance Preston as leader of The Daos.”
Tears spring to my eyes as he recites the pledge all must take to fall under the Dao name. My first follower. It’s fitting as he will be my second in command. I can only nod at him. He grips the back of my neck and brings our forehead together.
“I’m proud of you, little cousin.”
I wrap him in a hug, slapping his back and blinking away the tears. A feeling of peace washes over me. It’s short lived though.
Elle’s scream is audible despite it sounding far away.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
57
HAYDEN
It’s a lot. To go from never having shot someone to killing three men in one evening. I take a moment to silently thank Brent for making me go with him to the shooting range a few times. But I don’t have time for dwelling. The armed men that ambushed us from the shadows are both dead, my aim striking true this time, hitting them both in the centre of their unprotected chests.
Elle.
Her screams still ring through my ears but now she’s silent.
“Elle! Baby, are you hurt?” My voice sounds foreign, thick but weak as I tumble to my knees and pull Byron off of his daughter’s body. But he won’t let go, his arms are around her, one at her middle, the other cradles the back of her head.
As I pull at his shoulders, he groans and pants like he can’t quite breathe. It takes a moment for him to collect himself before he looks down at his daughter. “Oh, Eleanor,” he cries. “Eleanor! Darling, please wake up, Eleanor, no. No, no, no…” he’s holding her so tight and losing reason as he becomes more and more upset.
I can feel moisture leaking from my eyes, but I sniff it down. Jason is a few feet away but he’s making enough noise for me not to be too concerned for the moment and Peter seems to be tending to him. Laying a hand on Byron’s shoulder gently I speak as calmly as I can. “Byron, I need to take a look at her, I need to see what damage has been done.”
His watery gaze catches mine, his face pale and distraught. Elle may have believed her parents didn’t love her but proof of Byron Maxwell’s love is written all over his face as he holds on to her. He nods slowly and gently eases away. As he does, Elle takes a gasping breath, her eyes flinging open. Her father and I both stare wide-eyed as she breathes in air like she’s starved for it.
“Baby?”
“Fuck. What the Hell happened?” She blinks up at us.
“They…they shot you,” I stammer, running my hands over her body looking for injury but they come back clean.
“Eleanor, you’re okay,” Byron grabs her face and looks into her eyes like he can’t believe what he’s seeing. “You’re not hurt?”
She looks at him, seeing him for the first time and her eyes well, she throws her arms around his neck and begins to sob as he holds her close. I slump, falling back to sit on my heels, my shoulders hunching as the tension of the last few hours fails to keep them straight any longer. She’s okay. Elle is alive.
“Daddy,” Elle sobs into her father’s neck. “You…you…are you okay? They shot me but…you…oh God, you jumped in front of me…did they miss? Are you bleeding?” She’s frantic as she pulls away and pats him down, frowning when she feels his chest. He smiles and lifts the hem of his jumper to show her the Kevlar we’d given him before he went to meet Jason at the club.
Another wave of panic hits me as I stand and go to his back, sure enough there’s a hole in the wool and implanted in the thick vest is a brass bullet.
“Holy shit,” I breathe. “You saved her life.”
Fresh sobs fall from Elle as she hugs her father and he holds her to him, smoothing her hair making soothing sounds. I want nothing more than to take her from him and hold her myself, to feel her in my hands, to ensure there’s not a scratch on her but they both need this, so I turn my attention to Jason.
He’s sat up, breathing hard and wincing, Gray’s head is in his lap and he’s somehow shirtless.
“Where’s Peter?”
