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He crashes our mouths together in a biting kiss, the pressure so intense my lips throbs, and I place my hands on his chest to push him away.
“I haven’t seen my father,” I gasp, “I swear. I’m okay. I’m right here. I’m not in the car. I don’t even have the keys to that thing.”
“Well, who does?” Killian’s brow dips low, and his stormy eyes scan my face.
“My father, he drove me here, remember?” As the words escape me, the world falls quiet.
Dad drove me here.
Dad has the keys.
Dad said he was going home…
Dad—
Killian’s mouth starts to move, but I’m met with silence, no words making it past the blanket of quiet that drapes over me as I repeat those thoughts over and over. A brutal chill cascades over me, biting into my skin and increasing the tremor in my hands as I turn my gaze towards the car.
Dad had the keys.
The body in the car…. no. It can’t be. It can’t be him. The flames tear up into the sky as Killian’s arms come tight around me once more, but I can’t tear my gaze away from the twisted carnage of the wreck. The firefighters dart around the blaze like ants, and then a sharp siren begins to penetrate through my silent fog.
Another fire engine?
Killian pulls at me, his rough palm closing over my chill cheek to try and pull me away, but I can’t. I can’t look away.
The body.
Thatbody.
It’s my father.
The siren grows louder, filling my ears to a deafening volume, and I try to move my legs. If the truck is that close, we should get out of the way, but none of my limbs obey me. They’re all weightless, like I’m turning to jelly in Killian’s hold as he tries to pull me away.
Tears flood into my eyes, and my throat burns raw from the thick smoke pouring into my lungs with each ragged breath.
My father is in the car.
My father isdead. In my car…killed by a bomb, likely meant for me.
Killian steps in front of me, and I gasp raggedly as both his hands cup my face, and his black eyes swim into my vision as sound comes crashing back into my world.
That sound wasn’t a siren from a fire truck. It is me. I’mscreaming.
The grief rises like a tsunami, and I crumple like sugar paper as my heart explodes in my chest and my screams taper off into a soft, cracked sob. Killian catches me, gathering me against his chest, then scoops me up into his arms and begins to carry me into the club.
I still can’t look away, even as the sea of people close around us.
This was a night of peace, prosperity, and union as peace settles between the Irish and the Italians. Now my father lies dead in the carcass of my car, the Russian threat ever present despite our best efforts.
Blair’s secret falls from my mind as the nightclub doors close, blocking my view of the horror outside.
