“They’re at D’Agostino’s,” she says. The Italian restaurant in the city center. “They think they lost their tail.”
Keenan nods. “Find out where—”
We all freeze at the sound of Fiona’s scream on the other end of the phone, and Lachlan looks stricken.
“Fiona? Fiona!”
Megan looks up at us. “Line went dead.”
We’re close enough we could walk to D’Agostino’s if we had to. I’d go with them, but I don’t know if McKenna went with them or not.
Keenan looks to Lachlan. “I’ll go with you, Lach. Tully, you hold things down here.”
“Wait!” It suddenly occurs to me. “Don’t go so fast. I know we need to go to them and be sure they’re safe, but it could be a set-up, Keenan. We need to be prepared.”
“Set up for bloody what?”
“A fucking ambush.”
He nods and curses, because he knows I’m right.
McKenna. I have to find McKenna. She’s not with the others. Where is she?
Lachlan removes a gun from his holster and checks it. “Keenan and I will end anyone who’s gotten within ten feet of our women. You watch things here, Tully.”
Keenan nods. “I’ll call Cormac and Carson to keep vigil here.”
They go, and I wish I were with them. Instead, I feel like I’m guarding a fortress, just waiting for an attack at any moment.
I go back into the house, my heart in my fucking throat. I wish I had an enemy to fight, someone to defend. I’m so much better at using my fists than dealing with my heart.
Where did she go? I know she was hurt, I know she was bloody broken from what happened. I can’t understand how it all impacts… us.
Did she think I’d only claim her because she was the mother of my child? Does she fear that she has nothing to offer me now that there’s no baby that ties us together?
I stand at the top of the stairs and look out the large bay windows in the front of the house.
“McKenna,” I whisper to myself. “Where have you gone?”
Clouds roll in, and I look to the left and right. I can see the steeple of Holy Family, the rugged cliffs that overlook the sea. I’m supposed to be watching for any signs of an enemy or an attack, but I’m looking for McKenna.
I want her. I bloody need her.
The women and children have been safely tucked away. Some of my brothers have gone to the entrance to the house, and the others have gone into town to protect the girls that were attacked.
McKenna wasn’t with them, and it only reminds me how grateful I am she wasn’t. I didn’t allow her because I wanted to keep her safe. But now where is she?
Maybe I’ve been too harsh. Maybe I’ve been insensitive, forcing her to stay with me when maybe she needed the presence of other women. I know it weighs on her, having seen her mother wed to a man of the Clan. Does she blame her mother’s troubles on that?
Mother of God, I’ve fucked up.
I shake my head and turn to go, when a shadow by the cliffs catches my eye. I look again. Is it my imagination, or does the slender figure by the water walk with a limp?
I stand up straighter. Jesus. I can’t see her face, but I know it’s her. It has to be.
I call her mobile, but she doesn’t answer.
I was ordered by Keenan to stay here, to make sure the women and children here are safe. Why the bloody hell did McKenna choose now to be reckless? I go to call Keenan, but he doesn’t answer. Lachlan doesn’t pick up either.
Jesus.
I’m not allowed to defy an order from my Chief, and I hate the thought of anyone coming here, of anyone harming the women and children I’ve been ordered to protect. But Jesus, what about McKenna?
Clouds roll in, and the sky instantly darkens. The white caps rage against the blue-green of the Irish Sea, and the wind howls outside the window.
I’ll alert the guards. I’ll find McKenna. I have to.
* * *
McKenna
I watch as the waves increase in tempo and intensity. I’m all the way up by the cliffs, and yet even from here I can feel the splatter of saltwater on the cliffs below. I stare out at the depths of the sea, and imagine who lives on the other side. I imagine another woman, just like me, standing on the cliffs of the west coast of England. Staring at the sea like I am.
Does she feel the pain of loss keenly, like I do? I rest my palm flat on my belly and close my eyes.
I’ve experienced loss in my life before. When I was just a child, I suffered an injury in an automobile accident so severe, I was told I’d never walk again. But I’m too stubborn for such proclamations. I defied what the doctors told me I would do. I pushed myself out of my bed before I was allowed. I ignored their protests. And I fucking walked again.