I could only remember twin bolts of light coming toward me, and as I attempted to evade a crash, it had been too late—collision was imminent.
Seconds later, Savannah’s scream ringing in my ears, the airbag had deployed and my shoulder had snapped with the force of it. Just thinking about it had me wriggling it, stretching it.
"You hurt your shoulder?" Brennan asked, breaking into the silence.
"Dislocated it during the crash. Savannah popped it back in for me."
"Since when was she an EMT?"
"She's more capable than most know."
I knew he arched a brow at me, but I didn't say much else.
It was to my benefit that no one recognized what Savannah could do. People believed the ditzy news reporter act, and that was why Jonesy and Anthony had only duct-taped her hands and feet and hadn’t zip-tied them.
If my brothers hadn’t come, I had a feeling Savannah and I would have been just fine. Not that I was complaining. Especially as Eoghan had kneecapped that fucker Anthony.
"What's the plan, Aidan?" Bren asked, breaking into my thoughts.
In my ear, I could hear Conor talking to someone I thought was Paddy, but when it went abruptly quiet, I knew he’d put me on mute. Focusing wasn’t easy at the moment so I appreciated the radio silence on his end.
I stared at the road ahead, unconsciously mapping the route Bren was taking to the factory as, slowly, I rumbled, "Torture Anthony, squirrel the details out of him, then make the fuckers pay."
"You got someone in mind? Someone you think is behind it?"
"Mark." When his hands tightened around the wheel, I knew why.Guilt. Worse than stomach acid for causing peptic ulcers. "You did what had to be done, Brennan. Callum was a traitor. Looks like he took after his father, but Da was just too blind to see it."
"I think Da had his eye off the ball for longer than we realized," Brennan rasped.
That was a fair point. "I agree. We can't rule like that."
"No?"
I heard the wary hope in his voice. "No. My head's on the chopping block; I'm fine with that. But we'll rule like we always should have done with Da—as a family. He let outsiders in. He should never have done that."
"He only let Mark, Tony, and Paul into the 'council' meetings after Frank and Paddy died."
I eyed his air quotes dubiously, but he wasn’t wrong. "Guess that means that none of you fuckers can ever die."
Brennan snorted. "Camille wouldn't complain."
That reminded me… "Did Lyanov mention Victoria?"
He tensed. "Why would he? We were talking about business."
"You know full well that VictoriaisLyanov’s business."
"Don't let Camille hear you say that. She's still got it in her head that he'll court her. Her words, not mine."
"Maybe he will. She's young."
"Don't I fucking know it." He rubbed the back of his neck. "She's trouble, and I can see it barreling our way, but she's..." He sighed. "I love her. She's the sister I never fucking had. I'm not happy about Lyanov getting his paws on her."
"Look at Savvie," was the only thing I could comfort him with. "Nowhere else she wants to be than in the lion's den." When Brennan just grunted, I murmured, "We have to get Anthony to talk fast. I want Jonesy and the ringleaders in our hold before dawn."
"Fucking slave driver. You're just like Da," he complained.
I thought about what Savvie had told me—that I was nothing like him—and I found comfort in that. Found comfort in her opinion because hers was the only one I really cared about.