The longer he stood around with his dick in his hand, the more he made himself out to be a fucking liar. Worse yet, he seemed to be taking his cues from someone else. He followed a well-rehearsed script that had more holes in it than a wheel of swiss cheese.
“Ah, no. I…um…never saw her pull the trigger, just found the wallet. But…but she’s the one. I’m sure of it,” he stammered.
“Then that makes me even more disturbed,” Kelly pointed out. “We were called here under the guise of absolute certainty that a killer was caught red-handed, no doubt whatsoever, yet you stand here now with half-truths and speculation? Wasting our fucking time?”
“This is outrageous!” Bella shouted as she rose from her seat. “I demand retribution for Kellan’s murder. Hogan is a trusted soldier in my husband’s organization, and I stand by his word one hundred percent. If he says she did it, then I believe him. I’d bet my life on it.”
Fuck this shit.
I stepped to the left of the high-back chair. A strangled sound left my throat before I could stop it, echoing inside the gallery. I had every intention of putting my hands around Bella’s scrawny neck and squeezing the life out of her until my father’s hand shot out and detained me. He gave a slight shake of his head, a warning to settle the hell down, but I was done taking his orders. I wanted Otelia out of that fucking chair and in my arms, where she belonged. I wanted that fucker’s blood spilled for touching what was mine. This antiquated bullshit was giving me the shits. If I had to operate under these rules, I’d never get anything done.
“Aye, lass, but are ye willing to bet his life on it?” Niall, from the Murphy clan, spoke up.
Great fucking question.
“I…I don’t understand?” Bella faltered.
“Of course, you don’t,” my father answered. “We have absolute authority to order the disposal of anyone who threatens our way of life, swiftly and without consequences. As interim boss to the O’Brien clan, you have unfettered claim to the power behind the family name. However, in this forum, any man can challenge your assertions, to the death if need be.”
That sly bastard.
I finally understood what he was trying to tell me.
Motherfucker.
“I pledge my life and blood to the accused,” I addressed the council. “As second in command to the MacCabe family, I assert the right of entitlement.”
“No, Darragh, please no.” Otelia sobbed softly, her eyes flooded with tears.
“He can’t do that! He’s not the head of the MacCabe clan. He has no say,” Bella sputtered.
“On the contrary,” my father replied. “As underboss to the family, he has every right to offer his life in exchange for someone else’s. Hogan has made a claim, and he must stand by that claim in a death match as a sign of respect to the outfit. He cannot refuse.”
“Aye.”
“Aye”
“Aye”
The other three council members agreed in unison.
“Wait a minute now…” Hogan shook his head in disbelief. “Nobody said nothing about no death match. I was just supposed to bring her here and…”
“Silence,” Bella demanded. “You will stand by your word, Hogan, for Kellan’s honor.”
He rubbed a hand down his reddened face. Fucker looked ready to bolt. I was already removing my suit jacket and unbuttoning my shirt, ready to get it on. I wasn’t normally a talk shit kind of guy when it came down to busting heads, but I had time today. My father had set a brilliant trap, and Hogan’s dumb ass walked right into it. I taunted him with every step.
“You ready to die, motherfucker?”
Whoosh…shirt gone.
“Not going to take my time with you, little bitch. Consider yourself lucky my woman comes first and you’re the only thing standing in the way between me and her.”
Whoosh…shoes gone.
He crossed himself, as if that would help.
“Don’t pray, asshole. God was the one who told me to kill your ass.”
Whoosh…socks gone.
“Bet you never thought your day would end like this, did you?”
Whoosh…belt gone.
I stood chest to chest, or should I say, chest to potbelly, with the hefty prick. Two guards lifted Otelia’s chair and moved her further back out of the way. I gave her my best reassuring smile that promised all sorts of crazy shit once I took care of the asshole sweating bullets. He was still fully clothed, looking around for his momma to save him.
“Might want to lose the suit, dickhead.” He was taller than me but clearly never skipped a meal.
“I might’ve been wrong.” He looked towards the council. “It was dark that night. Maybe I made a mistake, thought wrong…I take it back,” he pleaded. “I take it all back.”
“Ye can’t take it back, boyo. Ye swore an oath,” Niall advised him.
“But…but…I don’t want this. She promised me a piece of the …”
“Shut your fucking mouth, idiot!” Bella screamed.
A snitch and a pussy.
Splendid.
“She was the one!” He pointed towards Bella.” She did everything. It was all her idea to come here. The fish, the hit at the diner, O’Brien’s…”
He never got the chance to finish his statement.
I hit him with a right cross, left hook, then an uppercut to the chin. He stumbled forward swinging at nothing but air. His slow movements made him look like Boris Karloff when he played the Mummy. I pivoted around behind his shoulders, placed my hands on his head, enveloping his ears, twisted my weight at the hips, and snapped his fucking neck like a twig. I walked away before his bloated ass hit the ground with a loud thud.
I heard Otelia’s gasp as she watched the savagery unfold before her eyes. I walked over and released her from her bindings. My breaths were ragged with the need to feel her in my arms. The last thing I wanted was to cause her more pain. Her wrists were raw from the material biting into her skin, so I took my time and gentled my movements. Once she was freed, I bent down and scooped her up on her feet, cradling her tear-streaked cheek against my chest. I felt her shudder with relief as I held her close while she struggled to steady her shaking limbs.
“I can’t believe you fought for me, Mac.” She sobbed. “That you could’ve died in front of everyone in order to save me.”
“Not die, baby.” I moved back, needing to see her face. “Kill.” I used my thumb to softly stroke her blackened cheek. “I’d kill to protect the woman I love.”
Her smile nearly blinded me, it was that perfect.
“You are my promised love, Darragh MacCabe, and my last great adventure.”
Too much and not enough.
Our lips collided in a blistering kiss filled with promises, want, and desperation. We forced ourselves to break away, remembering the circumstance which bought us here to this time and place. Otelia straightened her shoulders, proud and strong.
“I want to go home, Mac,” she whispered.
“I know, sweetheart. It won’t be long now.”
“NOBODY FUCKING MOVE!”
CHAPTER 42
Otelia
WE WERE STARTLED by the sound of shouting coming from the direction of the stage. Quicker than shit, I went from floating on a cloud in the Peppermint Forest to feeling as if I’d been punched in the sternum. Bella had Connor restrained by a fistful of his dark graying hair while she pressed a wiry hat pin against the underside of his neck. A trickle of blood dampened his white collared shirt as she thrust the tip into his flesh just deep enough to break the skin. Mac advanced, one step, then two. The muscles in his naked back rippled with strain as he pulled up short, cautious. Bella’s warning was unmistakable. She’d puncture Connor’s jugular vein if he moved the slightest bit. I spoke softly, urging him to play it cool for the time being. I was well aware that this woman was capable of anything. I pushed away the apprehension and remained strong.