Chapter 1

Van brings the car to a slow stop, and as we get out, what I see ahead has my stomach in knots. The truck the whore stole has crashed into the roadside barrier, and both she and Hopper are looking down into the ravine.

Where the fuck is Cian?

Van runs to Harper's side, catching her as she stumbles backward.

Ronan is on his phone.

Hopper makes eye contact with me, shaking his head while he looks over the fucking metal barrier.

I don't wait—I run.

Ronan tries to grab me, but I shrug out of his grip and jump the barrier.

My boots hit the loose rubble, sending me skidding down the incline. I smack hard into a tree, stopping my downward momentum.

FUCK!

Looking around where the rocky ground is lit in the moonlight, I locate Cian a few feet down the slope. He isn't moving. If he dies, I don't give a fuck how much they love the stupid whore, I will slit her throat right in front of them.

Carefully moving from my spot, I use the trees and bushes to break my descent until I reach him. I fall to my knees and move my hands to his neck, feeling for his heartbeat.

"He has a pulse," I yell, hoping someone can hear me. "Cian, don't you dare fucking die on me!"

I don't know what to check first—there is blood everywhere—and for the first time my hands tremble at the sight.

Cian has never looked so fragile or broken in his life.

The longer I sit beside my best friend, the more the blinding rage builds under my skin.

"Coming down!"

I look up and see a team with ropes descending the side of the steep incline. When they reach me, I refuse to move.

"Cian, can you hear me?" the man says in a deep, stern-sounding voice.

Cian doesn't respond, and a second man checks Cian's pulse, spitting off stats.

"Let's get him on the backboard. We need you to move aside so we can do our job."

My hands ball into fists. I breathe deeply in through my nose and out through my mouth. I can't kill them; they are just trying to help my best friend.

Ropes are carefully attached to the board, and the men maneuver Cian's unconscious body up the cliffside. I follow them up and jump back over the metal barrier. Ronan is stoic, but I see the worry creased in his brow. Van has the whore wrapped tight in his arms as she sobs against him.

"So help me, god," I say in a low voice as I approach them. "If he doesn't?—"

I can't finish the sentence before my throat closes. She levels me with a stare, cold enough to send shivers down my spine. I don't see the fist coming for my face until it's too late, and her petite hand connects with my cheekbone.

"Fuck you!" she spits out.

Stepping closer to her, Van growls a warning at me from low in his chest. Fine, I get it. He will throw a lifetime of friendship away over some bitch. Well, fuck them all.

I stalk off and push my way into the ambulance, and one of the paramedics points to where I need to sit.

"We'll meet you at the hospital," Ronan says as the doors of the vehicle close.

Clasping Cian's hand like it's my lifeline as the paramedics monitors stats, I ignore the strangers and look down at my best friend.

"If you wake up, I'll let you suck my dick," I whisper and chuckle to myself. It was worth a shot.

Cian groans and my heart thumps wildly in my chest.

"Fuck me sideways, what happened? I feel like I've been fucked in the ass by a pineapple. I'm not sure I could suck your dick right now." Even the paramedics chuckle at Cian's unexpected response.

"I'll give you a free pass this time. But what the fuck were you thinking?"

Cian groans. "I was thinking my woman was running from me, and I like to chase her."

I sigh. "Do you really believe she is worth all this trouble?"

Cian smiles and squeezes my hand. "I know she is."

I nod at him. Right now, I'll push my hatred for the woman to the side—Cian is my priority.

"Promise me, D, if she runs while I'm like this, you'll drag her back here... for me."

"I promise," I say with an evil smirk. I couldn't think of anything I'd enjoy more than dragging the bitch back to his bedside by her damn hair. "As long as you do nothing so stupid again."

"What?! Do you mean jumping from one moving vehicle onto another one is stupid? It's like you don't know me that well when you ask me not to do shit like that. Besides, someone cut the brakes on the truck. Grinder might want to know, as it was done in his parking lot," he says as his eyes fall closed again.

"He's fine," one of the paramedics reassures me. "We gave him pain medicine to keep him comfortable."

My head hangs down and I breathe in deeply.

I thought for a second I had lost him.

I can't lose him, not when I need him the most.

I do not know how to be a dad. Shit, I didn't even think about feeding them. Maddie lectured me because the girls needed more, well, everything. So I gave her my credit card and told her to order what they required, no expenses spared. Hopefully that will help somewhat.

As soon as the doors of the ambulance open, Ronan is standing right there as promised, and I'm not surprised to see we are at Trinity Private Hospital. A team of doctors rushes out of the emergency doors and Cian is moved onto a stretcher. Ronan and I follow behind as they rush through the corridors, the paramedics updating the doctors with Cian's condition, but we don't say a word.

As we reach the doors to the clinical area, Dr. Reynolds approaches us. She is a friend of Ronan's and may have ended up in Cian's bed a few times—few women are immune to his charm.

"Can't say I'm surprised to see him here, though maybe that it took him so long. We need to do some tests. If you want to wait in his room, I'll get a nurse to take you there. You know he is safe with me."

Ronan nods. "Thank you."

A young nurse shows us to Cian's room where we can wait and lets us know if we need anything to press the call button. Neither Ronan nor I say a word until she closes the door, leaving us alone.

"Where is Van?" I ask.

Ronan looks up, making eye contact with me. "He's taking Harper back to the house."

My back bristles—my daughters are there. Ronan notices and sighs, rubbing his temples.

"Look, let's get one thing straight. Harper isn't going anywhere. If you don't want her around the girls, it's your right as their father. I will understand if you need to leave, but seriously, think it over first. Those girls have just lost their mother. Maddie has kept me updated, and so far, do you know who they have asked for? Harper. Not you, not their mother, only Harper. Let it sink in a little. She's a good woman, Darragh. Yes, she fucked men for money, but ask yourself why a woman with no drug addiction needs to sell her body for money. It sure as shit was not for the upstanding clientele she got coming through—us excluded, of course." He smirks at the last part. "Maybe it's time you deal with your shit with Cian, then you won't be so blinded by your jealousy."

I scoff, ready to chew his ass out for insinuating I'm jealous of that woman. But Van slips in through the door, interrupting our conversation. He narrows his eyes at me but says nothing.

"Is Harper okay?" Ronan asks Van.

Van runs a hand down his face and shakes his head. "I tried to get her to come to the hospital, but she refused. Said she didn't want to step on his toes."

By his, Van obviously means me. I can tell by the venom in his eyes and the way his lip curls up slightly at the corner.

"Yes, let's all worry about the fucking whore who almost killed Cian. He might have regained consciousness in the ambulance, but he isn't out of the woods yet. Fuck her."

The mention of Harper has Van stepping toward me, his finger pointed in my direction. "This is your fault," he says. "If you so much as leave a mark on her again, I will put a bullet in you myself."

I open my mouth to tell him to try, but I'm interrupted by Ronan clearing his throat. "Now is not the time to fight about this. All of us are to blame, even Cian. We pursued her knowing we shouldn't, but Darragh, you had no right to put hands on a woman solely because you don't like her. Imagine if someone did that to Maddie, or the twins."

I don't like the thought at all, and the pit of my stomach sinks. If anyone even breathed wrong in their direction, I would end them without blinking. Fuck, I have screwed up, so fucking bad. I don't even know if Cian will look at me the same way again. Sweat lines my brow and my chest gets tight.

"Tell Cian I will be back," I gasp out. "I need some air."

Neither man follows me, and I don't expect them to. I need to clear my head, and the least I can do is keep tabs on Harper while I do. As much as I would love for her to run and never return, Cian made me promise I would bring her back. A gut feeling is telling me this woman is like a feral animal—the first chance she gets, she is gone. Cian is in enough pain; I'm not letting her hurt him even more.