Chapter 5

The doctor has maintained a steady dose of painkillers trying to keep me docile. It shows how well she knows me, as the second I have a chance, I'm out of here. I know I'm fine; a broken leg won't stop me. I'm honestly surprised it's not worse. My father used to tell me I had a hard head and maybe he was right, though the concussion sucked.

Darragh was supposed to be here over two hours ago, and I'm bored. The nurses are no fun, and won't entertain me—apparently it's not in their job description. All I wanted was for one of them to race me in a wheelchair.

"So, I hear you have been a colossal pain in the ass," Darragh says, stepping through the door. Thank fuck he is here. I need to spring free.

A figure steps into the room behind him, and I try to look around Darragh. Then Harper moves out of his shadow.

"Oh fuck! I didn't think it was possible for you to get more beautiful, but damn, you went from fuckable to wifey material with a haircut. How many kids are we having? Probably just one, right? More than one Mini-Me might be a lot."

Harper smiles. "First, thank you, and second, remember, I don't want to get married or have children."

"Never say never, Sweetheart."

"He is like a dog with a bone—just ignore him," Darragh says, taking a seat next to my bed.

"Speaking of bones," I say, wiggling my brows, "mine has been hard since you walked in the door. Come here."

Harper hesitates, and I hold out my hand, which she takes when she gets close enough, and I use it to pull her into my side. "Come snuggle with me. I'm injured. We can watch a movie."

Harper nods, slipping off her heels and climbing up onto the bed. She is careful not to bump the cast on my leg.

"You can come back later if you don't want to stay."

Darragh glares at me. "No fucking way am I leaving. If she runs again, and I have to chase her, I would prefer she doesn't have a head start. But I'm picking the movie," he says, swiping the remote attached to the side of the bed.

I'm grateful to be in a private hospital, with my own room, nice meals, and a TV with access to streaming services. Ronan has promised I'll be out today or tomorrow morning at the latest. There is one last test the doctor wants to run before she'll set me free. Yeah, right—she wants to make sure I have a clean bill of health, so nothing can happen and fall back onto her. It would be really shit for her if I went home and dropped dead, as Darragh would probably murder her entire family and she knows it.

Darragh flicks through and I agree with all the suggested movies—awesome 90s classics. He settles on Liar Liar with Jim Carey.

"I love this one, it's so good," I can't help saying.

"Never seen it," Harper replies, and I gasp. "I'm only twenty-two. It's well before my time."

"I'm twenty-seven. Shit, how old did you think I was?"

Harper giggles. "I don't know. I haven't really thought about it, but now I'm curious how old you all are."

"Van is almost thirty-one, Ronan is thirty-three, Darragh is almost twenty-eight."

"Daddy Ronan" flashes up on Harper's phone screen and we both laugh.

"Daddy really does suit him now that I know he is so much older," she says with a smirk.

She answers and puts the call on speaker, and his voice booms out. "Good, he didn't murder you."

Darragh glares at Harper but there's no viciousness behind it like normal. I'm curious about what made him change his tune, not that he would let on something has changed.

"Tell Cian he has the all clear to come home, but to wait until the nurses bring everything he needs before he leaves. Van and I have some work to sort out, and I was thinking about ordering dinner in."

"Could I cook?" Harper asks Ronan.

"You want to cook for us?"

Darragh interrupts before Harper can answer. "She probably wants to poison our food so she can make a run for it."

Harper laughs. "Not theirs, only yours," she snarks back at him, and he smirks.

What the fuck—maybe I bumped my head too hard after all.

"I would love that," Ronan says, ignoring their banter. "Darragh can take you to the store on the way back to the house. Also, get a wheelchair from the hospital on your way out."

Darragh pushes up from his chair. "I'm going to hurry these nurses up."

"Hospital blow job?" I suggest to Harper. Ronan chuckles as he ends the call, while Harper shakes her head at me.

"In your dreams," she says.

I laugh. "In my dreams, in my thoughts. Most of the time, it's all that consumes my mind in general. I know this is not something you are ready to hear, but Sweetheart, I'm all the way in. I'm in so fucking deep now you won't ever get rid of me."

"Cian."

"Sweetheart, I know you're going through something right now, but we are here. We have your back. But we won't let you run, and maybe it's because we're selfish."

"I'm not that same girl anymore," she whispers. She is facing me and we're so close our noses almost touch.

"Then I plan to be right by your side while you figure out who this new Harper is, but please don't run from us again."

Darragh chooses that moment to walk back in, sporting a sinister grin. "No, please do run. I quite enjoyed the chase. Next time, Nora won't be so nice to those helping you hide from us. She really wanted to gut your brother and his friends, and people only get one free pass with her."

"What?" I gasp. "You took fucking Nora? Why would you do that?"

Darragh laughs. "Because I was going into an unknown location, and Nora is batshit crazy. If anyone could keep me safe, it's her. Plus, watching men at her mercy is entertaining."

"Can I meet your brother?" I ask Harper.

She shakes her head. "We are stepsiblings and not close, but I knew he had the means to get me a new identity."

"You really want to leave that badly?" I ask her, cupping her face with my hand.

Her eyes water as she nods. "Everything I have built has crumbled down. I'm no longer Angel, who works at The Range and makes men pay for what they want. They took it. I don't know how to get back to where I was, or how to stop it from happening again. Every time I close my eyes, I feel them—it plays on repeat. I let them take it, and I could have fought harder, but in the end I was so scared I closed my eyes and accepted it."

I know she is hurting because of what she has been through, and she has had no one else to lean on besides her grandma and Jordyn—especially men. Some might think we are acting like assholes by forcing her to stay where she doesn't want to be. But the thing is, she runs because she is scared, not because she wants to leave. The walls she has hidden behind her entire life have crumbled, leaving her raw and open. Harper Daniels doesn't know who she truly is, and this will not be easy for her.

Everything inside me breaks for her. While I wish I could set her free so she can find herself, I can't. However, what I can do is make sure if it happens again, if someone is stupid enough to harm my woman, she doesn't freeze. She will fight like she did when she protected Jordyn.

"You have us now, and we won't let anyone hurt you."

The look in her eyes crushes my soul. "I thought I had you then, Cian. You'd already claimed me, yet you all were busy." She lowers her voice. "You're in the Mafia or something, right?"

Darragh snorts. "Or something."

I turn my head and pin him with a look which screams, shut the fuck up or leave. "So what if we are? If we knew you were in danger because of those Italian fuckers..."

Harper sighs. "It doesn't matter whose fault it was—it happened, and there is no taking it back. I refuse to be a na?ve little girl anymore who thought fucking men for money would keep me safe. I have to watch my own back."

"I'll teach you," Darragh says.

My mouth falls open, but no words come out.

Harper narrows her eyes; she is as suspicious as I am. "Why would you do it? You hate me."

Darragh rolls his eyes. "If I hated you, you'd be dead. My daughters are also in the house. If I teach you to defend yourself, would you protect them?"

"I would protect them already, but I think you know that. But why you and not Sullivan, Cian, or Ronan?"

"That's easy. They all like to fuck you, so they'll go easy on you. I will properly teach you all the ways to protect yourself if you can't run to safety."

Harper thinks about it for a second and the room is quiet. "I would like that, thank you."

Darragh nods, and I smirk at him, causing him to flip me off. I knew he didn't hate her as much as he made out.

A nurse walks in, pushing a wheelchair. "Your chariot awaits, Mr. O'Brien."

Harper slips out of the bed, while Darragh and the nurse help me transfer into the wheelchair. I could have done it myself, considering the cast only goes up to my knee, but I enjoy being waited on. Harper slips her heels back on and Darragh moves behind the wheelchair.

"Make sure you take it easy, doctor's orders. No more jumping from moving vehicles. You are lucky you didn't have any more serious injuries."

"I'm like a cat," I say, beaming up at the nurse with a smile. "I have nine lives."

Darragh laughs from behind me. "I think you're down to five now."

Darragh moves the wheelchair out of the room, and the second we hit the hallway, I know what he is going to do—it's why we are best friends. He takes off running.

"For fuck's sake!" Harper calls out, and the distinct sound of her heels clicking against the floor lets me know she is following fast behind us.