Chapter 23

Noah~

I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, because even if I ordered my men to leave, if Shea shot me, then Declan would go after her without hesitation. If I didn't allow Shea to leave, then she could very well end up dead anyways because she wasn't lying about shooting me.

Now, while I wasn't overly worried about her leaving per se, I was concerned with her vague accusations. No matter where she ran off to, I had no doubt that I could find her, even if I had to use her parents to do it, which I wasn't above doing. So, it wasn't her getting away that was the problem, so much as why she was running away. She kept making references to not letting me become a widower and having to look over her shoulder, so it didn't take a rocket scientist to deduce where that was coming from. Shea believed that I was behind the attempt on her life, and she believed it because of what she'd overheard, and I needed that information more than I needed to take my next breath.

I also hadn't been lying when I'd told her that I would never be divorced. Even if Shea never came to love me like a wife should, we'd never be divorced. I might not have a choice in letting her run away right now, but I'd drag her back by her motherfucking hair before ever filing for divorce. We were forever, whether she liked it or not.

"Shea, tell me what you overheard," I ordered, even though it was futile.

"Tell your men to move out of my way, Mr. Murphy," she bit out, issuing an order of her own.

"Call me Mr. Murphy again, and I won't be responsible for what happens when I finally get my hands on you, lass," I threatened, meaning every fucking word.

Ignoring that, she said, "Tell your men to move out of my fucking way."

I shook my head, trying my best to keep her alive. "What's the plan, lass?" I finally asked. "Where exactly do you think you can go where I won't be able to find you?"

Her arms shook a bit, and I knew that it was costing her to hold up that gun. "Wherever I have to," she flung back.

"Baby, I need you to listen to me, okay?" I didn't wait for her to agree. "Even if I let you drive out of here, you'll still never be free of me. I will hunt you to the ends of the earth until I find you, and then all I'm going to do is just bring you back here."

"You'll have to kill me first," she replied. "Which was the plan all along anyways, so what are you waiting for?"

Because it was obvious that she'd overheard something damning, and because it was obvious that she believed that me and my guards were involved, I made a last-minute decision to see if I could talk some sense into her before there was no going back for either of us.

"I need you gentlemen to go outside and secure the area," I ordered.

"Noah-"

"Niall, I'm not asking," I said, stopping his protests.

"At least one of us should stay back," he suggested, and the only reason that he was still alive was because he'd been with me long enough to trust him with my life.

"I won't say it again," I informed them all. "Leave now."

Against their better judgement, they began filing out of the garage, but I knew Niall well enough to know that he was going to be right outside the man door while the others helped secure the building. If Shea managed to shoot and/or kill me, she'd be riddled with bullets before she even knew what hit her. See, what Shea didn't understand was that the O'Brien guards answered to Declan above all else, and if they let Shea get away with killing me, then they'd be in for an entirely new circle of hell at Declan's hands. My men might fear me, but not like they feared The O'Brien.

When we were finally alone, I said, "Now tell me what happened, lass."

"You know exactly what happened," she spat. "Only it just didn't work out quite like you hoped it would."

"Baby, I didn't order a hit on you," I finally told her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie!" she yelled.

"I'm not!" I yelled back.

"I heard them!" she went on, still yelling, her cries echoing throughout the garage. "I heard them talking!"

"I didn't order a hit on you!" I repeated.

"You're lying!"

I took in a deep breath, trying to calm the sinking feeling in my chest. "Lass, I've killed men for less," I informed her. "Do not insult me again."

"I'm leaving," she said, ignoring my threat. "I'm leaving, and I'll shoot you if you try to stop me."

"Baby, I didn't order you killed," I told her again, rage threatening to make me lose my shit the more that she accused me of trying to have her killed. "Now, if you tell me what's going on, I can fix it."

"Fix it?" she scoffed darkly. "You've got nerve, I'll give you that."

"Shea, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, and I will not keep defending myself against a sin that I didn't commit," I snapped.

"I'm not asking you to defend yourself against anything," she pointed out.

"You have to know that I'll never let you go," I said, telling her the absolute truth of her situation. "You have to know that, baby."

Shea shook her head decidedly. "I am not going to let you widow yourself to satisfy your word to The O'Brien."

"I understand how some facts might have fallen through the cracks because of how and why we got married, but you're a Murphy, Shea," I reminded her. "You're a fucking Murphy, and if you think you being harmed in any way is acceptable, it's not."

"I guess that depends on who's doing the harming," she shot back. "After all, you've been going out of your way to inflict some sort of harm on me since the day we got married, starting with your refusal to kiss me during our vows."

Even if I had a good reason for treating her the way that I'd had- which I didn't -we were at a point in our relationship where she wouldn't believe a word I said, even if The Lord came down from the sky to vouch for me, and I could hardly blame her. After all, my disrespectful treatment of her was the very reason why she believed that I was capable of putting a hit on her.

Trying one last time, I said, "Shea, even if I allow you to leave, I'm still going to go after you."

"I'm not thinking that far ahead, Mr. Murphy," she sneered. "Right now, I'm just trying to save my life."

"Baby-"

"Quit calling me that!" she yelled again.

As I stared at my wife, it was clear that she wasn't going to tell me shit, and the only way that I was going to find out anything was to question Craig, something that I was eager to do. Right now, I had no idea what she'd overheard, so Craig could be involved, or he could not. I honestly had no idea, and it was eating at me like acid ate its way through almost everything to not know what was going on.

So, needing to find out what the fuck was going on, I said, "I'll let you drive out of here, but know that I'll be coming after you, Shea."

"Then why let me leave?" she posed.

"Because if you shoot me, Naill will kill you," I told her truthfully. "Despite my orders, he will kill you because no one wants to be the one to have to tell Declan how they let you walk out of here after having shot or killed me." She looked around a bit warily, but she knew that I wasn't lying. "Baby, I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Her dark eyes shot my way. "You've already let plenty happen to me, Mr. Murphy," she stated evenly. "Honestly, at this point, I'm not sure why you didn't order your men to kill me on the spot."

"You're my wife," I told her for the millionth time.

"I'm not your wife," she argued. "I'm a pawn shop that The O'Brien wanted, so stop speaking to me like I'm an idiot, because I'm not."

"Shea, you're my wife," I repeated. "For better or worse, you are my wife. That's what you promised me. That's what you promised me, The Lord, and our families."

"Which is exactly why you're implementing the ‘til death do us part portion of our vows," she fired back. "The only way to keep your word is to get rid of me, but you're out of your mind if you think that I'm going to make it easy for you."

"Then why am I allowing you to live, lass?" I challenged. "If you think that the gun in your hands was the only one on my person, you're mistaken."

Shea's beautiful eyes never left mine as she made her way towards her car, and all I could do was slip my hands in my pockets and watch her. Even though hot rage was coursing through my veins, the safest thing that I could do for her was to let her leave, protecting her from her own recklessness.

Nevertheless, I was going after her, and God help her then.