Chapter 33

Noah~

W hen Craig's connections hadn't texted back immediately with confirmation of the meeting time or place, I hadn't been too concerned because they would have had to be super stupid to just agree to a blind meeting. You didn't survive long in this life if you didn't do a little recognizance when working, and it would make sense that they'd want to canvas the meeting area before agreeing.

Nevertheless, what I hadn't expected was for them to show up at my fucking building to try to kill my wife again. Luckily, Cathal hadn't killed Craig yet, so while Declan and I had taken off like a couple of madmen, James and Cathal had stayed back to find out just how in the fuck they'd known where I lived and how to get into the goddamn garage. While all the signs pointed to Craig's bad judgement, there was no way that we weren't going to make an example out of him now.

As soon as I entered the garage, Odhran was there to meet me, and he'd been smart enough to leave the dead bodies for me and Declan. While I had no doubt that Odhran had already checked the bodies, this was personal, and I wanted to know the faces of the men that had gone after my wife.

"She's okay," Odhran said as soon as I was close enough to hear him. "She's helping Lochlan with Keagan, but she's okay."

While I wanted to see Shea, I knew that I needed to calm down before I did. Used to feeling very little about life in general, these past couple of weeks had done their job in turning me into a raving lunatic when it came to my wife, and I could admit not knowing how to deal with all these feelings maturely or rationally.

Before I could say anything more, Declan's car was racing through the garage, then he parked right next to me and was out of his vehicle. Luckily for the both of us, we'd been observant enough not to have run over the two dead bodies, but even if we'd had, I would have learned how to live with it.

As soon as Declan got out of his car, he walked over to Andros and Sergey, then snapped a picture of their faces. "I'll confirm tha' the're no' Kotov's men."

"What the fuck happened?" I finally asked, though Odhran had already told me over the phone.

"They either snuck in while one of us was driving through or someone gave them the code to the building," he answered. "Their guns both had silencers, but Keagan's didn't. So, when Shea shot them, though it was faint, the sound of gunfire could be heard in the lobby. Donal and Kerry heard it, then sounded the alarm. When we got to the garage, Shea was still shooting an empty gun into the two very dead bodies."

"Did you ask her what happened?"

Odhran shook his head. "No. Since she was fine, Lochlan prioritized securing the building and fixing Keagan up."

"And you're sure that my wife is unharmed?"

"She said that she was," he replied, wording his answer in a way that didn't make him a liar.

"Go see ta Shea," Declan ordered. "We'll take care o' da bodies."

I gave him a terse nod before heading to the clinic, something that I was immensely grateful for now. While it'd always been practical and beneficial to have a couple of these in place, with as close as Shea had come to dying again, it was comforting to know that Lochlan would have been able to save her in time.

Leaving Declan and Odhran to dispose of the bodies, I made my way towards the clinic, and noticed Connor standing at the door. His back straightened when he saw me, and while none of this was any of their faults, I understood why they might be feeling a bit on edge around me right now.

"Donal and the guys are canvasing five blocks out, so I thought I'd watch the door while they worked on Keagan," he said as soon as I approached him. "We don't need any more surprises."

"I agree," I replied before walking past him, then into the room.

As soon as I walked in, I saw Shea standing on the other side of the operating table, her hands gloved up as Lochlan stood on the other side, doing what he did best, and that was patching up our guys. Many of our men owed their lives to Lochlan's brilliant surgical skills, and if anyone could save Keagan, it was Lochlan.

"How much longer are you going to be?" I asked, and while Shea's head snapped sideways in my direction, Lochlan kept his eyes on his patient.

"I just removed the bullet," he answered. "So, about an hour or so…no more than two."

"And you need Shea for this?"

Lochlan finally looked up at me, and whatever it was that he saw on my face, it made him say, "No. While having her here does help me, I've done this alone a million times, Noah."

Shea's eyes flashed with anger. "I'm not leaving," she bit out. "He got hurt because I wanted to check on my car, Noah." She started shaking her head at me. "I'm not going to not help him now."

"You'll do what I fucking tell you, lass," I snapped. "Do I make myself fucking clear?"

"I'll hate you if you don't let me help him," she threatened.

"Since you already hate me, that's not really the threat that you think it is," I shot back.

Her eyes began to water with a rage that I could feel coming from deep within her soul. "Stop trying to have me killed, and then maybe I won't hate you quite so much."

"Noah, either let her help me or take her out of here," Lochlan said. "I need to concentrate."

I wanted to drag Shea out of here, then force her upstairs. I wanted to lock her up in our penthouse, never letting her out ever again. I wanted to know what happened, and then I wanted to strip her naked, so that I could see for myself that she was unharmed. Truthfully, I wanted to burn the entire city to the fucking ground with how enraged I was. I was finally in love for the first and only time in my life, and God kept trying to take her from me as a form of punishment for all my sins.

Shea stared at me, waiting for me to make my decision, and even though it was going to put an even deeper chasm between us, it was an easy choice. For the safety of everyone around us, my mental state of mind was more important than her helping Lochlan. Like he'd stated earlier, this wasn't anything that he hadn't already done a million times over. He knew how to work with one hand tied behind his back, so he really didn't need Shea's help.

"Lochlan has this handled," I told her. "I need you to come with me, lass."

Those tears of rage finally spilled over, and the hole in my chest just kept getting bigger with how much my wife hated me. Nevertheless, there wasn't anything that I could do about it. Shea believed that I wanted her dead, and no matter what I said or did, that was never going to change. This second attempt on her life had reversed any progress that I might have made these past couple of days, and I knew it like I knew the back of my hand.

"You're a bastard," she said before she started taking off her gloves.

Giving a little, I said, "Someone just tried to kill you again, Shea. I need you with me more than Lochlan needs your help."

"I promised him that he was going to be okay," she replied evenly, not remarking on what I was feeling right now.

"Noah," Lochlan snapped, and only family could speak to me in that tone, but I understood it. He was trying to save a man's life right now.

"Let's go, Shea," I ordered.

With her head held high, Shea stormed past me, and as soon as we cleared the doorway, I told Connor, "Go back in there and help Lochlan with anything that he needs."

What my wife didn't understand was that we'd all been doing this a really long time, so everyone in the O'Brien organization knew how to do CPR, sew a stitch, stop bleeding, and remove a bullet if absolutely necessary, though we usually left that educated shit to Lochlan. Nevertheless, my brother didn't need her help, but I thought that ordering Connor to help him might make the spitfire that I was married to a little less pissed off at me.

Once we got to the elevators, I turned on my wife, crowding her up against the opposite corner of the keypad. Grabbing her chin in between my fingers, I said, "I will only say this to you once, Shea. You may speak to me any way that you want to when we're alone, no matter what you're feeling. However, even if it is only one of my brothers, you will never challenge me in front of anyone ever again. Do I make myself clear, lass?"

"Perfectly," she bit out, her dark eyes glittering with hate.

"Everything I do, I do because I can't lose you," I told her. "So, if I'm ordering you to stand down, it's to make sure that nothing happens to you."

It'd been the wrong thing to say.

"If you had any decency, even an ounce, you'd let me go," she said. "You're the reason that someone keeps trying to kill me, and if you love me like you claim, then for safety reasons, you'd let me go, Noah."

"I'll never let you go, baby," I replied truthfully. "Never."

"Then take your declarations of love and shove them up your ass," she fired back.