Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Piper

T he twins and I have a rather uneventful lunch and are cleaning up the kitchen when Brendan's phone rings. "Hey, Tag. What's up, brother?"

He tosses the dishcloth on the counter and shifts to look out the kitchen window. "No, nothing. Why?"

There's another long pause, and his easy smile morphs into a furious scowl. "How bad is he? Fuck. Okay, got it. We're on our way."

He hangs up the phone and meets Bryan's gaze. "Start the car. We're bugging out. Piper, grab what you need. We're blown. McGuires are on the north side. Gravely's coming."

" What?! " My heart races as I grab my pills, the box of Minute Rice, and my purse off the counter.

Brendan flashes me the funniest expression ever. "Really? I tell you the walls are closing in and the rice is what you choose in an emergency? You're an odd duck."

There's no time to respond because in the next instant, Bryan honks the horn of the car outside and Brendan escorts me through the safe house, out the side door, and practically wraps his bulk around me like a fire blanket until we're in the back seat.

"Go. Go. Go."

Bryan hits the gas, and we pull out. He takes the turn onto the street so fast I'm flung to the side and drop the box of rice.

Brendan catches me, sits me back up, and reaches over my shoulder to strap me in.

"Did you just spill something in my car?" Bryan's brows tighten in the rearview mirror.

"Nope. Nothing to see here," Brendan lies.

There's a mountain of white instant grain on the floorboard and a snowstorm of the stuff sticking into the black carpets.

Brendan makes a face and shakes his head. "Straight to the compound."

"You asked how bad ‘he' is. Who's down?"

"Sean took a blade to the belly. They're racing him to Kelvin's clinic."

"Fuck. It must be bad if they're not going to deal with it back home."

My heart was racing about Billy Gravely coming to get me, but it shudders and misses a beat at the mention of Sean being stabbed."

"We need to go to the clinic. He's hurt."

Brendan shakes his head. "No. Tag was clear. You're to be taken to the family compound. Sean wouldn't agree to treatment until he promised we'd take you there."

What? Sean's been stabbed and, by the sound of it, seriously wounded and he's fighting with his brother to get me to safety? My resolve to not fall for Sean Quinn is quickly fading to dust.

Remember to keep private things private.

Sean's words echo in my mind, and I make a mental note to calm myself and keep my feelings more well-guarded. "Who stabbed him?"

"He didn't say." Brendan has his gun in his hand and is scanning the streets as houses and shops blur past.

"What did he say?" I hold up my hands, realizing how harshly that came out. "Sorry."

Brendan pats my knee. "It's fine. We're all on edge."

"We picked up a tail." Bryan's gaze in the rearview mirror narrows. "Blue pickup. Four cars back."

"Piper, lay down and face the back of the seat." Brendan slides to the front of the seat and unbuckles my belt. He makes room for me to lay down and I do as he says as quickly as my sore ribs will allow.

My head's spinning. "This is all my fault."

"We don't know that, sweetheart. No need to borrow trouble when we've got enough as it is."

He's just being nice. I know, to the marrow of my bones, that the attack on Sean and them saying the McGuires are on this side of the river are related.

"We gotta lose this asshole before I head to the compound," Bryan says.

The hum of Brendan putting down the window precedes him readjusting his bulky frame in the back seat. "Sorry, Piper. I don't mean to squash you."

"You're fine. I'm fine."

"Good girl. You're doing great. Just give us another five minutes and all will be well."

Five minutes? That seems like forever.

"Bren, I'm going to take us into those warehouses where Jimmy bought his kitchen equipment. It's remote, and the layout is fucked up. We can either lose them or you can get a couple of shots off without causing a huge commotion."

"Sounds like a plan, little brother."

Bryan snorts. "Two fucking minutes."

"That still makes me older."

Bryan makes a hard right turn and laughs. "You likely shoved me to the side so you could get out first."

"Are you saying a guy can't be assertive in the womb?"

I close my eyes. How can they joke when Sean's hurt and we're being chased through the Dublin Streets? The Quinns are a different breed of men, that's for sure.

"All right," Bryan says. "One more turn and we'll be there. You ready?"

"I was fucking born ready."

Sean

The ride to Kelvin's clinic is a shit show, and every bump seems to tear the hole in my side a little wider. Or, at least, that's how it feels.

Tag has the split seat down and is lying half in the back seat and half in the trunk. He's got one hand holding his fancy-ass designer shirt against my wound, and the other holding his phone against his ear. "We're coming in hot, Kelvin. Clear a path."

Oh, this is going to piss off the good doc.

Kelvin has a legit surgical practice and hates it when we interfere with the optics of him being just another Dublin doctor.

He's going to bill Tag a small fortune for showing up in his clinic.

The SUV makes a jerky stop, and I curse. "Fucking hell, Aiden. Easy on the fucking pedals."

But no one is listening to me.

Aiden is out of the front and opening the back in a split second. It's the first time I've seen him since the clusterfuck of him losing his head over Siobhan and killing Piper's brother, Declan.

A couple of weeks ago, I didn't understand how a woman could make him so volatile and reckless.

Now, knowing that Piper's in trouble, I get it.

Aiden reaches in to put pressure on my side and meets Tag's gaze. "I've got him, T. Go get the doc. A gurney probably wouldn't hurt either."

I must've passed out for a bit because the next thing I know, I'm lying on a cold, steel table and I'm being blinded by overhead lights.

"Shit, he's waking up. Sean, I need you to stay still. I've got my fingers in your side and I'm currently plugging a hole. Don't move. Nancy, give him another dose of anesthesia and send him back to dreamland."

I recognize Kelvin's voice, although his tone is more agitated than usual.

"Nancy's got the mask over your face. Deep breaths."

I take a couple of deep breaths and the world melts away.