Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

Piper

W e arrive alive at what the twins called the compound and once Bryan parks the car, Brendan gets out and I have the space to roll away from where I've had my face plastered to the back seat for the last ten minutes.

"Easy, Piper." Brendan jogs around to the other side of the car and helps me get out. "Sorry about the rough ride. It sounds like your family's brute squad is out for blood today."

It's crazy to see my brothers and Da's men through the eyes of the Quinn family.

They think we're thugs bent on violence.

Isn't that normal? Isn't that what all crime families are like?

When I'm out of the car, Brendan takes a step back and I blink. We're parked under a covered porch in front of a beautiful stone castle on a giant piece of rolling green land. "Wow. Where are we?"

"This is our house." Bryan gestures for us to head toward the door. "Or, as we call it, the compound."

I chuckle and follow him, Brendan walking behind me as we go. Surely that's a coincidence and not them keeping me safe at their own home, right?

We step inside a grand entrance and I'm more confused than ever. "Why am I here?"

Brendan shrugs. "Tag said to bring you here, so here you are."

We're barely in the door when a woman with long, mahogany hair comes rushing down the stairs. "Thank goodness you're here. Did you hear about Sean?"

The panic in her expression makes my stomach flip. It also makes me wonder if anyone at my house looked this worried when they heard about me getting beaten and being missing.

The little girl in me hopes so, but I doubt it.

"Madelaine, this is Piper McGuire, youngest of the McGuire clan." Bryan gestures between the woman and me. "Piper, this is Madelaine, Tag's better half."

"By a long margin," Brendan adds.

Madelaine playfully smacks Brendan's arm. "I go by Laine, and you can ignore these two and their smart mouths. They adore their brother almost as much as I do. Come in. From what I've heard, you've had a rough three days."

Is that all it's been? Man, it feels like forever.

Laine's gaze falls to the box tucked in my arm and a smile plays at the corners of her mouth. She says nothing, so I figure I'll offer the explanation before the entire family thinks I have a strange fixation on rice.

Reaching in, I pull out my phone and show her. "It got dunked by my attackers and Sean said a couple of days in rice might dry it out."

"Ah, well, it'll likely also be dead. If you give it to Bryan, he can take it to the office and find you a charger."

The idea of giving them my phone—my only link to my family—makes me uneasy, but I'm not even sure I would call them if I could.

Technically, I'm sure I could borrow a phone or use a landline if I truly wanted to speak to anyone.

I'm not sure I do.

"Or not." Laine raises her palm to Bryan who has his hand out waiting for me to hand over the rice and the phone. "You can keep it, but I can tell you right now, Tag won't be happy if you have it. He's protective of his family and won't like you having the opportunity to betray our kindness."

I straighten and hand Bryan both. "I would never do that. When I go home— if I go home—it won't be a secret or a strategic maneuver. It'll be because I have a plan and want to see my father's face when I tell him what I think about him and what he did to me."

Laine frowns. "I'm so sorry. The entire ordeal must've been devastating for you."

Words could never express how much, so I say nothing. I don't want to cry in front of Sean's family. They've been good to me—better than I imagined possible—but they're still strangers.

"I hate to be rude, but I'm not feeling up to much more. Is there somewhere I can lie down?"

Laine nods. "Of course. Cora got one of the guest rooms ready for you. Come. I'll get you settled."

I follow Laine upstairs, each step making it harder to lift my feet. Whether it's my injuries, the adrenaline let-down after the car chase, or worrying about Sean, all the life has drained out of me.

We get to the top of the steps and take a right. After passing a couple of bedrooms, Laine stops at an open door and gestures for me to go in first. "This is you. You have your own bathroom and there's a little terrace behind those sheers that overlook the pond."

"All I care about is that there's a bed."

Laine nods. "I remember that feeling all too well."

I'm not sure what she means by that, but I don't have the energy to ask. My feet are already shuffling toward the grand, four-poster, and I've never seen anything more inviting. "If you get any news about Sean, will you let me know? He's been so good to me. I hate the idea that he's hurt because of my family."

Laine steps toward the hall and reaches for the handle to close the door. "I promise. Now, get some rest. You're safe here, Piper. We've got you."

When the door clicks shut, I half-expect to hear a lock shifting into place, but the house is quiet.

So quiet, I don't even have time to pull a blanket over me before I'm out cold.

It must be hours later when Laine comes to wake me because it's dark out and my stomach is growling like a bear coming out of hibernation.

"Did you sleep well?" she asks.

"Too well. My father would smack me for letting my guard down and leaving myself vulnerable while behind enemy lines."

Laine shakes her head. "But you're not behind enemy lines, Piper. No one here faults you for the actions of your family. None of us controls the family we're born into. It's the luck of the draw."

I don't want to think about why fate gave me to people like Matthew and Samantha McGuire. It certainly wasn't to be loved. It's crazy but I've learned more about love and acceptance in the past few days than I did the twenty years of living with my family.

My stomach gives off a long cry for sustenance, and Laine chuckles. "How about we get you a quick sandwich before the boys get here? It'll take them a few minutes to get Sean upstairs and settled, anyway."

"Get him settled? So he's good?"

"The doc said surgery went well, and that the blade didn't perforate any vital organs. If he takes it easy for a few days and doesn't pull the stitches, he'll be back on his bike and tearing up the streets before we know it."

I press a hand against the lump in my throat and my eyes well up with tears. Staring up at the ceiling above the bed, I fight to rein in my emotions. "I'm so relieved. Brendan said Billy and his crew were here looking for me. If Sean died because of me, I would never survive it."

"Well, he's expected to make a full recovery, so you can let yourself off the hook."

I don't think I can, but I'm still relieved.

Sitting up, I give my side a moment to protest me moving around. Once the aches and pains ease, I slide off the bed and join Laine by the door.

It takes longer than I thought before Brendan comes to the kitchen to tell us Sean is settled. So long, in fact, that I've not only eaten my sandwich, but also two pieces of the most incredible raspberry mousse chocolate cake.

"I think I might explode." I pat my belly as Laine and I head up the stairs.

Laine laughs. "When I first arrived here last month, I had the same problem. Cora's food is beyond addictive."

"Last month? Oh, I thought…you seem so at home here. I thought you and Tag might've been together for a long while."

"Nope. It's just very easy to feel at home here. The Quinn boys are special. They accepted me into their home and I'm hoping that your time here will give you a different perspective than one you might've been raised with being isolated by your family."

It already has.

We arrive at a bedroom in the same wing as my room and my heart stops beating when I see Sean lying in the bed, bandaged and pale, with Tag and his brothers hovering over him.

"Sean, what happened?" Without meaning to, I rush forward, my eyes glassing up so badly I can't see Sean behind the wall of tears.

He raises his hand as I rush over to sit on the side of the bed. "I'm okay."

"I'm so sorry. This is because of me, isn't it? You got hurt because you helped me."

"No," Sean says.

"Yes," Tag snaps.

Sean gives his older brother a dirty look and Tag shrugs. "It's the fucking truth. If you hadn't taken home yet another wounded stray, Ryan and Gravely wouldn't have come gunning for us on the north side."

"She's not a wounded stray." The scowl Sean throws at his brother murderous. "Piper is an innocent woman who was hurt by mafia business as much as or more than a hundred citizens we've protected. Your only hang up is her last name, but that doesn't change the situation."

"Doesn't it?"

"No. It doesn't. And if that's the way you're planning on treating her, we'll fucking leave right now." Sean flips the sheets back and starts to get out of the bed.

All of his brothers curse and jump forward at once.

"Simmer down, killer." Brendan leans in and prevents Sean from getting up. "No one's going anywhere."

Finn nods at the end of the bed. "Doc Kelvin said no movement today, Sean. He wants you lying perfectly still until the stitches heal."

I stare at the wide swath of white gauze bound around his middle and wonder how bad the damage is. Usually, staring at his chest is hot and sexy because of all the ink. That's not the case now. "I'm so sorry."

Sean waves a weak hand in the air. "It's nothing to worry about and you have nothing to apologize for."

Tag frowns and takes off the long-sleeved shirt he's wearing. His arms and torso are stained with blood, and Laine gasps. "Dammit, Tag. You said you weren't hurt."

"I'm not. This is his blood. I used my shirt to pack the wound and because the blade was stuck into his side hilt-deep, we had to leave it there until we got him to the clinic. He's playing it off as nothing, but if I hadn't gotten there when I did, Sean would be the one dead."

The image of a knife sticking into his side to the hilt is sickening. That's really deep. I'm trying to push the visual of that out of my mind when Tag's words register completely. "The one dead? Did Billy Gravely do this? Is Billy dead?"

My mind spins with what that might mean for me and for my brothers. Da makes the calls, but Billy is the one who executes the horrors.

If Billy's dead, I would be safer, but my brothers wouldn't be.

It takes a moment for me to realize that everyone in the room has gone quiet and all eyes are on me. "What? Why are all of you staring at me?"

Sean squeezes my hand again and offers me a sad smile. "Do you remember when I told you we have a protection order out on all McGuires…that everyone in our organization knows not to draw first blood on your family?"

I swallow, but my mouth remains dry. "Of course. It blows my mind. My father would never give you guys the same consideration."

"No, he wouldn't," Tag snaps.

Sean flashes his brother a look, and my anxiety ratchets up a couple of notches. "Sean? Tell me what happened, please. All of it. The truth."

He nods. "We had business at the docks, and I got word that McGuires had crossed to the north side of the river and were incoming. Two trucks arrived moments later, and it was an all-out battle."

"Was it my fault? Did they come at you and your men because of me?"

"It's not your fault. Your father has been breaking the truce agreements more and more over the past months. But yes, Ryan was leading the charge, shouting about me needing to give you back so they could fix your mess."

"Fix my mess? Ryan thinks me fighting off pervy Russians and running for my life is me messing up? I really hoped my brothers would be on my side."

"I'm sorry, P. That's what he said."

"Okay, then what?"

"Then the docks exploded into a battlefield. Ryan was gunning for me, so I holstered my weapon. We went at it fist to fist and I was besting him."

Brendan grunts. "Of course you were."

"Gravely saw that Ryan had lost the battle, and so he clocked me on the back of the head and took me down." Sean turns to show me the back of his head and the blood matted into his hair.

I reach up and touch the swelling. "That's one hell of an egg."

"Aye. It hurts as much as my side does."

"So, Ryan was down, and Billy hit you. Then was it Billy who stabbed you?"

"No. My guys saw Gravely hit me and two of them rushed to help. I was dizzy and couldn't see…that's when Ryan tackled me and stuck me with his blade."

I'm following the story, and see the finish line coming. Even though I think I know what's coming next, I need to hear him say it. "You killed Ryan?"

"No, I did." Tag's admission hits me hard, but there's not one ounce of remorse in his gaze. "Our truce only goes so far. When I got there, Ryan had Sean down and was about to finish him. I stepped in and took the shot."

The news hits me like a physical blow to the stomach. I can't breathe. Another one of my brothers is dead at the hands of the Quinns.

Sean squeezes my hand again. "I'm sorry, Piper. Your brother is dead. It was him or me."

I pull my hand free and cross my arms. A crushing weight of guilt and disloyalty presses at me from all directions. I convinced myself that Sean and his brothers were a different kind of crime family.

But when it comes down to it, they're still the enemy.

I stand, unable to meet Sean's gaze. "If you'll all excuse me. I'd like to go lie down."