Chapter 16

Keavy~

A s soon as the guard got close enough with the tray, I yanked my hands from the loosened rope, then fisted my hands together, bringing them upwards between his legs, and the tray went crashing to the floor as he howled in pain, his body dropping like I'd been hoping.

Standing up, I dropped all my weight onto his withering frame, and when I heard him howl some more, I knew that I'd done some damage with the metal chair. For good measure, I stood up, then fell on him a second time, needing him incapacitated long enough for me to untie my legs from the chair.

Working at the speed of light, I freed myself from the chair, then knelt down to push his large body over, and the second that I did, I saw the gun tucked in his waistband, thanking God for the Mob's predictability. Yanking it out of his pants, I raced towards the cage door, but he was able to grab my ankle, pulling me down with enough force to make my shoulder rattle against the stone floor.

Kicking with all my might, I landed a direct hit in the middle of his head, then ignoring the crunching sounds of his face caving in, I scrambled to my feet again, then raced out of the O'Brien's makeshift prison. With the gun held close to my chest like Cian had taught me, I ran up the stairs, then pushed open the door, ready for whatever awaited me.

Turning the first corner to my left, I found myself inside a kitchen, and looking around, the place looked like a simple home, but I knew that it wasn't. With not having any idea of where I was going, I ran through the kitchen, but as I turned right, then ran through the small hallway, I came out the other end to Declan, Noah, and two other men stopping in their tracks once they saw me.

The goddamn cameras.

I raised the gun, knowing better than to point it at anyone other than Declan O'Brien himself. The guards- if they were just guards -were disposable, and though Noah Murphy was an important player in the organization, it was Declan's life that mattered the most, so as long as he was being directly threatened, then the others would fall in line.

Declan put his palm out in a calming motion as he said, "Baby, put the gun down."

"Because your men are going to put theirs down?" I snorted, three guns pointed in my direction, not fazing me one damn bit.

"Keavy-"

"I'm getting out of here, Declan," I told him. "Over your dead body or with you holding the door open for me, I don't care either way." His chin went up at that, and it really was a shame that he was such a good-looking bastard. "However, I am getting out of here."

"They'll kill you before you make it even one step towards the door," he said, and if this wasn't a Mexican standoff, then I didn't know what was.

Learning from my mistake earlier, I moved to the right, putting the wall at my back, so that no one could sneak up on me from behind, and all three guns followed my every movement. It was also unfortunate that I was going to die this way. I knew that killing Declan was the only way that I was going to get out of here, and I also knew that his men were going to kill me before his body even hit the floor. Still, staying here wasn't an option.

"They might kill me," I conceded. "But not before I take you with me."

"Baby, put da feckin' gun down," he bit out, and that was the second time that he called me baby, but I chose to ignore it because I had more important things to deal with at the moment. I also chose to ignore how his accent only came out when he was angry, something that I'd consider charming if my life wasn't on the line right now.

"Not going to happen," I replied, my voice making it clear that I wasn't messing around.

"If ye shoot me, ye better aim straight, lass," he said, and nothing was sexier on a man than confidence. "If ye miss…well, ye better no' miss."

"Get out of my way, then we can all move on with our lives and live happily ever after," I said, knowing that he was never going to let me go freely.

"Declan-"

"Dinna, Noah," Declan bit out, and I knew that Noah had been about to ask permission to kill me.

Making my second rookie mistake, I should have made sure that the guard was dead or passed out before taking off, because just as Noah Murphy had been ready to kill me, the guard from downstairs came barreling around the corner, and with no choice but to protect myself, I turned the gun from Declan to the guard, then shot him in the chest twice, sending him flying backwards.

His warm blood coated the right side of my face and shoulder, but that hardly mattered before I felt someone's arms wrap around me from behind, trapping my arms at my sides, Noah appearing before me, yanking the gun from my hand, winning this round. His glowing blue eyes were filled with a mixture of anger and pride, and it was a point against him that he was just as good-looking as his cousin.

"Well, that'd be ‘ree of our men da she's killed so far," he drawled out. "Inna sure if I should'a be pissed or impressed."

"'Ave ye lost yer feckin' mind?" Declan snapped, ignoring his cousin's pointless remarks.

I threw my head back to hit Declan in the face, but he quickly dodged out of the way as Noah said, "We all know that move, lass."

"No doubt," I retorted as my right foot came down on Declan's shoe, my left arm escaping.

"Jesus feckin' Christ," Declan swore, and it wasn't until Declan, Noah, and one of the two guards had me subdued that I stopped fighting.

"Maybe we should call Lochlan," Noah suggested.

"Inna druggin' ‘er again," Declan snapped, making me feel marginally better. I felt his chest expand against my back before he added, "Take care o' Tyler, an' I'll handle this."

As soon as the other two men let me go, Declan had a gun pointed to my head, and while I wasn't afraid to die, there was still a chance of me getting out of here alive if Declan wasn't already shooting me dead. I had no idea what he had planned next, but my odds would be better if it was just me and him in the room.

"Are you sure?" Noah asked him, and if Declan was offended by the question, he didn't show it.

"I'm sure," Declan bit out.

"If ye say so," Noah muttered.

I didn't say anything as Declan wrapped his hand around my arm tightly, almost making me wince. "We'r gonna go upstairs, an' if ye give me any trouble, I will kill ye."

Like a dutiful captive, I let Declan walk me upstairs, and my eyes scanned everything that they could during the trip to wherever we were going because the more I learned about this place, the better. Cian had taught me to fight for my life until my last dying breath, and that's what I planned on doing. No matter what awaited me when Declan finally got me to where we were going, it wasn't over for me.

When we finally reached the second floor, Declan pulled me with him down the hallway towards the left side of the landing, and I was surprised when he opened the last door on the right, pushing me into what looked like someone's bedroom. There were enough personal effects scattered around that you could easily tell that it wasn't a simple guest room.

I turned around when I heard the lock on the door engage, and my back straightened when I realized that a two-story fall might sprain an ankle or break a leg, making my escape a little more complicated now. Of course, there was still the option of running right through Declan O'Brien, but I had a feeling that I'd have better success with the window.

"What now?" I asked as Declan still held his gun on me.

His dark blue eyes raked me from head to toe, and that heated feeling was back, something that I still didn't appreciate. We were already playing a dangerous game without throwing attraction into the mix, and since I wasn't one to lie to myself, it was plain as day that I was attracted to the man that currently would love to do nothing more than shoot me on the spot.

"Now? Now, yer gonna stop killin' my men," he bit out, still angry.

I lifted my chin at that order. "I will as soon as you and your men leave me the hell alone."

Declan slowly made his way across the room, his steps measured and purposeful, the predator eyeing his prey, though we both knew that I wasn't quite the prey that he was used to. Halfway across the room, I watched as he placed the gun on a shelf that was too high for me to reach, but that didn't mean that I still wouldn't try. The gun also looked out of place next to some knickknacks and a picture of him and a bunch of other guys that looked like him, presumably more O'Briens.

When Declan stopped in front of me, his hand shot up to circle around my throat, but I didn't try to fight him off because I wanted to see where this was going. Curiosity had me playing my cards close to the vest, especially since we both knew that he should have just killed me already.

"You and I are going to come to a little understanding, or so help me God, I will put a bullet through your beautiful head, then just call it a day," he threatened, no longer angry.

"I thought I already told you that you needed permission to touch me," I said defiantly.

"You killing three of my men gave me all the fucking permission that I needed," he shot back.