Page 177 of Beneath the Mountain Sky

He sighs. “I don’t think they are saying no jail time, but she might get sent to a lower security facility, something like that.” He shakes his head. “There’s no fucking way the DA is letting her walk away from her role in all this.”

I release the breath I’ve been holding.

Killian moves closer until he’s towering over where I sit on the couch, staring down at me with enough concern that I think he might actually hand Niall off to Liam to take me in his arms instead.

“Honeybee? You all right?”

“Umm.” I nod, even though I don’t really feel all right. The last thing I need is to give him more to worry about. “Yeah. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. He wasn’t all there…”

It doesn’t excuse what he did to me.

Nothing could.

And given the way he treated me, thinking I was his wife, given the fact that she fled from him with their child twenty years ago, he’s never been a good man.

They might need Amy to testify about what she knows about all of this, especially given her medical training.

I should have seen this as a potential outcome and prepared myself for it.

Liam slides his hand over my free one and squeezes. His first reaction to anything Connor has said. I look over at him through the tears, and he gives me a hard smile.

The man is his father.

His mother died trying to prevent him from suffering at Earl’s hands.

And Amy is his only other living relative.

We’re bonded in this for life, and the look he gives me tells me he understands completely how I feel, even if he shares blood with my assailant and his accomplice.

Raven moves out of the way, disappearing into the kitchen to get another drink while Killian squats in front of me, Niall still cradled in one large arm, while he holds the bottle to his mouth with the other hand.

Our eyes lock, and the confidence I see in his gaze is enough to steady my heartbeat.

“That man will never hurt anyone again. He will never get near you or our son again. Neither will Amy. I promise you that. If either of them tries, I’ll finish what I started on the mountain.”

KILLIAN

The soft sound of the rain hitting the roof and windows creates an almost lullaby now that the major part of the storm has passed. Without the thunder startling the baby awake, we finally have a chance of getting Niall to settle down for the night.

I watch Willow bent over the bassinet in the corner of the bedroom. She leans in and kisses him before she turns and makes her way back to me.

Willow climbs into bed, pulling the sheet and comforter up over herself as I wrap my arms around her and tug her tightly against me.

“He’s asleep?”

She nods and releases a relieved sigh.

It’s been a long day—as have all of them recently—but the news about Earl and Amy has rattled me more than I would ever admit to her. Willow doesn’t need my anger and frustration to compound whatever she’s feeling.

That fucker deserves to die for what he did to her, and Amy is no better.

I should have ended it on the mountain when I had the chance.

Even if he had never taken Willow, he deserves to see the business side of my axe for what he did to his wife and what would have happened to Liam if she hadn’t saved him.

A little shiver rolls through Willow, something that happens far too often for my liking, and I drag my lips across her shoulder blades. “What’s wrong?”

She shakes her head. “Nothing.”