Page 144 of Brutal Heir

A voice roars behind us. “Brigid!” Conall.

I freeze, just for a second. My old name is like a whip across my back.

But Alessandro squeezes my hand tighter. “You’re not his anymore,” he snarls. “You’re mine.”

We tear down the back path toward the escape vehicle. The Quinlans are trying to regroup, but they caught them off guard, outnumbered and outgunned. Still, they’ll keep coming. Until Conall’s dead or I am.

We reach the SUV just as Matteo rounds the corner. “Let’s move!”

A flash of motion at the manor’s edge catches my eye. Conall.

Bloodied. Snarling. Gun in hand.

He raises it and aims at Alessandro.

No.No. No. I will not lose him.

I don’t think. I move. I shove Alessandro just as the shot rings out.

Fire rips through my chest like a hot poker. I hit the ground hard, tasting blood in the back of my throat. The lace clings to me, soaked in crimson, and for a terrifying second, I can’t breathe.

“Rory!” Alessandro’s hands are on me in seconds, lifting me, eyes wild with terror.

“I’m fine,” I grit out through the pain. “Just a graze, I’m sure.” But I can already see the spot of deep crimson blossoming across the white lace growing larger.

Alessandro spins, gun already aimed, but with me in his arms, Matteo’s faster. He fires once, and Conall crumples to the dirt like the piece of shite he is. Then Alessandro shoots off a dozen more rounds until my ex-fiancé goes still.

Silence. Just for a second.

“Let’s go!” Matteo shouts.

Alessandro lifts me into the SUV like I weigh nothing, cradling me against him as the engine roars to life. I’m cold. Socold. I press my face into his chest, breathing him in, still not sure this isn’t some dream. His arms tighten around me, one hand shaking as it brushes my hair back.

“You’re safe now,” he murmurs, voice cracking.

I open my mouth to say something, anything, but there’s too little oxygen. I’m fading.

Shite. The bullet must have grazed a lung. I’m suffocating.

“Please, Rory, please stay with me,” Ale whispers, throat raw. “I’ve got you…”

And I believe him. Even as the scene around me blurs and black edges into the corners of my vision.

I’m slipping, drowning in the dark…

Will I ever get the chance to tell Alessandro I love him again?

CHAPTER 55

STILL FIGHTING

Alessandro

“Don’t you dare leave me, Rory…” I whisper, cradling her in my arms across the back seat of the car. “Not now. Not ever.” She’s too cold. Her blood seeps through my shirt, soaking into my skin.The SUV races across the country roads, skidding over gravel. Muffled, frenzied voices blur in the background, but I can’t make them out. Rory is all that matters.

She’s too still, too quiet, those lively eyes closed off from the rest of the world. I press my lips to her forehead. “You can’t do this to me,” I murmur against her icy skin. “You’re the one that brought me back from the dead. You made me want to live. You can’t just do that and then abandon me. Please, Red, stay with me.”

Isabella sits beside me, but I’m barely aware of her presence as she holds a scarf to Rory’s wound. It’s soaked in blood, growing a deeper red by the second. I don’t dare meet my cousin’s eyes because despite her impeccable bedside manner,she can’t hide the truth from me. I’ve known her my entire life, and I can see the fear in her gaze.