Page 45 of Stolen Temptation (Irish Kings #3)

Rory

Waking up with a hole in my chest isn’t an experience I’d recommend, but at least I’m alive. Hurts like hell, though.

I’ve been shot before, a stray bullet to the arm and a graze to my thigh, but this pop to the chest smarts on a whole different level.

Only one bullet hit me, so why does my entire body ache and feel as heavy as cement?

I peel open my eyelids and find myself eye level with off-white ceiling tiles in a hospital room.

“He’s waking up.”

My ears are still waking up, too, because Darren sounds like he’s miles away.

“It’s about damn time.” That’s Cian, as sentimental as ever.

Awareness returns gradually, one grain of sand through an hourglass at a time.

One blink. Two. Three.

Slowly, the room comes into focus and my hearing evens out. After one of the guys fiddles with a remote so the top half of the bed rises, I can see everyone better.

But all I really see is Kiara’s pale face contorted in horror while I lay useless on the floor as Leo hauled her away.

Where is she? What did he do with her?

Is he still planning to sell her to some monster?

I need to find her.

Immediately.

Determined to get out of bed, I toss the blanket back, but when I start to sit up, pain rips through my chest. I groan and sway as dizziness rushes me like a tornado.

“Woah. Take it easy, champ.” Darren grabs my shoulder to steady me. “You’re lucky that bullet didn’t hit your heart, or you’d be dearly departed.”

Cian scowls. “He’s right. You shouldn’t move yet.”

“What’s going on?” I croak the words out, my throat drier than sandpaper. “Where is she?”

“The De Luca princess is gone.” Cian shakes his head. “We have no idea where, and honestly, she’s the least of our problems.”

Like a slow-dripping faucet, the memories of the past few weeks return to me. Our numerous losses. The Kings in chaos. The fire at the club. The aftermath. “The mole?”

“Still no dice.” Darren’s frown deepens. “Dax was the only one who we knew for sure was working for him, but he died before we could torture any info out of him.”

“We’re back at square fucking one.” Cian turns back from my bed, throwing his hands in the air. “And then you have to go and get yourself shot.”

“My bad.” I cough, sending a sharp burn through my chest. It sounds bad enough that Darren brings me a plastic cup of water with a straw from a tray table.

Darren holds the cup while I suck the liquid like a fiend. I empty the whole thing in under two seconds. “How long have I been out?”

Finally, some volume returns to my voice.

Cian opens his mouth to answer, but Finn pushes through the door to my room and picks up the slack. “Four days.”

I think my heart nearly stops. Four days? Anything could have happened to Kiara by now.

Ugly, gruesome fantasies unfold in my groggy mind. I bite down on the inside of my cheek to banish them.

It was bad enough when I believed Kiara was just Leo’s art slave. Now that we know the twisted family history between those two, I’m even more certain that the psycho’s plans for her will be infinitely worse this time around.

“You’re just lucky we found you when we did.” Finn jerks his chin at Cian, as if to tell me I owe the pair of them a thank you .

But I can’t even manage that as panic squeezes me with an icy fist.

“What about Kiara?” I try to sit up again, but the pain drops me right back down. Ugh. I hate this. I can’t afford to be weak…not when Kiara needs me. “Leo grabbed her. Did you stop him?”

Cian shakes his head. “You were alone when we got there. Weren’t sure whether your girl shot you or Leo did.”

“What’s happened since I’ve been under?”

“A big fat nothing.” Darren gives a humorless laugh.

“As far as Shane’s concerned, with Kiara gone, our hands are clean.

We didn’t get to use her as leverage, but we’ve got bigger issues to worry about.

Leo’s dropped off the radar since the club fire, and with the mole lurking around, we’re all still in danger. ”

My blood heats. These fuckers. While I was out cold, not a single one of them did anything to rescue her from Leo. They talk about her like she’s not important. I don’t care if that’s not fair to them or if my anger’s misplaced.

Christ. I need to get out of here and find someone else to pummel before I deck one of my friends in the face.

I feel like shit in every way possible.

Twice, I promised to protect Kiara, and twice, my word has been meaningless.

I know what kind of man Leo is. And now Kiara is back in his clutches, and there’s next to nothing I can do about it while I’m stuck in this bed.

This time when I push up from the mattress, I ignore the pain. I grit my teeth and keep moving, refusing to lie back down even when vertigo strikes again.

“Guys, listen up.” Finn recaptures the attention in the room, forcing out an exhausted breath that sounds more like a growl. “We’ve got another issue.”

“Another one?” Cian grumbles under his breath. “That’s just perfect.”

I only listen with half an ear when Darren asks, “What’s going on?”

“We’ve been picking up some chatter online about a merger.”

Darren perks up at that. “Between who ?”

“Rumors say it’s Russian bratva and an Italian mob.” Finn’s gaze darkens. “Which I don’t like the sound of.”

“You’re saying there’s going to be a marriage between them?” Cian’s incredulity puts me on edge.

And I’m not the only one. In an instant, Darren’s hovering over my bed with an ominous expression on his face. “The Petrovs?”

The question he poses comes out more like a statement.

Because we both know exactly what he means.

The Petrovs were at the auction.

I remember what that man in the VIP section said before Kiara ran into me.

The artist has already been sold…

I hate the picture that the newly connected dots in my mind create.

They’ve sold Kiara to the Petrovs.

Fuck!

“It’s Leo.” Darren seconds my conclusion. “The auction was just a ruse. He’s going to marry his sister off to the Russians so they can get their best shot at overthrowing us.”

As Finn and Cian break into Gaelic curses, I wave an impatient hand at Darren.

“I need a computer. Now . ”

“Thought you’d never ask.” Darren retrieves a tablet from a bag and hands it to me. I refuse to let my shrieking injuries and limited mobility stop me.

With stiff, clumsy fingers, I navigate at a snail’s pace to the network of tapped CCTV cameras I monitor and locate the footage of Leo abducting Kiara.

I follow them through the streets back to the De Luca estate.

I scrub through footage nearby from the four days I’ve been under, and as far as I can tell, neither of them has left the estate since the morning Leo shot me.

But I’m sure that’s going to change any day now.

“The wedding is supposedly happening soon.” Finn’s grim words suck the air right out of the room. “Very soon.”

He might as well have hit me with another bullet to the chest.

Unless I drag my sorry ass out of this bed, Leo De Luca will condemn the woman I love to a miserable existence as a ruthless pakhan’s wife.