Page 46 of Sweet Deception (Irish Kings #4)
Chapter Forty-One
Troy’s soldiers spill out of out several SUVs, positioning themselves around their leader, and two of my men drop before I can even react.
My weapon is drawn, but his is trained on me too.
This isn’t the first time I’ve stared down the barrel of a gun, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. I’m not afraid of death. And I’m sure as hell not afraid of Troy Sullivan.
All my focus is on the black hole at the end of Troy’s handgun. Because if it moves at all, I won’t be the one in danger.
Nika.
For the first time in a very long time, the icy claws of fear freeze my mind.
As if he can hear my thoughts, Troy’s eyes shift to her. “And you’re the nosy little bitch who was searching for Lucy. Should’ve known you’d be behind this mess.”
Troy’s cruel smile burns like fire in my chest, but I’m conflicted. If I shoot him, his men’s guns will start spitting bullets. It’ll be a shoot-out with mass casualties. No way around it. Been there. And the whole point is to save the lives of these innocent women and girls.
“At least now I get to kill you myself.”
Times seems to slow while my heart cranks into overdrive.
One moment, I see Nika shield Lucy with her body. The next, Troy’s finger tightens on the trigger. When his gun shifts off me toward her, I burst into action, pure instinct pushing my body forward.
The fiery impact of his bullet tears clean through my body.
I jerk sideways, warmth spreading across my side.
As I fall, another shot rings out. I turn.
It’s Finn.
Always reliable Finn.
Troy shot first. Finn’s bullet was justified. Even as I’m falling, this truth registers. I can’t shut off my chaos agent brain. I’ve been programmed for this life, and that mindset persists in the face of death.
Through my darkening vision, I witness Troy exploding back against his stupid SUV and sliding to the ground, a clean hole between his eyes.
Finn and my tactical team make quick work of Troy’s men, and the last thing I see before I close my eyes is Veronika Kotova’s beautiful face.
Like a silent movie, I watch her kneel over me, face contorted by distress, tears falling, mouth open. Though I feel as if I’m underwater, I sense her hands pressing against the wound in my side.
“Stay. Please stay with me, Darren. Don’t… Please.”
I try to focus on her face, her words. Just in case this is it, I want to take in every detail.
The world fades.
Eons later, I peel my heavy eyelids open to a view of speckled ceiling tiles.
A symphony of beeps drags me back into consciousness, each one annoying yet beautiful for announcing that I’m alive.
I’m…still alive.
I blink until my vision clears. As my hearing stops warping, I notice tiny little paws climbing over my legs and walking up toward my chest.
“Hey, hey, hey.”
Nika.
“Piro, come on. I told you he’s hurt. Behave, sweetheart.”
Joy pulses through my stiff, achy body.
When I turn my head, I see her sitting at my bedside.
She nearly jumps out of her seat when she glances over to find me staring.
Before she can recover, I open my dry mouth. “I’m sorry.”
“What?” She draws closer, a hand reaching up to touch my face.
“For leading you into so much danger, I’m…so sorry.” Fuck, it’s difficult to say all this. “I promise that I’m going to leave the chaos behind. From now on, I’m going to do everything in my power to keep you safe?—”
“Darren, stop.” She places a finger against my mouth before wrapping her hand around mine. “I brought the trouble to you. I never asked you to choose between me and your family. I…” She pauses while her chest rises and lowers, as if she’s gathering the courage to continue. “I love you, okay?”
My pulse accelerates so much, I’m surprised the stupid machine doesn’t blare an alarm and call everyone in hearing distance to my bedside. Seriously, my heart can’t take this. If she doesn’t stop, it’s going to explode from joy. At the very least, I’m in danger of tearing my stitches.
I squeeze her hand, wishing I could kiss her with every fiber of my being.
“All of you,” she continues. “Even the chaos agent part.”
Her smile ignites a spark in my chest, banishing the cold and filling my entire body with liquid warmth.
I swallow past the weird lump forming in my throat. “You’re sure you can love a ticking time bomb?”
She bites her lip, and I just want to grab a handful of that beautiful blond hair and tug her down for a kiss.
“I think I’ve managed to cut the right wires,” she says, a teasing lilt to her voice that drives me insane.
“Besides, I’m just as broken as you are.
If you can handle me, I can handle you.”
A grin splits my face. “I don’t know if you’re worth the trouble, princess, but I guess I can do it for Napalm.” I glance down at the little furry circle by my knees. He raises his eyes to mine, purring.
“Shut up.” Fuck if her angry glare doesn’t make me want her more, but then her features soften. “Look at what we accomplished together. Those women are free because of us. They got their lives back because we pooled our skills. It’s like Rory said. We’re a good team.”
“A good team,” I echo, studying how the light catches her eyes.
“We could do more. Help more people.” She squeezes my hand back. “I’ll be right beside you, wherever that takes us.”
“No more running away?”
She shakes her head. “If you want me, I’m yours.”
“Come over here and say that to my face.”
She giggles, leans over me, and lays her lips on mine.
“Fucking hell, I love you,” I say against her mouth. “And I’m never going to let you go, you know.”
After she’s kissed me enough to stress out the EKG machine, she sits down and reaches for Napalm, who’s curled up in the center of my chest now.
“He’s okay.” And for the first time since the bullet hit, I grin. “Getting shot has me thinking that I really don’t want to die anytime soon. I think I want out, Nika. I sure as hell don’t want you in this kind of danger ever again.”
She blinks her beautiful gray, gold-flecked eyes at me. “So…what do you want to do?”
Watching her smile, I realize I’ve never felt more alive than when I’m with this woman, the one who walked into all my chaos and made it mean something.“I want to atone.”