Page 49 of Twisted Secrets (The O’Malleys #3)

T he sight of Olivia on the floor, her dusky skin too pale, made Cillian’s mind go blank. All he wanted to do was scoop her up and get them both the hell out of there. But she trusted him to take care of the angry Russian in the other room and save her daughter.

He caught Liam’s eye and motioned over his shoulder.

So far the woman was solely focused on keeping them out of the room, rather than hurting the little girl she had in her arms. If she didn’t have that damn gun, he’d just rush her, but he couldn’t take the risk that she’d turn the weapon on Hadley.

Liam frowned, and then made a circling motion with his hand. He didn’t wait for Cillian’s nod to take another man and disappear out the back door. They’d slip around to the window behind her. He just needed to wait for their signal.

It didn’t take long.

The sound of breaking glass was his cue.

He rushed into the room. The older woman had turned her gun toward Liam, and Cillian wasted no time grabbing her arm so the shot went wide.

She was strong, but he was stronger. He wrestled the gun away from her and then turned both on her. “Put the child down.”

She spat something he couldn’t understand, but she set Hadley down on the mattress.

The little girl was awake, her tear-stained face enough to make his heart ache.

Her lower lip trembled. Cillian shoved his gun into his holster and motioned to her with his free hand while he kept the other gun trained on Sergei’s aunt. “Come here, baby girl.”

“Mama?”

“She’s here, too.” Unconscious on the floor . He couldn’t afford to think about that. Not yet. Hadley had to come first. He went down on one knee. “Let’s get you home.”

Hadley slid off the bed and toddled over to him, shooting terrified looks at the woman behind her.

What had she done to the little girl? It was almost enough to make him pull the trigger right then and there.

Only the fact that it would add to Hadley’s trauma stayed his hand.

He picked the toddler up and stood. “We’re leaving now.

I highly suggest you stay in this room.”

Cillian backed out the door. Liam must have come back around, because he was at his side instantly. “Your woman was hit?”

“Yeah.” He wanted to pass Hadley over and be the one to pick up Olivia, if only to comfort himself with the fact that she was going to be okay, but Hadley had a death grip on his neck.

She’s terrified and you’re the only person in this room she knows.

He cuddled her close, trying to comfort her while he focused on the situation at hand.

“Her back. We need to get her out of here now, before someone comes to investigate.”

“On it.” Liam pulled out his phone and gave terse orders to whoever was on the other line. Then he went to his knees next to Olivia and carefully prodded her. “Bullet took a chunk out of her back, but it was a graze. Nothing vital hit.”

He released the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “Let’s get out of this fucking hellhole.”

“Yes, sir.” He picked Olivia up carefully and led the way out of the house. Their train of vehicles now idled at the curb directly outside.

Liam glanced back. “The little one isn’t going to be letting go of you anytime soon.”

Considering the shakes rocking her tiny body, he didn’t want to risk traumatizing her further by forcing her to do anything other than bury her face in his neck.

It was only because she was clinging to him so tightly that she hadn’t seen Olivia yet.

A small favor, but he couldn’t drive and hold Hadley and sit with Olivia at the same time.

Cillian nodded. “Put her in the backseat and drive.”

He moved around the back of the car and got into the other side.

Keeping a hand on the back of Hadley’s head, he accepted the towel Liam had gotten out of the trunk.

Between the two of them, they got it folded and propped behind Olivia, and then buckled her in.

He didn’t like how pale she was, but they didn’t have much in the way of an alternative.

Right now the main goal was to get the hell out of Dodge.

So he sat back and stroked Hadley’s hair and back until her little sobs abated. He kept checking Olivia, but her breathing was steady and so was her pulse. Nothing you can do. “Have Doc Jones ready for us.”

“She’s meeting us halfway.”

Smart . He glanced down to find that Hadley had fallen asleep, her tiny fists clenched in his shirt. Aside from being scared out of her mind, she didn’t seem to be injured, but that would have to be confirmed by the doctor, too. Either way, both she and her mama would recover.

And then what?

That was the question, wasn’t it?

The threat of Sergei had been effectively removed, but there was still Dmitri to think about.

He wasn’t the type of man to take defeat lying down, and the O’Malleys had one-upped him twice now—three times if Cillian did what his father had asked of him.

Dmitri would be coming, and he’d be coming for blood.

That need for vengeance might encompass Olivia, or it might not—there was no way to tell until the hit came.

As long as she stayed with him, she was potentially in danger. He looked out the window, every fiber of his being trying to reject that truth, to find a way for them to be together that wouldn’t put her at risk.

There wasn’t one.

Even if he left with her, the full force of his father’s wrath would follow them, and then they’d have twice the enemies to dodge.

Those weren’t great odds, not with the amount of money and power both the Romanovs and O’Malleys could bring to the table.

She’d have a better chance of disappearing if it was just her and Hadley.

Fuck.

He didn’t want her to go. They’d only known each other a few weeks, but she’d completely rocked his worldview in that short amount of time. He couldn’t imagine his life without her in it.

You have to. For her. For Hadley. To do anything else is unforgivable .

Olivia stirred, her eyes flying open and a gasp on her lips. “Hadley!”

“I’ve got her.” He gently pressed on her shoulder to keep her from lurching forward. “We’re safe. Sergei’s gone. How do you feel?”

“That’s a stupid question.” She touched her throat and winced.

Then her gaze landed on Hadley, and the sheer love there rocked him.

What would it be like if she looked at me that way?

He shut it down before it could take root.

He’d already come to terms—as much as he ever would—that Olivia couldn’t be his.

Torturing himself with what-if questions wasn’t going to do anything but make her inevitable leaving worse.

He passed over the sleeping toddler. “Careful. You took a few hits back there.”

“It was worth it.” She kissed Hadley’s head and closed her eyes. “We’re going back to Boston?”

“Yeah.” For now . He had to sit her down and talk about the escape plan he’d worked into place with the help of Teague, but now wasn’t the time.

For one, Liam could hear everything they said.

The man might be loyal to a fault, but he was loyal to the O’Malleys—not Cillian, and definitely not Olivia.

He needed as few threads as possible connecting her new life with her old one, which meant the fewer people who knew about it, the better.

“Good.” She reached over and took his hand without opening her eyes. “I haven’t said ‘thank you’ yet. So thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I’m part of the reason this happened.”

“No.” She pinned him with a look. “You have plenty of guilt to carry around, deserved or not. You don’t get this, too.

I knew what the risks were every step of the way, and even I didn’t see Sergei doing what he did.

If you want to blame someone, blame him.

” Her voice dropped. “You saved me, Cillian. Don’t take that away from either of us. ”

It was too easy to step back into that room and see everything going down as if in slow motion.

Sergei had been a big guy, but he looked even larger towering over her.

Cillian shook his head, wishing he could shake the memory as easily.

He was going to have nightmares for the rest of his life about what would have happened if he hadn’t gotten there in time.

He squeezed her hand. “Try to rest. We’re meeting Doc Jones to get you and Hadley checked out.

” Then he’d talk to her about the next step.

“Doc Jones. You spoil me.”

Despite everything, he grinned. “I remembered how much you liked her last time.”

“Smart-ass.” She gave a small smile and closed her eyes. This time, she didn’t open them again. He held her hand and listened to her breathe, and tried to tell himself that losing her was worth it as long as he knew she was alive and well in the world.

***

“You two are nothing but trouble.”

Olivia winced as Doc Jones tightened the bandage wrapped around her chest. The bullet had taken out a chunk of flesh, but it hadn’t so much as chipped a bone.

And her throat was horribly bruised, but nothing seemed to be broken there, either.

She had a few stitches and would have to be careful lifting Hadley for a little while, but it could have been so much worse.

She held her breath while the doctor looked over Hadley, her gruff demeanor changing into something much softer.

It felt like forever, but it was only a few minutes later that she looked up.

“She’s still shaken and scared out of her mind, but aside from a few bruises, she’s physically fine.

The best thing for her is going to be getting back into some kind of routine.

Expect nightmares. They’ll pass, though.

” Her blue eyes hardened. “The bastard that did this is dead?”

Cillian nodded. “Yeah.”