Illicit Temptation (Astoria Royals #3)

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

Trace

T wo days and nights of endless fucking later, I rouse from a deep sleep to Shea jumping on me in bed, her quivering shriek in my ear. “Trace! Wake up!”

I grab my gun and twist around pulling her into my arms. “What, love?”

“Someone’s outside.”

I hold her against my chest and peer out the window to see what the hell she means. My heart rate slows, seeing a man wearing gray cargo pants and a leather jacket get out of a silver pick-up truck.

“Love...” I push my face into hers. “That’s our ride. You’re safe.”

Cursing under her breath, she pulls away from me. “You didn’t tell me he was coming this morning. Or it would be so early.”

“He’s a busy man, I guess this was the only time he could do it,” I say, hiding my frustration that Rowan chose the break of dawn.

After pulling on sleep shorts, I go into the main room and open the door.

“Rowan Masters,” I greet him, my gun still in my grasp, held so tightly, I might have broken a finger as well as my ankle to get to the window to see what had my tough girl shaking in her knickers.

“The cargo plane will be ready to leave in three hours,” he says, and it’s hard not to see Ian when I look in his eyes. Typical Irish twins, he and Ian. “Alo, lass.”

I step in front of Shea, my nerves on edge. My insecurities crawl under my skin like they’re made of barbed wire.

Turning around, I hiss out to her, “Get dressed. ”

Fuck, she looks amazing in just my T-shirt. But no one sees what’s mine.

“Trace,” Rowan snaps, knocking me from ogling my wife.

“Right. Coffee?” I move to the kitchenette and he follows.

“Black.”

I pour him a cup and hand the steaming mug to him in a strangled silence.

“Explain to me what happened in Dunbar?” Rowan takes a sip.

“Why do you want to know?”

“There’ve been rumors in town.” He means Waterford.

“About?”

“People going to work there and never coming back.” He puts down the mug. “I’m working for the local DOJ, reporting directly to the magistrate. It sounds like we should open an investigation.”

Now I get Rowan’s willingness to help me. But I respect his angle. So long as I get Shea out of here.

While Shea is getting dressed, I give him a rundown of what I know but suggest he contact Cormac, who will have better and more thorough first-hand information.

Shea comes back into the kitchen with her bags, dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweater. Rowan finishes his coffee and waits in the car while I throw on jeans and a flannel.

We look like ordinary residents.

Ian drives for ninety minutes on mostly abandoned roads in his 4x4. Shea sits in the back, the window open and the air whipping her dark hair around her face. She’s so painfully beautiful in this moment, in this snapshot of time when she’s mine, but that can change in a heartbeat.

The airfield comes into view and my pulse thunders in my neck. The radio silence is deafening. Balor doesn’t want to give away my location now that I’m out in the open. It speaks to the unfettered expectation that I will return the O’Rourke treasure to them.

She’s not a princess to them. They protect her, but they don’t coddle or treat her like glass. I call her princess to annoy her because it’s fun, but I worship her. I’ve always worshipped her.

Three guards with long gun rifles and tactical fatigues nod to Ian at the gate. Their tight jaws and stone-cold focus remind me of my years of service. I had a glorious service until Faolan Malone became my commander and made my life hell.

Rowan gives the all-clear and exits the truck. I turn to Shea, who’s looking right at me.

“Twelve hours and we’ll be home, princess.” I throw a duffle over my shoulder and reach for her hand.

When she hesitates, my breathing stalls. Finally, she manages a smile. Heart in my throat, I get out and open the door for her. I hold Shea’s hand as we walk across the tarmac.

“What’s in that duffle anyway?” she asks.

“Don’t worry, princess.”

I glance at the large cargo plane and stop short seeing the Irish Defences logo on the side. “That’s a fucking military transport, Rowan.”

“Trust me, Malone won’t shoot down a plane full of soldiers, for...” He stops and clears his throat.

“For me,” Shea says with a lopsided grin. “Good. I would never want to be so wickedly valuable, that a man would kill innocent people.”

“Men like Malone have their own value system,” Rowan says, but next something warm and wet hits my cheek. The taste of copper fills my mouth and Rowan collapses on top of me.

I loosen my grip on Shea, who jumps back, holding her mouth. Damn, she’ll scream any second .

The men standing around us run for cover as bullets click and smoke against the tarmac. A hard-top Jeep rides up on us and stops. With just one foot from the passenger seat, I know my fate.

Out walks... Faolan Malone.

I push Rowan’s lifeless body aside and yell to Shea, “Run. Get on that plane!”

He wants her, he won’t kill her.

“No. Not without you.” She looks ready to scratch Malone’s eyes out, but I shove her behind me. “He’ll kill you if I leave you, Trace. Let me keep you safe.”

“How the hell did you get on this base?” I mutter when Malone comes close enough to hear me.

“She’s an escapee from Dunbar, and he’s the traitor who arranged her transport.” Malone kicks Rowan’s dead body. “He also killed her father.”

My throat tightens. “None of that is true.”

Malone smiles. “I have the paperwork to prove her incarceration. And as far as pinning Fergus’ death on Rowan? I knew about his shite investigation. I’ve literally killed two birds with one stone.”

“Is this about me or her?”

“Both. To be honest.” He signals for a man to approach us.

“Your chopper is ready, Commander.” By addressing his old military title, it’s clear how Malone got on base.

“Your ride back to Dunbar is waiting, Miss O’Rourke.” Malone reaches for her.

“Fuck you,” she says, and if she had worn her stilettos, I have no doubt she’d try to stab him with those sharp heels. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“I will fuck you, my darling.”

“Don’t fucking call her that.” I raise a fist to Malone, my piece buried in my jacket. But hammers click all around me. “Why do you want her so much? There’s no shortage of women. Her father is dead. So is the deal he made.”

“Before I thought I was getting a beautiful woman on my arm.”

“Before what?” That’s all I heard.

“Now, I’m taking a woman you want as my wife. And every thrust of my cock into her cunt will feel so much better.”

“You will never put your filthy hands on her.”

“How are you going to stop me?” He presses his nose to mine. “You are lucky to be alive right this second.”

“I’m coming with you.” I quickly pull out the handcuffs, slip them onto Shea’s wrist, and clip us together. “Where she goes, I go.”

“I could just sever your hand from your arm,” Malone grumbles and rolls his eyes. “But perhaps instead, you get to be right there when I fuck her.”

“You can strip me of my weapons, but you can’t strip my ability to rip that head off your shoulders. Besides, there’s a small detail you’re not aware of. You can’t marry her. I’m already married to her.”

Malone laughs. “Do you want to hear all the ways that can be rectified? Do you want her to be a widow?”

I have to think fast, he has an advantage right now. Malone’s intense gaze speaks to the strength behind his eyes. He’s not a man who loses very often. He came close. He just dropped his chips on a table run by Shea’s father who was desperate to cling to power.

“There’s a reason I let Ian die and not you.” Malone leans in. “I always valued you. Saw what you were capable of. Come work for me at Dunbar, you can be my deputy. I’ll...share her.”

“Yeah, try to keep up.” Shea snaps at him.

Malone is enjoying her feistiness. It’s keeping her from being killed even if I’m the one dying inside. Every cell in my body trembles, fearing how I’m seconds away from losing her.

“I’ll share her in the bedroom right after I slit your throat,” I mutter.

“Is that a no?” Malone says, grinning.

“That is a big fucking no way in hell.”

“Pity.” It happens in slow motion, he takes out a gun and shoves it in my chest. “I’ll take my chances that I’ll get away with killing you.”

A blast knocks out my hearing. Wrenching pain scalds my chest, and I watch the ground come up in my vision.