Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Niall Black
Loyal right-hand to Finn O’Reilly. Cousin and trusted friend.
He lives for the life he’s created. Filled with business, both day-to-day and dangerous. Not interested in a relationship of any kind outside of his comfort zone.
Until fate brings her to him. Annabelle Lewis.
She awakens something inside him. A need. A desire.
A new set of feelings he wasn’t prepared for.
When she is taken from him, how far will he go to get her back?
To the ends of the earth.
And anyone in his way will be removed.
Permanently.
The suspenseful finale in The Irishmen duet by New York Times Bestselling author Melanie Moreland
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
CHAPTER ONE
NIALL
It had been a long time since we’d been in this position. A surprise raid, carefully planned and executed on our part. Finn tried to avoid violence, but this was the exception. We all wanted it.
Human trafficking was unacceptable. Add in the fact that the love of his life had been taken? It was no-holds-barred. The people involved with this horrific act would all be dead by the time we finished here tonight.
Bodies hit the wooden floor, the thumps almost musical as I aimed and shot, taking out as many of the human waste as I could.
Roman issued the order, and the lights came on as we tore off our night goggles so as not to be blinded.
I followed Finn as he raced toward Una. I was his right hand. Best friend. Cousin.
Wingman.
I faced the chaos, making sure all our enemies were down. Finn got to Una, picking her up, talking the whole time.
Then he called me. “Niall. Help.”
I slung my gun over my shoulder and went to his side. He indicated the woman on the floor beside Una. “They have to stay close right now.”
At a loss, I bent beside the woman. She was a huddled mass of shaking limbs—obviously terrified out of her mind.
I spoke so she could hear me. “I’m Niall. A friend of Una’s and Finn’s. I need to pick you up so we can get you out of here. I won’t hurt you. Will you let me?”
Slowly, she raised her head, and my breath caught in my throat. She was barely dressed, beaten, her eyes too big for her thin face—and the most beautiful, fragile thing I had ever seen.
Those eyes were like a fawn’s separated from its mother. Round, deep brown, terrified, and desperate. Her skin was stretched over her cheekbones, and her lips were chewed and scabbed. Still, her beauty overrode it all.
“I won’t hurt you,” I repeated. “I promise. You’ll be safe.”
She nodded, and I could see the effort it cost her. I picked her up, her weight barely registering. She was small—she felt fragile and weak in my embrace, stirring something inside me. Something deep and primitive. The need to protect, to kill anyone who harmed her, to hold her until she was no longer afraid, roared in me. A strange noise came from my throat, and I was sure I had startled her. But she didn’t fight me, instead nestling into my torso as if she belonged there. I frowned, looking at Finn. “She’s freezing.”
I turned, yelling for blankets, knowing both women needed them.
I had never cared for another person. Looked after someone aside from my mother. I took the blanket and ineptly tucked it around the woman I held, hoping to warm her. Her skin was like ice, and she shivered constantly.
Una saw her brother across the area, bloodied and dying. Finn carried her over, and the woman I was holding shifted, looking their way.
She cried as she watched Una try to care for her brother, peeking up at me. “He was part of this.”
“I think he is regretful,” I replied. “And knowing Una and her heart, she will forgive him.”
“She is so wonderful,” she murmured. “I don’t think I would have lasted much longer without her.”
I looked around at the bodies piled up, the people we’d killed. I felt no remorse. Una had been kidnapped, and we had to save her. And she wasn’t the only one. Tonight, we’d rescued other women, as well as the people being forced to create drugs that were being sold on our streets. It was necessary, and we had no hesitation executing the plan—or the human scum who perpetrated the crimes.
The woman in my arms shivered again, and I tucked her closer. Roman came over, looking between us. “We need to move. We caused more noise than I had hoped, and I want us out of here before someone notices. We need to set off the explosives as soon as possible.”
“Right.”
“There’s still room in the van. One of the other men can take her,” he added with a nod toward the woman I was holding.
Her grip on my jacket tensed, and she made a noise of distress, burying her face back into my shoulder. Unconsciously, my hold on her tightened, and a primal growl built in my chest.
“No. She stays with me.”
Roman blinked and held up his hands in supplication. “All right.”
He moved toward Una and Finn. Brian had died, and Una was holding him, weeping and refusing to let go. She became a lioness, screaming at Finn that she wasn’t leaving her brother. Roman bent down, saying something to her that calmed her down, and she allowed Finn to pick her up. He jerked his chin toward the door. I joined him.
“We’re heading out.”
“Okay. Good.” I wanted out of here. The smell of death was everywhere, the scent of blood ripe in the air. Although I wasn’t sorry any of them were dead, I was sorry for the women we held. Finn and I were used to death. Bloodshed and violence were part of the world we lived in.