Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
That is, until they wanted something. Until they needed something. Seven long years, and I’m free. I haven’t left this house yet, but I know I’m free just from looking into the man’s eyes. I take his hand and he helps me to stand. Then, I follow him from the room to find commotion in the entrance hall. There are bodies slain on the floor, a reminder of what took place just outside the room we were locked in.
I glance up, trying not to look at the men lying there. Guards who enjoyed pushing us around, now no longer breathing. It’s only when the agent stops and speaks to someone and they reply does my heart stutter.
“Any sign of our girl?” The familiar accent comes towards me, filters over to my ears, and it settles there like the warmth of a fire on a cold winter’s day. A reminder of home.
“I’m sorry,” the agent says. “There are a handful of girls and two boys missing. We have a feeling the asshole took them with him when he fled. Someone tipped him off, which means we have a mole. We will have an inquiry once we’re back in the States.”
“We’ll find her,” the other man says, his thick Belfast brogue rumbling through his chest. And then, the agent steps aside and I look up into dark eyes. “What’s yer name?” he asks me.
“Einin,” I tell him, and he smiles before he steps aside.
There, standing just behind the enormous man with broad shoulders, is a face I never thought I’d see again. It’s the face of the boy I fell in love with, only he’s older and has stubble on his jawline. But those eyes, the familiar gaze that used to make my teenage heart thrum like hummingbird wings.
It’s Tyrion.
FIVE
TYE
I can’t find my words.
They’re stuck in my throat somewhere, so I don’t say anything.
When we got the call from the States that the FBI were on a case that was leading them to France, we couldn’t believe our luck. They’ve been tracking a shipment of girls who arrived here a few days ago, and we followed along. Having connections in high places allows you certain privileges. Also, it helps I was able to do some hacking for them that closed a case a year ago.
Agent Ramirez wanted to storm the house first. I didn’t want to wait, but Monster put the command out and I had to obey. I waited outside, my nerves shot to hell, but here I am, finally in front of her.
I didn’t expect her to look the same, but she’s even more beautiful than I remember. She is still the same girl I fell in love with. The same girl who’s held onto my feckin’ heart all this time.
I’ve changed. No longer the scrawny lad she met at school. Before Einin left, I’d been workin’ out, focusin’ on weights and tryin’ta build muscle, but I didn’t have the bulk I do now. I haven’t shaved in a couple of days, and I know I have a few battle scars.
She stares at me for so long, I’m not sure she even recognises me.
It’s as if time has come to a standstill and I’m havin’ an out of body experience. With the commotion around us, I don’t even flinch. I don’t see my brothers movin’ around the enormous room. All I see is her.
The peelers are shoutin’ orders while Monster and the rest of the Royal Bastards work to get the girls out of the house. They know this is monumental for me. I almost lost my shit when I knew I had to wait to see her, to find her. I wasn’t sure what we would come across when we walked in here, but she doesn’t look hurt. I’m prayin’ she isn’t. I’m prayin’ for so much in the moments that pass, I’m not sure God is even listenin’.
“What are you doing here?” Are her first words to me.
For a moment, I think she’s angry, but then I see the tears in her eyes. They make those familiar orbs shimmer. Hazel brown with flecks of olive green.
“I found ye,” I finally mutter while takin’ a few steps towards her. She doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t even blink. Her gaze focused on me. I stop inches from her.
“I stopped prayin’ a long time ago, big man,” she whispers before I pull her into my arms and she falls into my chest. She twines her hands behind my back, and she holds on as if I’m about to disappear. The nickname she gave me all those years ago settles in my chest. It’s like comin’ home. Like walkin’ into ye house after a long day at work, and the warmth holds ye in its familiar grip.
“I didn’t know ye were missin’, wee bird,” I tell her, usin’ her nickname I’d given her on her sixteenth birthday. “When I left Ballycastle at nineteen, I never looked back.”