Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Her sister flopped down onto the bed and cast a critical eye on her. “You haven’t slept in a couple of days.”
“Something like that.” She perched on the edge of the mattress. “I…I’m sorry for the way I treated you. I was unforgivable in acting so holier-than-thou. I’m starting to understand now everything you had to go through.”
“I see that.” Carrigan rolled onto her side and propped her head on her hand. “Unlike some of the men of our family, I’m well aware that you know your own mind. You got out, Sloan. You took that step, and I’m seriously proud of you for doing it.”
Hearing her sister’s words warmed her more than she could have thought possible. “Teague got me out.”
“Wrong. Teague offered you the chance. You are the one who took it. That was incredibly brave.” Her lips twisted. “Braver than I was. I almost married Dmitri Romanov rather than leave the family behind.”
Sloan hadn’t spent much time wondering how a talk like this would go with Carrigan—mostly because she’d done her best not to think too much about her sister at all. They had always been so incredibly different, but she’d never doubted that Carrigan loved her.
Not even when she’d run off with a Halloran.
“He loves you, you know.” Sloan didn’t realize she was going to say the words until they were out. “James.”
“I know.” Her sister smiled. “The feeling is excessively mutual. But we’re not here to talk about my gorgeous specimen of a man—we’re here to talk about yours. I find it too much of a coincidence to believe that you fled across the country and magically happened to fall into the arms of the last remaining MacNamara. Did he gun for you?”
Of them all, she thought Carrigan might understand and let her get out the whole story without jumping to conclusions. The woman had, after all, fallen for a man who had thrown her into the trunk of his car and taken her to an almost-certain death at the hands of his father. Compared to that, Jude was almost tame.
No, he’s not. And you’re stalling.
“Not for me, not like that. I was staying in a house owned by Callie’s aunt.”
“I didn’t realize Callie had an aunt.” Carrigan’s eyes went wide. “Holy shit, he was gunning for her—because she’s a Sheridan.”
It didn’t surprise her that her sister caught on so quickly. Carrigan had always been a force of nature with a deadly sharp mind. If their father had seen that from the beginning, he wouldn’t have wasted her in a political marriage. But then, she was a woman, so in the end it wouldn’t have mattered to Seamus O’Malley. Sloan forced herself back to the topic at hand. “An O’Connor now, but yes.”
“Can’t say I blame him. If someone did to our family what Colm Sheridan did to the MacNamaras, I would hunt every last one of them to extinction.” There was no amusement in her eyes, only ruthless determination. “And if someone laid a hand on James, I’d skin them alive.”
“I know.” Sloan was beginning to understand that fierceness, if only a little. She wasn’t ready to declare war on her brother for shooting Jude, but she wanted to…she didn’t even know. Punch him, at the very least.
“So that begs the question—what the hell are you two going to do?” Carrigan sat up. “If you say you’re going to help him keep up murdering Sheridans, I’m stepping in. I know you care about him—I’d have to be an idiot not to see that—but Callie is family now. Teague is our brother.”
“He shot Jude.”
She froze. “You’re serious?”
Just thinking about it made her angry all over again. Before she’d left Boston, she didn’t think she’d had a temper. Now? Now rage seemed to be her gut instinct. It was slightly terrifying. She pressed her lips together, trying to rein it in. “He put a tracker on me and hunted me down despite my telling him that I was more than capable of deciding for myself what I wanted.”
Carrigan watched her through narrowed eyes. “I’m not siding with him.”
“But you’re about to say something I won’t like.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Say it.”
“Teague can be an insufferable martyr at times, but he’d die for us. For Callie and their baby? He’d kill the world. Your needs have nothing to do with it. He just found out that you’re shacking up with a MacNamara, a man who has every reason to hate his wife’s family and want them dead. I can’t say I’d react any differently.” She gave a half smile. “Though I’d make sure my shot actually hit something vital.”
Her sister was downright terrifying at times. “I’m not pretending that Jude isn’t a threat, but he cares about me.” Maybe if she could make her sister understand, Sloan could persuade the others. “He put his plan for revenge on hold. He promised that he wouldn’t hurt Sorcha or Callie.” Unless he’s suddenly changed his mind after what Teague did. “We just wanted nine months to figure out if we could make a life work together.”