Chapter Fifteen
Conor could hear the gunfire before he’d even stopped the car. He turned to his sister.
“Get down and stay there until I come out to get you,” he said. There wasn’t going to be time for a lot of instructions, and he could only hope that she wouldn’t encounter anyone while hiding.
Conor reached over and pulled out his guns.
“Be careful,” she whispered.
He nodded and headed to the building to peek inside. From his position, he could see Anna waving a pistol around and firing at random. In the corner, Boris and one man hunkered down, waiting for her to run out of ammunition.
“Come on,” he said and scanned the area for Claire, but he couldn’t see her. With the way Anna was firing, she could be lying on the floor and bleeding. His heart dropped into his stomach at the thought.
Not wasting any time, he worked his way around to the side. If he could get in before she stopped shooting, they wouldn’t even know he was there.
Conor pushed open the broken door and made his way inside. He started to sweat when silence fell over the office. Someone started to shout, and he ran, not caring if he was heard. He came to a stop at the door, guns drawn.
“See,” Boris said to Claire, who was being held by her arm. “He is not so smart.”
Conor swallowed when Boris brought a gun up to her head.
“Drop them.” Boris nodded to his guns.
They fell with a thud.
“You should have shot him,” Claire said calmly, far more calm than he ever expected she would be. She might have done a little training with them when they were younger, but that didn’t mean she had near the experience, and she certainly never had to deal with this sort of situation before.
Boris laughed. “She is funny,” he said. “So many things come out of her pretty little mouth. Maybe that is first thing I cut.”
He frowned and turned to Anton. “Where is Iosif?”
Anton shrugged.
“Go see why he’s taking so long,” Boris said.
Anton walked to the door but stopped at the sound of gunfire. He turned back to Boris, and the two began to argue furiously in Russian. From what Conor could figure out, it seemed like Boris wanted Anton to go check outside, or at least that’s what he guessed from all the gesturing.
He looked over to Claire, over and over her eyes looked down. He followed her vision and saw the flash of something shiny on the floor under Anna, who sat on the floor, an angry expression on her face.
Conor weighed the options. Anna was sitting on the floor, and he would only have one shot to stab Boris in the leg, but then he could make a grab for his guns. The timing for this was going to have to be just right.
“You and I got a debt to settle,” he heard from behind him. Conor turned and found Noel and Riley just outside the door. The two stepped in with their guns pointed at both Boris and Anton.
Anton laughed loudly. “But you look so pretty now,” he said.
Noel’s face contorted with pure rage. Conor had never seen the calm and composed man come so close to losing it. They all knew the effects of the torture had been more than most men would have been able to take, and yet Noel came out mostly normal. He couldn’t really count it against him that he wanted some vengeance. God knew that Anton and Boris deserved it and then some.
“Did you take out Iosif?” Boris asked from in front of the desk, tightening his grip on Claire. He was quiet as he asked, and Conor only smelled trouble.
Riley looked over to Conor, who was waiting anxiously. Having Teagan out there unarmed wasn’t just crazy, it was foolish, and he never wanted to be in that position again.
“He’s been taken out,” Riley said with a shrug of his shoulder.
“Which one of you did it?” Boris asked.
Conor could see his hand shake with rage, and he wondered if he got this upset about all his men.
“I said,” he pointed the gun at Riley, “Which one of you cunts killed my cousin?”
He watched as Anton stepped to the side and wondered if it even mattered at that moment. His eyes went down to Anna, who was staring at him, waiting patiently for the signal.
Conor looked behind him at Riley and Noel. Both stared intently at the two Russians. If he didn’t act quickly, they were all going to be caught in the middle of a gun battle. There was no way someone from his side wouldn't get shot.
“I’m going to ask one more time,” Boris said. “Who killed my cousin?”
Conor gave a brief nod to Anna. In slow motion, he watched as she pulled up the letter opener. With both hands and all her weight, she slammed the makeshift dagger deep into Boris's thigh. Before he could even react, Conor launched himself forward, knocking Claire out of the way as he lifted the crazed man's arms into the air.
Claire jumped when the gun fired into the ceiling. Plaster rained down on them and filled the air with dust.
She watched from the floor next to Anna as Conor struggled with Boris, both fighting to gain control over the gun Boris held.
Beside them, Anton and Noel exchanged blows, neither caring much about the guns that littered the floor. Claire wondered if it was more about proving a point than anything.
“Conor’s guns,” Anna said from behind her and scrambled to get her hands on the guns.
She picked them up and handed one to Claire.
“I’ve seen how you shoot,” Riley said from above them. “I think maybe you should give them both to Claire.”
Anna frowned. “I did my best,” she said as he crouched down by them.
Riley tried to hide the smile but wasn’t doing that great a job with it. “Well, you certainly created a diversion.” He nodded to the door. “We need to get you out of here.”
“Not without Conor,” Claire said.
Riley shrugged. “Conor is a strong fighter,” he said. “He’ll be fine.”
She shook her head. There was no way she was leaving that room without him.
“Take her,” she said, pointing to Anna. “Get her to safety. I need to help him.”
Riley stared at her for a long moment before nodding. “He’s not going to like it,” he mumbled.
“Won’t matter if he’s dead,” she said.
Claire watched as they made their way safely out of the office.
She turned back to Conor, who continued to struggle with Boris.
Boris yelled something in Russian. Anton shouted something back and slammed an elbow into Noel's chest, sending him sprawling toward Claire. The other man turned toward Boris and Conor. Seeing where this was going, Claire stood, guns in hand, took a step a forward and fired a few shots in their direction.
“Let him go,” she shouted and pointed her guns at each man.
Boris laughed across the room, his gun pointed firmly at Conor’s chest. Blood dripped down his arm.
“Maybe you put down weapons,” Boris said. “It is good for you, and good for your boyfriend.”
“Claire,” Noel warned from behind her, but she ignored him.
She let out a big laugh and was almost delighted when the two Russians stared at her in confusion.
“I think I’ll hang on to these.” She smiled. “The way I see it. You’re going to shoot us any which way. At least this way I get to put a bullet right between your eyes.”
With that, she brought both her guns in front and leveled them at Boris.
Conor gave a laugh. “She’s got a point.”
Boris glared at Conor.
“Why don’t you just give me what’s mine, and we call it a day?” Claire said.
Boris stared hard at her as if he was trying to figure out if she’d actually shoot him. Claire raised a brow. Not only would she shoot him, but she’d spit on him when she was finished. Years of practice meant she was a good enough shot for it.
He looked down at Conor.
“Stand up,” he said. “You are weak having woman come save you.”
Conor laughed. “She can save my ass any day.”
For one second, she thought it all might be over, that Boris might just shoot Conor, and she would have to light up the room.
Conor took a step forward as both Boris and Claire stared at one another.
“You tell bitch friend that I don’t forget what she did,” he said. “I don't forget any of this.”
Claire’s heart kicked up at the threat. She glanced down at his leg and could see the blood had soaked his pants. The wound must have been very deep.
“You take one step near her, and I’ll fill you with holes,” Claire said quietly.
Boris laughed. “I’ll keep in mind. This over for now, but not over for good.”
He winked at her, and she frowned.
“Catch,” he said.
His injured leg shot forward and shoved Conor into her arms, knocking them both to the floor. Not waiting, Claire fired at the Russians, pulling Conor to safety as she went.
As if they had it planned from the start, Boris and Anton made their way to the window and climbed out. Bullets whizzed through the air as they lay down cover fire.
“Until next time, my beauty,” Anton yelled.
And then it was silent. Noel ran to the window, but she could tell they were safe in the cloak of night.
“Fuck,” Noel shouted. “The fuckers got away.”
Conor winced at the pain in his arm.
“Are you okay?” Claire asked.
He wrapped his arms around her and ignored the pain pulsing through his arm. Just seeing her again all in one piece was enough for him.
Claire pulled back. “What did he do to your arm?”
“Damn knife,” he said. “Just need a few stitches, and I’ll be fine.”
She pulled at his sleeve and gasped.
“We need to get you to the hospital right now,” she said, panic filling her voice.
“It’s fine,” he said. “Just a little scratch.”
Claire glared at him. “That is not a little scratch. You’re going to bleed out if we don’t get you in. If I wanted you to die, I would have just let Boris finish you.”
He laughed loudly and then a little more at her irritation.
“I’m not going to bleed out.” He chuckled.
“I don’t know why you’re laugh—”
He closed the distance and placed his mouth over hers, not just to silence her protests but because he had been waiting all day to do that. He needed to feel her close to him and know that she was safe. They both had come close to dying.
They pulled back, and he smiled at her. “Give me back what’s mine?”
Claire rolled her eyes.
“I knew you were going to focus on that,” she said. She tried to pull away but found herself stuck in his embrace.
“What?” he said. “Not going to elaborate?”
Claire gave him a stern look and placed her finger between them.
“Don’t make me poke your arm,” she said. She narrowed her eyes, “Or shoot you.”
Conor frowned. She still wasn’t going to say it, but he’d take what he could get from her. Saying the L word might be a bit much.
He stood and pulled her up next to him. Conor went to take a step but stopped when she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down for another kiss. This one was tender and full of all the feeling they had been holding onto.
She pulled back. Her pale green eyes were bright with unshed tears.
“Don’t ever do that to me again,” she whispered.
“Hey,” he said and slipped a hand under her chin. “It’s fine now.”
Claire nodded and gave a weak smile.
“I was just so worried,” she said.
He wrapped his good arm around her and led her outside. Sirens blared all around them as various groups came on the scene.
They made their way over to his car, where Riley was standing over a body.
Conor looked down at the dead Russian.
“Who did it?” he asked. He had to know who to thank for his sister's protection.
Riley shook his head. “She won’t say.”
Conor frowned and looked to his sister.
“He asked me not to,” she said and turned back around in the passenger seat.
Conor sighed. This was going to be a pain in the ass.
“Riley, you take the heat,” Finn said from behind him.
Conor turned and was surprised to see his old boss there just like normal.
Riley nodded but frowned at Teagan.
“Thank you,” Teagan said from the car.
Finn nodded. “You keep your secret.” He looked up at Conor. “It’s best for everyone if she does.”
Conor looked between the two of them for a moment and frowned. Someone else had come besides Finn and Riley. But who? He stared at Teagan for a moment. Now wasn’t the time. Perhaps Finn just didn’t want to risk being questioned by the police, but it wouldn’t be like him not to admit it to Conor. For now, he’d be satisfied that someone helped protect his sister.
He watched as Claire reached out and wrapped Finn in a hug.
“Thank you for watching out for me,” she whispered.
Finn nodded to Conor. “Just doing what family does.”
It dug into him, and Finn seemed to know it.
“You all take care of your wounds,” he said. “I’ll get things rolling around here.”
If there was one thing Finn was good at, it was working a crime scene.
Conor sat down on the back of the ambulance as they patched things up. He was lucky they were able to just glue the cut together. He marveled at how quickly they worked.
When Claire sat beside him, he sighed.
“Where do we go from here?” he asked. It had been weighing on his mind since they had stepped out.
“Home?” she said.
He looked over to the car. “Together?”
Claire laced her fingers with his, and he looked down at their joined hands.
“Yes,” she said softly.
Conor looked up and smiled at her. “Might be a little crowded.”
Claire shrugged. “Good thing I grew up in a big family.”
“And tomorrow?”
Claire grinned. “I put my new extended family to work on cleaning up this mess. We’ve got work to do.”
His heart dropped for a moment as he thought about why they had so much work to do.
“I’m sor—”
She cut off his words with a kiss. When she pulled back, Claire smiled at him.
“You just have to work twice as hard fixing it,” she said. “It’s just a good thing I’m so amazing that it takes a lot to ruin my reputation.”
Conor laughed. “Your humble servant.”