Tilly peered at him, then the bottle, before quickly scooping it up and giving it to him.
“Oh God, I’m sorry,” she said, looking mortified. “I was just so frustrated.”
“You’ve had a bad night,” he told her. “It’s understandable that you’re feeling out of sorts.” He placed the bottle on the nightstand.
“I’ve had a bad night?” she said, running her hands through her hair and tugging at it. She was going to be bald by the end of the week. “You’re the one who was shot! Poor Miller is unconscious, who knows what drugs they gave her or what they did to her, and Cillian was knocked out and put in a car trunk. And then there’s Brandt…” her voice trailed off. Although Aedan had tried to shield her, Dylan knew she’d seen Brandt and Rogan fighting.
“He was a traitor, baby.”
“So he deserved to get beaten like that?” she asked, her voice small and shocked.
“Come here.” He beckoned at her with his good hand.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t hurt me,” he growled. “Now either you come here or I’m going to get up and carry you into bed.”
She moved around the bed to his good side. He drew back the covers and she scooted over to him. Dylan lay back and pulled her against his chest.
“Listen to me, baby. This is a different world. There are different rules here. As harsh as it sounds Rogan had to send a message. If he’d gone easy on Brandt he’d constantly be fighting off challenges to his leadership and that would just end in more bloodshed in the long run.”
“So you’re saying this was necessary?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“It was horrible and violent and nothing I ever wanted you to see or hear, but Rogan had little choice.”
“Why does he do this? Is it all for the money?” she asked.
Dylan frowned, remembering what Rogan had said about making more profit from the gang’s legit businesses. “I don’t know, a mhuirnín.”
“I know he’s helped us and everything, but I’m really looking forward to going home.”
“Me too, baby.”
She tried to sit, but he held her still. “Don’t move,” he said with a wince.
“Sorry,” she said freezing in place. “I need to get you some pills.”
“No, you don’t. I’m not taking any pills.”
“Aren’t you in pain?” she asked.
Yeah, he was. But it was manageable.
“I’m fine. They’ll just make me sleepy.”
“Isn’t that the point?” she asked. “To get some sleep. Aren’t you exhausted?”
“I could sleep for a week,” he told her. “But I want to keep my wits about me.”
“Why?” she asked in an alarmed voice. “Are we still in danger?”
Maybe. Once Iker figured out that Rogan knew what he’d been up to.
“Things are unstable right now. Iker is still a problem. Plus, I just don’t like to be drugged.”
“Like poor Miller. Do you think she’ll be okay?”
The doc, who was on Rogan’s payroll, was staying with Miller tonight. He’d been concerned that she was still unconscious. Dylan wasn’t sure what sort of hell she’d been living in, but he knew it wouldn’t be a quick recovery.
“She’s probably never going to be the same again,” he said, not wanting to lie to her. “But we’ll get her all the help she needs.”
Tilly yawned. “I was so frantic when I realized that text didn’t come from you. You never write your texts like that. If anything ever happened to you, I don’t know what I would do.”
She’d told him the whole story on the drive over. He’d have something to say to Aedan and Colm about bringing her with them. He’d nearly had a heart attack when she’d stepped out of that car.
“Tilly, there is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect you. If being shot is the price of your safety I will happily pay it.”
“But I want you safe as well.”
“We’ll look after each other. Forever.”
She leaned up on one elbow very carefully. “You mean that?”
“I do. I love you, Tilly. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Tears filled her eyes. “I love you, too. I love you so much it scares me sometimes.”
He smiled gently. “I know what you mean. You come before everything and everyone else. Which is why you’re in deep trouble for putting yourself in danger tonight.”
Her jaw dropped. “I don’t think that’s fair.”
Dylan raised his eyebrows. “Why is that?”
“Because you were in danger. You can’t expect me to just stand by when you’re in trouble. You wouldn’t stand by if I was in danger.”
“No, I wouldn’t. I’m a hypocrite and you can call me sexist, a caveman, whatever you want. That doesn’t change the fact that your safety comes before mine.”
She opened her mouth, but he’d reached the end of his endurance.
“There is no discussion about this, Tilly,” he said in a firm voice. “Lay your head back on my chest.”
With a loud sigh, she lay down. “I want it noted that I don’t agree.”
“Noted,” he told her with a yawn. “Now please turn off the light, I’m exhausted.”
Chapter Eleven
Tilly sat up with a fright. What the hell woke her up?
A woman screamed, the absolute terror in her voice had a shiver running up Tilly’s spine.
“Tilly, get up. Quickly!”
She looked over to see Dylan was already out of bed.
“Who is it? What’s going on?” she asked, flinging the covers off.
Dylan grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the bathroom.
“Lock yourself in here and do not come out, not until I come get you. Promise me.”
“I promise,” she replied just as another blood-curdling scream filled the house.
Dylan was gone before she could ask any more questions. She shut the door and locked it, huddling down on the floor with her legs against her chest. As far as she knew, Miller was the only other female in the house. Tilly longed to go and check on her, terrified for her safety, but she knew she’d probably be more of a hindrance than a help.
“Please God, keep Dylan and Miller safe,” she prayed. She hadn’t prayed in years, but if ever she needed some divine intervention it was over this last week.
The sick feeling in her stomach grew as she heard another scream that was cut off abruptly. Tilly raised her head as there was a knock on the door. Her heart raced, her breath coming in shallow, short pants. Would an intruder knock?
“A mhuirnín, it’s me. Open up now,” Dylan spoke through the door.
Tilly jumped up, groaning a little as the world spun around her. She grabbed at the counter to steady herself.
“Tilly? Tilly, are you all right?” Dylan asked in an alarmed voice.
“Fine,” she replied. “Just stood up too fast.”
She moved over to the door and unlocked it. Dylan stepped inside, grabbing her shoulder with one hand as he ran his gaze over her.
“You’re going back to bed. Did you faint?” He pulled her against his body with his good arm.
“Dylan, I’m okay. I just felt a little dizzy. Who was that screaming? Was it Miller?”
Dylan moved into the bedroom, keeping her tight against him.
“Sit down,” he said with concern. “Yeah, it was Miller. She’s going through bad withdrawals.”
“Oh no, I have to help her.” She tried to stand, but he stood in the way.
“The doc gave her something to sleep. She’s out again. We need to talk about what to do about her.”
“Do about her?” she repeated. What did he mean?
Dylan watched her closely. “You sure you’re okay? I can get the doctor to come check on you.”
“I promise. I’m good. I’d rather the doctor stayed with Miller.”
“Rogan and Aedan are downstairs. We need to have a chat.” He moved to the dr
awers and pulled out one of his large shirts. “Put this on.”
Dylan reached for his jeans as she pulled the shirt over her head. She noticed him fumbling as he tried to pull his jeans on.
“Here, let me. Sit down.”
He sat on the side of the bed and she placed each leg of the jeans over his feet.
“Now stand.”
She remained kneeling as he stood and pulled the jeans up his legs.
Dylan groaned. “There are much more interesting things I’d rather be doing with you in this position.”
Tilly smiled up at him. “Me too.” She placed a kiss on his boxer-clad cock before carefully zipping up his jeans.
Dylan helped her up with his good hand and kissed her quickly. “If we didn’t have more pressing issues, I’d bend you over that bed and have my way with you.”
“Later?” she asked.
“It’s a date.” He grabbed her hand in his and they moved out of the bedroom and into the corridor. Tilly stopped by the door to Miller’s room and poked her head in. The doctor, whose name she didn’t even know, glanced up from where he sat beside the bed. He appeared to be in his late thirties, but it was hard to tell in the dim light.
Miller lay on her side, sleeping.
“She’s all right,” he said in a kind voice. “I’m keeping a close eye on her.”
“If she needs me, please let me know,” Tilly said. “I’ll just be downstairs.”
“Right now she doesn’t have a clue who she is, let alone anyone else. I’ll keep a close watch on her.”
Dylan stopped at the top of the stairs. He wrapped his arm tightly around her waist. “Tell me if you start to feel dizzy.”
Tilly nodded. Truth was, she felt a bit out of it. Like everything around her was happening to someone else. It was an odd feeling, and she knew it was probably due to delayed shock. Still, she was grateful for his support as they descended the stairs.
They entered the living room. The drapes had been pulled, allowing sunlight to stream in.
“It’s morning?” she said with some shock.
“Nearly ten,” Aedan said from behind them. She turned to see him carrying a tray with coffee and pastries. “Thought you both might need some caffeine and sugar. I know I do.”
He walked past them and placed the tray on the coffee table before pouring the coffee. Dylan led Tilly to a large sofa. They sat and she snuggled up against him.
“How are you doing, Tilly?” Aedan asked.
“I’m fine,” she told him with a small smile.
“She’s dizzy,” Dylan replied.
“Do you need the doctor?” Aedan asked with concern. “I can run up and get him.”
“No, I’m okay,” she insisted, glaring up at Dylan briefly. “Once I get some caffeine into me I’ll feel like a new woman.”
“You’ll eat one of these as well,” Dylan said, reaching over and grabbing a pastry. He handed it to her.
Tilly took it without a protest, even though the last thing she wanted to do was eat. Her stomach was a bubbling caldron, ready to overflow at any moment. But Dylan was in protective mode and it made him feel better to look after her right now.
So she took a small bite of the pastry and a large sip of the coffee Aedan handed her.
“Where’s Rogan?” Dylan asked, taking a huge bite of pastry.
“Making some phone calls.”
Aedan avoided her gaze and she grew suspicious.
“Phone calls about what?” she asked.
Dylan and Aedan stared at each other.
“About your friend and what to do with her,” Rogan told her as he stepped into the room. His face looked terrible; one eye was completely swollen shut and his face was covered in bruises and cuts. At least he’d changed into clean clothes.
Rogan sat with a sigh. “I’m too old for this shit.”
Then get out of it. Tilly bit back the reply. She turned away from him, looking down at her pastry instead.
“Are you scared of me now, Tilly?” he asked, surprising her.
She gazed up into his face and saw the mix of regret and resignation. Did he actually care what she thought?
“A little bit,” she said truthfully. “You seemed out of control tonight.”
“Sometimes we have to do things we’d rather not. Sometimes we just don’t have a choice.”
“You could choose to leave this life,” she said bravely.
“Once you’re in, it’s hard to leave,” Rogan told her.
“Why didn’t you come with me that night?” Dylan said suddenly. “You could have left with me. You could have escaped all this.”
Rogan was silent.
“Because he had no choice,” Aedan said. “There was a price for our freedom and Rogan paid it.”
Dylan frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Aedan,” Rogan said warningly.
“No, he needs to know,” Aedan said. “Rogan’s father made him swear that he would take over from him. In return, you and I got to leave that whole mess behind and make a new life for ourselves.”
Dylan sat back in shock. All these years and he’d never known what his friend had sacrificed for him. “What? You did that? For us?”
“I was never going to be able to get away, anyway. The old man would have chased me down to the ends of the earth. This way the two of you could be free.”
“Jesus Christ, Rogan. Why didn’t you ever tell me, man?” Dylan asked.
Rogan looked at him through tired eyes. “Because I wanted you to live the life that I would never have.”
Dylan cursed.
“Don’t go feeling sorry for me,” Rogan said brusquely. “My life is good. And I’ve made plenty of changes. For the better I think, even if Brandt didn’t. My men and their families are a lot safer. I’ll never be completely out, but it’s very different than what it was in my father’s day. He’s probably turning over in his grave right now, old bastard.”
Rogan ran his hand over his face. “These last few months I’ve blamed Jimmy for giving me bad intel and it turns out that it was Brandt who betrayed me. Brandt must have told the Seven Sinners that we were coming for one of their own.”
“Lucas’s killer,” Dylan said slowly, recalling what Rogan had said earlier in the night. “You’ve been searching for him?”
“Yeah, for the last five years or so. Jimmy finally found him. We went to the house of this stripper he was supposed to be fucking… ahh, sorry, Tilly,” Rogan gave her an apologetic look.
“I’ve heard worse,” she said. “I have four brothers.”
“Doesn’t mean you need to hear it from me,” Rogan replied. “Anyway, I took Cillian, Colm and Tarin with me. I wanted to keep this low key. But instead of it just being the stripper and Torino, Lucas’s killer, there were five armed Seven Sinners. Tarin got shot and we barely made it out alive. I blamed Jimmy all this time.”
“And Jimmy has been keeping a close eye on you, trying to figure out who leaked the information because he knew it wasn’t him,” Aedan said.
“I still can’t believe that he saw Brandt knock Cillian on the head and stuff him in the trunk of the car and he didn’t bother to warn us,” Dylan said incredulously.
“Instead, he called me and then followed you guys,” Aedan added, shaking his head.
“Nosy bastard probably wanted to see what would happen next,” Rogan said tiredly.
“And for some reason you thought it was all right to bring along Tilly,” Dylan growled at Aedan.
“Don’t blame Aedan,” she protested.
But Aedan just nodded. “It was a mistake.”
“There was no way I was going to stay behind last night,” Tilly argued.
“You wouldn’t have had a choice if they’d tied you to your bed,” Dylan growled.
Tilly glared up at him. “You have a real obsession with tying me up.”
Dylan grinned evilly. “I’ll have to make sure to act out my fantasies soon. I think having you tied up and at my mercy might
go some way to making up for nearly giving me a heart attack.”
“Well, do us all a favor and wait until you get home to play that game,” Rogan said dryly. “The walls aren’t that thick.”
Tilly blushed and Dylan mock-glared at Rogan. “Way to ruin my fun.”
Tilly whacked his leg. “Dylan,” she hissed.
He kissed the top of her head, breathing in her scent.
“We need to talk about Miller,” Rogan said tiredly.
“What about her?” Tilly asked, stiffening against him.
“She needs help, a mhuirnín,” Dylan told her. “More than we can do for her.”
“Looks like they gave her Fizz,” Rogan said grimly. “Which means we have very little knowledge of the side effects. She was hallucinating before. She thought there were spiders climbing over her and she started to scratch frantically at her skin. We had to hold her down while Doc got something to put her to sleep. He can’t keep doing that.”
“But she’s not addicted. How can she be? It’s only been a couple of weeks at the most, right?”
“Fizz is very addictive. Which is why Iker’s so keen on it. Makes for good return business.”
“Now that she’s stopped she’ll be okay, won’t she?”
She was grasping at straws and he didn’t blame her, but she had to be realistic.
“The best idea would be to get her professional help, Tilly,” Rogan said, leaning forward.
“But it should be me taking care of her,” Tilly said tearfully. “I’m her best friend.”
Dylan tugged her close. “We’re leaving today.”
“But we can’t! We can’t just leave her here.”
“I’ve made some calls and found somewhere close by that will take her right away,” Rogan said. “It’s a small, private facility, but it’s got an excellent reputation. She’ll be taken care of, Tilly.”
“I just can’t believe this is happening. I don’t want to leave her to face this alone. She’ll feel abandoned.”
Dylan’s heart broke for her.
“Tilly,” Rogan said. “I won’t let her be alone. I promise.”
“She doesn’t know you.”
“When things are more stable here we’ll come visit her as much as you want,” Dylan told her. “She needs professional help, Tilly.”
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