Page 46 of Quinn

Tchokai reached for the rope but Connor drew back.

Tchokai nodded to the man holding Arabella and before any of us could do a fucking thing, he threw her. Threw her towards where Jake stood. She landed on the ground near his feet with a heavy thud. He wasted no time in scooping her into his arms.

Although distracted by what was happening to Arabella, I still moved like lightning and within seconds, each of us had one of Tchokai’s men in our grasp, the chief himself was held in a throat hold by Connor. I held the bastard—Mindare.

Tchokai struggled against Connor, attempting to breathe air into his lungs, but Connor’s hold was like an iron vice. Denied of air, the man went limp in my brother’s arms.

Using some of Tchokai’s men as cover, we picked off the rest of his men with ease. The ground shook as grenades and small rockets were lobbed into groups of men as they ran; they dropped like pins in a bowling alley.

I pulled rope from a pocket, bound Mindare’s hands at his back, and handed him over to Asagowi to take back to the compound.

When everything quieted, I rushed to Connor’s side, scanning the area frantically for Jake and Arabella.

“Where are Jake and Bella?”

Connor spoke, while keeping a tight grip on Tchokai who was out cold and hanging like a limp rag in his hands. “Jake took her home and said he’ll have the girls stay with her. He’s going to call Barry to check her over. She’s alive and safe. It’s over for her, Quinn. Arabella needs our help, time to recover, heal, and put this in the past.”

“How the fuck does she put what’s happened in the past. This is my fault, Connor. If I hadn’t been acting like a prick and thinking only of myself, she would have stayed safe.”

“You don’t know that for sure. I think something Father once said is very appropriate here—"in the midst of a crisis, nothing is as certain or clear as it appears in hindsight.”

I nodded, overwhelmed with my feelings, and struggling to come to terms with the fact I could have lost Arabella. It was time I admitted my true feelings for the woman who had somehow burrowed her way into my heart in only a matter of days.

My brother handed Tchokai over to Waigi and Mala who bound his hands and feet and started hauling him towards the compound.

Connor slapped my shoulder. “Let’s go home. We have a couple of pricks I’m sure you would like to party with at the shed.”

I looked out over the carnage left behind and hoped it was the last anyone would hear from, or about, Sangumala.

***

When we reached the gate of the compound, I veered to my left. “I’m going to check on Arabella and I’ll meet you down there. I need to see for myself that she’s okay.”

Connor accompanied Alex, the most trusted men who graced our inner circle, and the three arseholes who would soon be pleading for death, while I strode up the slight incline to Jake’s home.

Pushing inside, I was surprised to find Jake seated at his dining table having a drink. If the colour was an indication, it was whiskey.

I headed straight to the bar and poured one for myself before dropping into the chair opposite.

Jake raised an eyebrow, I rarely drank. “Done?”

“Yep. Connor is with the others preparing our guests for the party at the shed. How’s Arabella?”

“She’s awake and understandably upset. The girls are taking care of her, she’ll be okay.”

“I think I might be falling in love with her, Jake, and it scares the ever-loving shit out of me. It wasn’t meant to happen.”

“Do you really think any of us has a choice about whether or not we fall in love? Did you honestly believe you were immune? Let me tell you, little brother, when love comes a calling you’ve got no fucking chance of keeping the door closed and bolted.” He sipped at his drink. “When did you start to realise you really cared about her, because I’m telling you, we all knew the day you brought her here from Moresby?”

“Bullshit!”

Jake shook his head. “If you hadn’t cared for that little lady, you would have left her in a hotel in Popondetta. Nope, your heart knew Arabella was meant to be yours. It’s no use fighting it because I’m telling you, it’s a fight you won’t win.”

“When did you become such a fucking know it all?”

“Since Natalie blindsided me and not that long ago I was where you are now—trying to figure out what the fuck was happening. Pull your head out of your arse and accept it, because I’m telling you, it will make things a hell of a lot easier.”

“I’m sort of coming to that conclusion myself. Thanks.”