Page 15 of Fighting for Irish
Chapter Five
By the time they left the ER, it was after three in the morning. Kat had been petrified in the hospital, though she managed to do a pretty good job hiding it. When the nurse called her name to head back for her stitches, Aiden casually offered to go back with her so she “had some company.” The relief that flooded her eyes before she could feign indifference with a shrug—something he was beginning to realize she did often—spoke volumes.
She’d done pretty well, all things considered. Though he was pretty sure his hand would disagree. If she’d squeezed it any harder he would’ve been sticking around to get it set in a cast. But ten minutes and twelve stitches later, exhaustion finally beat out anxiety.
Or so he’d thought.
She may have relaxed somewhat while they listened to the nurse go through after-care instructions and waited to be released, but as soon as they stepped foot outside those hospital walls, her entire demeanor changed. Her back muscles strung taut under his hand where he guided her across the parking lot. Though she tried to be subtle, he could tell she was scanning the area for something, or someone. And when a nearby car alarm went off, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
If her skittish behavior at work had been for fear Mullineaux would return, then there’d be no reason for her to still be anxious. Not to mention his gut was shooting up warning flares. He could feel the eyes on him like a scratchy tag on the back of his neck.
But who was doing the watching? And why?
They pulled out of the hospital parking lot and hadn’t gone very far before his suspicions were validated in the form of a tail. And not the furry kind.
“What kind of trouble are you in?”
She stopped biting her nails and cut him a sidelong glance from the passenger seat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Cut the shit, Kat. You’ve been acting nervous all night. I wanna help you, but I can’t do that if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”
She turned in her seat, putting her in the corner of the seat back and the door, and crossed her arms over her chest. “You don’t think last night is reason enough to be a little off my game today?”
“Yeah, I do.” He glanced in the rearview mirror. Still there. “But I don’t think Mullineaux is the reason you’ve been looking over your shoulder.” Stopping at a red light, Aiden laid his hand on the back of her seat and turned to face her. “Don’t look now, but I’m guessing your problem is in the Cadillac XLR that’s been tailing us since we left the hospital.”
Kat started to twist in her seat and do the very thing he’d told her not to do, but he’d been ready for that. He caught her face with his right hand and leaned in close to make it seem like they were merely kissing. “I said not to look. Now face forward and pretend like you don’t know they’re there. Got it?”
She swallowed hard, then nodded her understanding just before the light turned green. Only a few blocks away from her apartment. He had to know what he was up against before he did anything.
“Are they here because of your boyfriend?”
She didn’t turn her head, but from the corner of his eye he saw her stiffen even more. “What do you mean?”
“He’s in prison. Are these his buddies looking to cause trouble for anyone they suspect might be taking his place while he’s in the big house?”
“Oh,” she said, studying her hands in her lap. “No, I don’t think they care one way or the other about that.”
He gave a quick nod. “Good. You want me to lose them?”
“You can’t.”
“Why not?”
“For multiple reasons.” Her tone was changing to one of aggravation. He liked that a hell of a lot better than the defeated one from before. “For starters, Mario Andretti couldn’t lose anyone driving this piece-of-crap car.”
“And if that wasn’t an issue?”
She shook her head and peered into the side mirror. “There’s nowhere to go where they won’t find me now. Even if I could hide out for a day or two, it would only be stalling the inevitable.”
Inevitable.He hated that fucking word.
Mark my words, one of these days you’re gonna hurt someone with that temper of yours. It’s inevitable.
Joey Patterson, his lifelong best friend, had been right. So goddamn right. And ever since, he’d done everything in his power to make sure it never came true again.
“What’s inevitable?” he asked. Keeping her eyes turned to the window was her only answer. Whatever hot water she was in, it couldn’t be anything small.
Aiden flexed his fingers and gripped the wheel until his knuckles blanched. He barely knew her, but the thought of anyone hurting this woman was enough to trigger his old instincts. He hadn’t felt the need to protect anyone since that night with Joey’s little sister— Don’t go there, asshole. Keep your head in this moment.
