shot.
“Shit.”
Axel, Max, and Liam are on the move, sprinting across the tarmac.
Moira bends down. Grabs something. Then lifts her arm and points a gun at Townsend.
His eyes widen and he defends with his hands.
“Shit.” With a curse, I lower my weapon and join my team.
Boots sound behind me. Wolfe and Knox are here.
“Moira! We need him alive.”
My shout draws her attention. In that split second, Townsend launches forward. He grabs her ankles and yanks her off her feet. She falls flat on her back, and a loud crack sounds as the back of her head hits pavement.
Two shots go off.
No need to look.
Axel and Max disable Townsend, shooting him in his thighs. Another shot sends the weapon Moira held skittering across the asphalt.
I kick it further away as I race to my girl.
Axel stands over Townsend. Expression lethal. Face livid red.
Moira’s my girl, but she’s one of us now. She’s a member of our team. Max and Liam sprint for the plane. We’ve encountered no resistance from there, which leads me to think Townsend left none off his muscle behind.
I kneel beside Moira and gather her in my arms. Limp, her head rolls back. I cup her head against my chest and feel sticky wetness in her hair.
Shit.
“Moira.” I drag her back. Putting distance between her and the other men. Once safely away, I rock her in my arms.
Knox joins me. He does a quick assessment of her head. “She’s good.” He rips a bandage out of his pocket and gives it to me. “Hold pressure.”
Max and Liam march the pilot from the plane. Hand on his head, he blabbers nonsense.
“How is she?” Max comes up to me, and I don’t know what to say.
“Griff?” Moira’s shaky voice is like a choir of angels singing from above. Something happens inside of me. My heart swells. And I crack a smile.
“Minx?”
Her lids flutter and she looks at me. “I want to kill him.” She’s not fooling around.
I let her go, but then grab her shoulders and force her to look me in the eyes.
“No.”
“It’s my right.” She struggles, pushing me away. Frantically, she casts around. When she focuses on the weapon Axel kicked to the side, I realize she’s not kidding.
I’d shake her, but she might have a concussion. Instead, I grip her chin and force her to look at me. “Let me bear this burden for you.”
“He’s mine.”
“You’ve done enough. Look, minx, we need to get information from him. That’s what I do. You don’t need to carry the stain of his life on your soul.”
“It’s my right.”
“And mine. Let me carry this burden. It’s what a man does for the woman he loves.” I implore her to let me carry that mark on my soul.
“I’ve killed before.” Her voice fades.
“You take his life now, when he’s been kicked to the ground, that’s a different kind of mark. Trust me, minx, you don’t want that blackening your soul.”
“But you do?”
“To avenge my wife? You bet.”
“Your wife?”
“You heard me.” I take her hands in mine and draw her to me. “I thought I made that clear.”
“I didn’t think…” She wipes a tear from her cheek and looks at Townsend.
Axel, Wolfe, and Knox know their shit. It’s not accidental that they block Moira’s view. The last thing she needs to see is that man spitting venom in her direction.
“Me and Townsend are going to have a chat. And I promise, he’ll never hurt another person in his lifetime.”
Townsend’s life is measured in hours. The faster he spills his secrets, the less he’ll suffer, but if it takes days, I don’t mind.
Right now, that’s not my priority. I’ve got the woman I love in my arms, and I’m taking her away from all this shit.
“Wolfe.” I bark out his name.
Wolfe doesn’t bother to ask what I want. He knows. I catch the keys to the vehicle he and Knox drove and leave my team to clean up the mess. Moira and I have other, more pressing, things to take care of, such as how fast I can tie her to me and put a ring on her finger.
Once we’re away from the guys, I grab Moira’s hand. “How do you feel?”
“I’m tired of getting knocked in the head.”
I press my lips together. “How about…”
“What?”
“You ready to become my wife?”
“Hell, yes! But there’s one thing I need to know.”
“Anything.”
“Is Griff your real name?”
I throw my head back and laugh. Pulling her hand to my lips, I kiss the back of her knuckles.
“It is.”
“Griff? Your