I break out in a sweat.
Goddamnit, knife. Just say it!
Two deputies respond, slamming the perp to the floor and inciting an all-out brawl. Tess screams. My head whips in her direction, her terror forcing me to act.
She and Simon huddle in the corner, away from where the judge’s deputy is lying on his side, curling inward to protect his weapon against the two men kicking him in the stomach.
I charge toward them. Bone crunches beneath my swinging fist when another perp tries to intercept me. He crashes to the floor, giving a smaller deputy the chance to cuff him. She has him, but the other two perps still have the judge’s guard.
In the tough Philly streets where I was raised, you learn to fight or you learn to get your ass kicked. The O’Briens are fighters, and as one of them, I’ve learned to inflict some serious damage.
My uppercut sends the bigger of the two assailants flying. Big man, glass jaw. The leaner one hurls himself at me. Tess screams again when I knock him out. One punch. That’s all it takes.
I dodge a fourth offender and wrench his arm back, kicking his feet out from under him.
Him I cuff, then I lug him to his feet and spout his Miranda. My eyes sweep my surroundings as adrenaline pumps through my veins, readying me for another attack. It doesn’t come. Thank Christ, more deputies have arrived and are quickly regaining order.
As I take in the blood and the swelling faces, it’s clear that the effort to secure the courthouse didn’t come easy. Shit. How did a knife get past security? The press is going to be all over this mess.
Simon stumbles forward when the perp I’m restraining is hauled away. “That was amazing,” he says. “Holy shit, dude, you’re one badass cop.”
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” Tess’s shrill voice cuts through the sounds of the angry crowd and furious barks from the deputies herding them out. “Are you all right?”
Despite everything, I feel myself begin to smile. “Yeah, I’m—”
My voice cuts off when I realize she’s not talking to me.
Her hands clutch Declan’s arm like she’s afraid he’s going to die. Seeing how he’s standing there grinning, I’m pretty sure he’s going to make it.
A couple of drops of blood trickle down his nose and onto his crisp white shirt. He chuckles. “I’m fine, Contessa, really. Just caught an elbow to the face. It happens when you’re forced to throw down.”
“You were so brave,” she says, her doe eyes blinking up, at him. She removes the paisley scarf from around her neck and dabs his nose, even though it’s already stopped bleeding. “Thank you for coming to my rescue.”
What. Da. Fuck?
He lifts the scarf from her grasp, smiling down at her and patting her arm. Jesus, help me. It’s all I can do not to finish breaking his nose.
“I’ve seriously never seen anything like that, dude,” Simon continues, his breath fast and his voice filled with excitement. “I mean you were like a machine. I thought that Jackie Chan stuff only happened in movies!”
Declan has Tess. I have Simon. Somehow, this shit doesn’t seem fair.
Tess’s eyes whip open when she finally notices me. She races over, pulling at my torn shirt. “Your brother hurled a man against the wall who charged me, but he’s hurt and needs immediate medical attention.”
Tell it to my bleeding knuckles. I turn to Declan. “Wow. You threw one guy against the wall?” I motion to the scrawny teen being led away. “That one right there? You’re a goddamn warrior, Deck.”
He nods like he believes me. “I know.”
The guard assigned to the judge’s chambers is being cared for by two EMTs, even though he’s pissed as all hell over it. Good thing he held tight to his gun, or else…