Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
RONAN
It’s nearly two in the morning when Kieran calls with an update. I’ve lost count of how many days it’s been since Max’s death, but from the growing feeling of dread that has settled in my stomach, it’s been too fucking many for us not to have any leads.
I don’t even hesitate to pick up the phone, knowing that I won’t be chasing sleep anytime soon, so I might as well continue to work.
“You’re not going to like what I’ve found,” Kieran says by way of greeting.
“I never do. Talk.”
“I got the name of the kidnapper: Liam Kelly.”
I sit up straighter, the fatigue I’ve been drowning in all day vanishing in an instant. “Are you sure?”
“My guy wouldn’t risk giving me a fake name. Not after what I paid him.”
I frown. “What did you pay him?”
There’s a beat of silence, and I know whatever the answer is, I’m not going to like it.
“We owe him a favor. One he can cash in whenever he wants.”
I swallow a groan as I rub the back of my neck.
Owing a debt to a man I don’t know if I can trust is the kind of move that gets people killed in my world. But the cost of not finding out who’s trying to bring us down is even worse, so I’ll let it slide. For now.
“We’ll deal with that later. Tell me about Kelly.”
Kieran scoffs. “Looks to be nothing more than a thug for hire, a man with zero loyalty. He was most recently seen working with the O’Keefe brothers.”
I curse under my breath.
That name I do know.
The O’Keefe family is about as reckless as they come, infamous for stirring shit and never playing by the rules. My own father put two of them in the ground back in the day and warned the rest to stay the hell out of New York. But it looks like they forgot my father’s warning.
“They want back in?”
“Either that or someone’s using them as a front. Whatever the reason, Kelly’s connection to them gives us a starting point.”
Even though he can’t see it, I nod. “Who else has he worked for?”
“Anyone who pays enough. My guys and I have put together a list of factions he's known to associate with.”
“Send it over.” I open my email just as the list appears in my inbox.
I open it and stare at the names, most of which I’m familiar with, which is a good sign.
“This one. Caffrey. You can take him off the list. He’d be stupid to make a move now.”
“And what about Doyle? I was on the fence about him.”
“He doesn’t have the manpower. Not unless he’s been stockpiling without us knowing…”
Kieran and I work our way down the list, crossing out the impossible and unlikely, until we’re left with only two names. Burke and Keegan.
While both have been allies for our family for years, helping us keep our trade lines open and settling scores among territory disagreements, loyalty in our world is a fickle thing, and I don’t trust either of them to keep it.
“You think one of them would actually betray us?” Kieran’s tone is biting.
“I think they wouldn’t hesitate if they believed they could win.”
“Slimy fuckers.”
I push back my chair and get to my feet to go and fix myself a drink, needing something to take the edge off. “We don’t know anything for sure.”
“Do you want me to apply pressure?”
“Not yet.” I pick up a fresh rocks glass off the bar cart, which is looking a little low.
How much have I been drinking?
I pull the stopper out of the crystal decanter and pour myself three fingers' worth of whiskey. “We can’t risk alerting them that we’re onto them. If they are planning something big, I want to catch them in the act.”
“I’ll see what I can dig up.”
“Fine, but make sure to do it quietly.”
After I end the call with Kieran, I take my drink and sink into one of the leather armchairs in front of the empty fireplace.
The room is enveloped in darkness except for the small desk lamp, which casts an orange glow over my mountain of papers gathered over the past few days.
My eyes feel heavy, but I know the moment I crawl into bed, my mind will ramp up, and I’ll find myself right back here trying to untangle the web of secrets and lies that my family is caught up in.
The silence in the room feels haunting as I sip my whiskey, barely feeling the burn as it slides down my throat.
Knowing that this Liam guy is linked to the O’Keefe brothers means I’m one step closer to finding out the truth, but that doesn’t make me feel better. If anything, it makes me feel like the walls are closing in around me, sucking the air out of my lungs until I can barely breathe.
Whoever is behind this is smart and calculated. They didn’t just go after Max and Mila on a whim. They did it because they knew it would draw Ciara to them as a way to get to me. And if I hadn’t gotten to her in time, there was a high chance they could have destroyed everything.
But I refuse to let them win.
I am a Sullivan, after all, and we don’t do well with losing.
The hours pass in a blur as I continue to dig into the O’Keefes, searching for anything that could have prompted them to go after not only my father but Callum McCarthy too.
Eventually, my stomach aches from hunger, and I peel my eyes away from my computer screen, getting to my feet, my body weighed down by fatigue. I desperately need a shower and some sleep, but when the lives of everyone I care about are resting on my shoulders, such things seem irrelevant.
But then I think of Ciara and know that I need to show my face. She wasn’t ready to talk the other day, so I let her walk, but I’m tired of hiding out in my office.
I miss her smile and the sound of her laugh, and I miss having her warm body tucked against mine in my bed.
The soft sound of the girls talking hits me as I head down the hall toward the kitchen.
Even just the sound of Ciara’s voice has my blood heating, and I have to exhale my cock twitches in my pants.
The chokehold this woman has on me should be embarrassing if it weren’t for the fact that I fucking love it. No woman has ever affected me like this before, and it’s intoxicating. Even when we’re not speaking and at each other’s throats, I’m still turned on by her.
But it seems Ciara doesn’t feel the same, as when I stroll into the kitchen, she looks up from her dinner with genuine shock on her face.
“I was starting to forget what you looked like.”
“You’re the one who didn’t want to accept my apology, Tine Bheag,” I stalk over to the fridge. “I was just giving you space.”
“You look like crap. You could have at least put on a clean shirt for dinner.”
I try to stifle my laugh as I glance over my shoulder at her. “And you look as radiant as ever, wife.”
I speak nothing but the truth. Ciara’s swapped her usual ponytail for a loose braid over her shoulder, and she’s wearing a sweater that falls off her shoulder, exposing the bright pink strap of her bra.
If she weren’t so pissed at me, I’d think she wore it on purpose just to tease me.
Ciara goes to retort, but then Mila stands abruptly, mumbling something under her breath about her mother calling as she avoids my eyes.
She’s obviously lying as a way to give Ciara and me the opportunity to be alone, and I appreciate the gesture.
We need to talk, and I’ve decided that I’m not going to let her leave this kitchen until she accepts my apology.
I wait until Mila is out of the room before abandoning my quest for food and taking the empty seat at the table across from Ciara.
She looks annoyed that I’ve dared to grace her with my presence, but she makes no move to leave, which I take as a good sign.
“I’ve been trying to figure out who hired the guy who took Mila. That’s what’s been keeping me busy.”
She nods, still not looking at me as she pushes her pasta around her plate. “Any luck?”
“We’re getting somewhere. Kieran got the name of the guy from the warehouse.”
“Oh?”
“His name was Liam Kelly. He was a gun for hire, connected to the O’Keefe brothers.”
“I’ve heard of them.” Ciara sets down her fork and looks up at me under her lashes. “Aren’t they the ones Seamus nearly wiped out?”
I run a hand over my stubbled jaw. “Yeah. Which makes this more personal than I thought.”
We fall into silence for a moment before I shift in my seat, knowing that I can’t put off this conversation any longer.
“But that’s not what I came in here to tell you. We need to talk about us.”
That immediately has Ciara looking down at her plate again. “What’s there to talk about?”
When I screw up, I do it spectacularly. I left her alone, hoping space and time would help, but it seems to have driven her even farther away from me.
I can’t lose this woman.
“I got angry, and I didn’t handle it well. But the thought of anything happening to you… Ciara, it drove me insane. You could have died. And I couldn’t cope with even the thought of you being in danger, let alone hurt… or worse.”
Her shoulders relax a little, but her eyes remain downcast as she talks.
“I know that, but you don’t get to make decisions for me. If you had listened to me, maybe we could have worked as a team, instead of working against each other. But you refused, so I did what I had to do.”
“I know you did.”
She glances up at me, frowning. “You do?”
“Yes. You thought you had no other choice, and I admire your courage. Not many people would have done what you did.”
A faint blush stains Ciara’s cheeks, and my fingers itch with the need to reach out and stroke my thumb over her soft skin. But I refrain, keeping my hands balled into fists beneath the table.
“Just… promise me you’ll never put yourself in that kind of danger again.”
Her eyebrows lift as she leans back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I don’t think I can make that promise.”
“Why?”
“Because you put yourself in danger every damn day, and you expect me to be okay with that. But what you fail to realize is that I worry too, Ronan. Don’t act like this is one-sided.”
My heart skips a beat.
She cares.
But then I realize what she said. “It’s not. But I know what I’m doing. I have backup. I have training. And while what you did was brave, it was also reckless as hell because you had none of those.”
“But it saved Mila.”
“Yes. But it could’ve killed you both.”
“But it didn’t.”
“Look, this whole conversation is ridiculous. We’re going around in circles. All I’m asking is that you don’t put yourself in unnecessary danger.”
“And who gets to define what’s necessary? You?”
“I’m not trying to control you, Ciara. I’m trying to keep you safe.
Alive. What you did the other night could have ended badly, and I don’t think you realize that.
I mean, what happens when we have kids? Will you consider how your actions will affect them?
Or will you risk your life and leave them without a mother? ”
Ciara’s face pales as she peers up at me. “You want kids with me?”
The question throws me, and I frown. “What?”
“You said, ‘What happens when we have kids?’ Like it’s something you’ve thought about.”
“Of course, I’ve thought about it. I mean, things might be too messed up for us to think about it right now, but someday I want a family of my own.”
Something flickers in Ciara’s eyes. Surprise, maybe?
For once, I can’t quite read her, but then her lips pull up into a tentative smile, and I feel the tension in my body instantly melt away.
“So, do you forgive me for being an ass?”
“Maybe…” The corners of her lips twitch.
I let out a long breath and lean back in my seat, feeling some of the weight lift off my shoulders.
“And I promise to do my best not to risk my life unnecessarily if you can do the same for me. We need to be a team.”
It’s not the promise I want, but it’s the one I’ll take if it means being back on speaking terms with my wife.
“It’s a deal.”