Chapter Nineteen
RONAN
I crouch behind the blacked-out SUV, my breathing slow and measured despite the adrenaline pumping through my veins. The wharf stretches out in front of us, the moonlight cutting through the low-hanging fog as we wait for Brennan’s command.
Kieran is beside me, scanning the shadows as he tightens his grip on his gun.
The cranes loom overhead, creaking slightly in the cold breeze, but I barely take notice.
Dim yellow floodlights cast long shadows over the wharf, turning every corner into a potential hiding place. The rest of our men are spread out, hunkered down behind barrels and shipping containers, each one primed and ready.
“This is bullshit,” Kieran mutters after a few minutes of silence. “We should be in there too, getting ready to attack. Fuck sitting around like this.”
I shake my head, my eyes fixed on the black water beyond the dock. “No. You and I rarely deal with shipments, so if we went in there now, it would raise suspicion.”
Kieran snorts. “Maybe that’s not a bad thing. Declan might piss himself and run if he saw us.”
“He might. But next time, we might not be lucky enough to know what’s going down in advance. If he figures out someone tipped us off…”
“Then he’ll know he’s got a rat,” Kieran growls.
I nod. “Exactly, and that rat would be fished out very quickly. It’s better we handle this now and send Walsh a very clear message.”
Kieran grunts as his finger flexes on the trigger of his gun. It’s not an agreement exactly, but it’s enough. He knows I’m right, even if every muscle in his body is begging to rush in there and open fire.
It takes another fifteen minutes for Brennan’s signal to come through, his voice crackling in my earpiece.
“Go.”
I give the hand signal to our men and they move like shadows, silent and lethal.
We’re barely twenty steps from the entrance to the warehouse when headlights blind us as a convoy of black SUVs appears.
Declan’s crew.
A cruel smile tugs at my lips as I send my first bullet right into the wheel of the car, sending it swerving into the side of the warehouse.
Chaos erupts around me as men start piling out of the vehicles.
Under the bright floodlights, I barely have time to scan the faces of the men to make sure they’re not Declan before I aim and shoot.
One by one, they hit the concrete, many not getting up again. It’s clear that Declan’s crew is panicked by our ambush. They scatter, caught up between containers and crates with nowhere to go.
I crouch low as I sprint across the shipyard, scanning every face I come across as I try to find Declan.
Some of the casualties are ours, but I don’t have time to mourn the losses just yet. I need to find Declan before he decides to make a run for it like the coward he is.
It doesn’t take long for me to spot him, considering the fact he’s the only one running in the opposite direction.
“You fucking coward!” I bellow at his retreating back.
Declan turns just outside the open gate to the shipyard, his face covered in blood spatters and his eyes wild under the bright security lights.
“This isn’t over, Ronan!”
I keep my gun aimed and ready, pointed directly at his chest, but I don’t shoot.
“It can be! But if you keep coming, I’ll make it my personal mission to bury every single one of your men before I bury you.”
He sneers, half-laughing as he lingers near the shadows. “Those are some big words, Sullivan.”
“Trust me, you do not want to make an enemy out of me.”
Declan disappears into the fog without another word, and just like that the battle is over, but the war?
That’s only just begun.
Kieran’s apartment is a mess of blood-streaked shirts and empty rocks glasses as my brothers and I regroup.
Brennan is sitting on the couch, hunched over a tablet as he reviews the security footage, and Cormac is on the phone with Jace, who is in charge of the cleanup.
I haven’t stopped pacing since we got here.
It was a goddamn miracle none of us was injured, but I can’t say the same for some of my men. We lost more than we should have, considering we were the ones with the upper hand, which only adds to my bitter mood.
I’m yet to get the final count along with names, but the moment I do, I’ll have to reach out to their families.
I always make sure the wives and children are taken care of, but I know they would much rather trade all the money in the world for another chance to see their loved ones.
I never wanted to be part of this fight, and now I’ve lost good and valuable men because Declan considers me a weak link. It’s ironic, considering he was the one who bolted in the opposite direction.
Kieran tosses back another glass of whiskey and slams it on the kitchen counter. “We shouldn’t have let Declan walk away.”
I’m too tired to deal with Kieran’s tantrum. “You can keep saying that all you want, brother, but it’s not going to change anything.”
“I could go back there right now and put a bullet in his skull, which is what you should have done when you had the chanc—”
I whirl around to face my brother. “You think I didn’t want to kill him? Do you really think I didn’t want to have his blood on my hands?”
Kieran’s expression is cold as he looks at me. “Could have fooled me.”
“You got something to say?”
Brennan’s eyes are on me as I stalk toward Kieran. I guess he is assessing if he needs to step in.
Kieran’s eyes darken as he surveys me. “I’m just wondering how long we keep playing defense, Ronan. How long until this blows up in our face? We keep reacting, but it’s about time we go on the offensive.”
I narrow my eyes. “Are you questioning how I’m handling this?”
Kieran doesn’t even flinch. “I’m questioning if you even can handle this.”
Silence drops over the room like a bomb.
No one moves or even dares to breathe as Kieran and I glare at each other.
If it wasn’t bad enough hearing from Lorcan how whispers are circulating about my ability to run this business, now my own brother is questioning me too.
He might as well have put a knife in my back.
“Do you think you can do a better job?”
“Yeah, I do, actually.”
I can’t help but snort. “Your hot-headedness would get you killed in a matter of minutes.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong, Ronan.”
“Really? Because you’ve given me no reason to think otherwise!”
“Fuck you.”
“Spoken like a true leader.”
Brennan looks between us. “All right, that’s enough.”
I’m already closing the distance between myself and Kieran as my rage starts to overtake logic. “If you want the seat, be my guest.”
Kieran’s nostrils flare as he steps toward me until our noses are practically touching.
“I’m not saying I want it. I’m saying you’re stretched too thin, Ronan.
You’re burning out. You’ve got a mole inside your crew and a war outside your doors, and on top of that, you’re losing your damn mind over Ciara. ”
“Leave her out of this.”
“You’ve got your head so far up your ass trying to protect her that you’re making mistakes. You’re unfocused, and it’s costing us.”
Before I can think, my hands are on Kieran, and I’m shoving him backward against the countertop.
He bares his teeth as challenge flashes in his eyes. His hands push against my chest, but I take the opportunity to sink my fingers into his shirt, and I gear up to slam my head into his nose.
Brennan forces himself between us. “That’s enough!”
Kieran barely acknowledges Brennan’s presence and tries to sidestep him, but our youngest brother doesn’t back down.
He puts both of his hands out, driving a wedge between us. “Stop it, both of you.”
Kieran and I are both breathing hard, our eyes locked on one another like two bulls ready to charge.
Brennan turns to look at me. “You’re our brother, Ronan, as well as our boss… But Kieran’s not wrong about one thing. You’re doing everything yourself, and it’s not sustainable.”
I swipe a hand through my hair, exhaling hard. “You think I don’t know that?”
Brennan’s eyes stay on me. “Then let us help. Let me help.”
Silence stretches between us again until my shoulders sag, and I turn my back on Kieran to take a seat on the couch.
It’s past midnight, and I know Ciara will be asleep, but I want nothing more than to call her.
Right now, her voice is the only one I want to listen to.
“Ronan?”
I blink out of my thoughts to see Cormac watching me with quiet curiosity.
I rest my forearms on my knees. “Lorcan said the same thing.”
Brennan frowns. “You spoke to Lorcan?”
I nod. “He came to the house this morning.”
Was it really only this morning? My body feels like lead from the fatigue, and I desperately need a shower, but those things will have to wait a while longer.
“And?” Kieran comes to perch on the arm of the couch. The thunder is still in his eyes, but his curiosity about our uncle’s sudden appearance seems to be getting the better of him.
“He informed me that people are questioning whether I’m in over my head, and that perhaps taking over the family business was too much, too soon.”
“Well, who else was going to do it?” Cormac frowns. “Lorcan?”
I shrug.
“Lorcan has a point,” Kieran mutters under his breath.
“You think I don’t want to delegate? In case you need reminding, I’ve been forced into this war. I’ve been reacting because I’ve had no goddamn choice.”
Brennan folds his arms as he leans against the mantle, surveying each of us in turn. “Then let’s take the next move off the board. We need to find the mole because whoever it is, they’ve got Declan’s ear.”
Kieran nods. “There are only a handful of people who had details about the shipment. That narrows it down to your inner circle.”
I frown. “It’s not enough just to find the mole. Declan’s smart. He won’t tip his hand easily.”
Cormac looks between us. “Which means we need to tip ours.”
I nod. “We should fake intel and feed it to different people to see what leaks.”
Kieran smirks. “Now that’s a plan I can get behind.”
I glance up to meet his gaze. “You still think I can’t handle this?”
Before he can answer, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out, and it’s a message from Stephen.
Everything is secure at the house. Ciara’s safe.
I exhale slowly as some of the pressure eases off my chest.
“Is she okay?” Kieran asks without me even having to read the message out loud.
“Yeah, she’s good.”
“She’s tougher than you give her credit for.”
I pocket my phone. “I know. But she’s also the one thing I can’t afford to lose.”
Brennan looks between us with cold determination on his face. “Then we keep her safe, and we burn whoever’s betraying us to the ground.”
I nod before rising to my feet. “I want names, and I want proof. And when we find out who’s leaking intel to Declan, I’ll put them in the ground myself.”
Cormac frowns. “What if it’s one of our own?”
I ball my hands into fists. “I’ll make them wish they were never born.”
Kieran gets to his feet as well. “I’ll start digging.”
“I’ll go through communication logs to see who made contact with whom over the last two weeks,” Brennan adds.
I move to the window to stare out at the sleeping city below. The night feels eerily still, like the calm before the storm.
“Declan’s not done. Tonight was just the beginning.”
Kieran looks at me from the reflection. “We’ll be ready.”
“He’s trying to bait me. He’s pulling me into his game where the rules don’t exist.”
Brennan shrugs. “Then don’t play by his rules. Make your own.”
“We go on the offensive tomorrow.” I turn back around to face my brothers. “We need to start going after every ally Declan has, making it clear that siding with him is the wrong fucking choice.”
My brothers nod in unison, and the energy in the room shifts.
From now on, there is no more reacting, and no more second-guessing.
We’re done waiting.
Tomorrow, we take back control of the game.