30. Ciara
Chapter Thirty
CIARA
I’m curled up on the couch with a blanket tucked under my chin, watching Gilmore Girls reruns like my life isn’t teetering on the edge of collapse.
As the dialogue buzzes in the background, I find little comfort in it. My brain is stuck on replay, running that same security footage of Ronan attacking Max over and over like some sick nightmare.
I knew what Ronan was capable of. I’ve always known. But seeing the violence in the flesh made it too real. I could separate the Ronan I knew from the one who goes out in the dead of night to ambush enemies because when he climbed into bed and wrapped me in his arms, all I felt was safe.
But everything changed the moment his fist collided with Max’s cheek, and I can’t help but think that his actions might have fractured us beyond repair.
The thought loops through my mind as I stare at my phone beside me on the couch.
It’s been painfully quiet ever since Ronan stormed out.
He hasn’t called or messaged with an update on Max’s killer, even though I know he recognizes the man who pulled the trigger.
I saw it in his eyes, and the least he could do is tell me what he knows, considering the part he played in all this.
But instead, he’s shutting me out because he’s Ronan, and that’s what he does.
I don't even know what I'm supposed to feel anymore. Anger and guilt are battling for the top spot in my heart, yet the part of me that was falling in love with Ronan is still there. It may be buried under rubble, but it’s still there.
My phone lights up and vibrates, and I reach for it, but it’s not Ronan. It’s Mila.
“Hey—”
“Ciara, help. Someone’s in my apartment.”
I sit up straight, the blanket falling to the floor as I clutch the phone to my ear. “What?”
“I heard the door open and close about ten minutes ago. I thought it was maybe a neighbor, but—” She sucks in a sharp breath, and I freeze, my heart pounding in my chest.
Is this Max’s killer back for round two?
Mila gasps. “Someone is walking around in my kitchen.”
“Jesus.” I’m on my feet in an instant, anxiously pacing around the room as I try to think of what to do. “Okay, don’t panic.”
“It’s too late for that.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m hiding in my closet.”
I curse under my breath as I run a hand through my hair. “You’re sure you locked the door?”
“Yes, I always lock it after...”
She doesn’t need to finish her sentence for me to know what she means.
“All right.” I pace toward the window, trying to ignore my hammering heart as an idea forms in my mind. “You’re going to climb out onto the fire escape and go across to the building next door.”
Mila chokes a sob. “What if they follow me?”
“I’m going to call Ronan, and he’s going to come and get you. He’s in the city and can get to you a hell of a lot quicker than I could.”
The truth is I have no idea if he is in the city, but I can’t let Mila panic right now. One wrong move and she could end up in the ground like Max, and I refuse to bury another friend.
Right now, she needs hope that she’ll survive this, and I’ll do whatever I can to give that to her.
“Don’t leave me, Ciara.” Mila’s voice trembles, and my throat thickens with tears.
“I’ll call you right back. Leave your phone on do not disturb so it doesn’t alert them when I call.”
“Hurry,” she whispers.
I end the call and immediately dial Ronan. To my surprise, he picks up on the second ring.
“Ronan?”
“What?” He doesn’t sound pleased to hear my voice, but I can’t focus on that right now.
“It’s Mila. Someone’s in her apartment. She needs your help now.”
“Where is she?”
Heavy footsteps sound in the background, followed by a car door slamming.
He’s already moving. Despite our fight, I knew I could count on Ronan to help my friend.
“She was hiding in the closet. I told her to climb out the window onto the fire escape and head to the building next door.”
“That was a good call.”
I hate that his voice brings me comfort right now, but it does.
“I’m just leaving Kieran’s, so I can be there in a few minutes. Tell her not to move once she’s out and to stay out of sight until she sees my car.”
He hangs up before I can even respond.
My fingers tremble as I call Mila back, and when she answers, I swallow a sob of relief.
“He’ll be there soon. It’s going to be all right, Mila.”
“I’m scared.”
I have to cover my mouth to muffle my own sobs.
Mila has endured so much pain because of me. She lost her brother because of a stupid decision I made, and yet she still chose to stand by my side.
I’m going to do everything I can to ensure she doesn’t regret that decision. “Where are you now?”
“I’m on the fire escape.”
“Good, that’s… good.”
“Oh, my god,” Mila breathes after a beat.
I clutch the phone tighter. “What? What is it?”
“I see Ronan’s car.”
My legs buckle, and I have to grab onto the edge of the couch to stop myself from hitting the floor.
“You’re safe.”
Mila pants as she runs toward the car, and a moment later, Ronan’s deep voice filters through the speaker. This time, I let myself sink to the floor as tears roll down my cheeks.
“Thank you,” I sob, even though he can’t hear me.
He got to her in time.
“Ciara?”
I barely notice Mila calling my name, too overcome with sobs to think straight.
“Tine Bheag?”
Even though I am beyond pissed at him, hearing Ronan’s voice settles something inside me.
He showed up when I needed him the most, and that has to mean something. At least that’s what I need to tell myself right now because otherwise, I’ll fall apart.
“Ronan,” I breathe.
“I’m going to have Kieran bring you and Mila to a safe house.”
“What? Why? Can’t Mila come here?”
“The mole is on the move, and I can’t risk you being somewhere they know to look.”
I swallow another sob.
“Ciara, you’re going to be okay.”
“Okay…” I whisper.
Cutting the call with Mila and Ronan feels sickening, but I need to hurry and pack us both a bag so we can leave the moment Kieran arrives. I have no idea how long we’ll be at the safe house, and I want to make sure we’ve at least got some clean underwear and a toothbrush.
“That will have to do.” I zip up the duffel bag, throw it over my shoulder, and head downstairs to where Stephen is waiting outside on the front steps.
“You good?” He reaches for the bag and shoulders the weight for me.
I nod, though I feel anything but good right now.
“Just want to get out of here.” I glance around, half-expecting a group of armed men to jump out from behind the hedges and shoot me dead.
“I don’t blame you.”
“I take it Ronan called you?”
Stephen nods.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?”
“Ronan has everything under control.” But Stephen doesn’t look at me as he speaks.
We stand in silence until headlights wash over the front of the house, and a sleek, black SUV pulls into the driveway.
Its matte paint and bulletproof windows will be the only thing keeping Mila, myself, and my baby safe as we make the journey to the safe house, and I can’t help but fear that it won’t be enough.
Kieran kills the engine and steps out of the vehicle in one fluid motion.
He’s swapped out his usual tailored suit for a black Henley and dark jeans, but he still radiates the kind of energy that makes people nervous. He’s like a weapon with the safety off.
“Thanks for coming.”
His eyes land on me, and I try to meet his gaze, but it’s hard not to flinch under the weight of it.
“Get in. Quickly.”
He grabs the duffel bag from Stephen and throws it in the trunk like it weighs nothing.
I offer Stephen a brief smile before heading around the car to the passenger side door, but I pause.
“Kieran—”
He cuts me off with a look as he slams the trunk shut. “Not here, Ciara.”
There’s something about the way he says my name. It’s not quite warm, but it’s not cold either. Just clipped and controlled, like him. Everything about Kieran is tightly wound, as if he's one wrong word away from exploding.
I decide not to push him, so I open the door and climb in.
“Ciara,” Mila chokes, throwing her arms around me before I’m even in my seat.
I hold her tightly, trying my hardest not to fall apart in front of her.
“Everything is going to be okay.”
“Seatbelts on,” Kieran orders before shutting my door.
Mila and I do as he says without question, and I keep hold of Mila’s hand, needing the comfort just as much as she does, as Kieran starts the engine.
The silence is thick, save for the soft click of the locks engaging once he pulls onto the road, but I can’t think of anything to say to break it.
I steal a glance at Kieran in the rearview mirror, noting his clenched jaw and the way his dark eyes are constantly scanning his surroundings as if he’s expecting an ambush at any moment.
He remains tense even as we’re on the highway. “You okay back there?”
Mila nods, but she’s trembling.
I look around. “Where are we going?”
“To the safe house.”
He says it like it’s nothing, but I can see the vein ticking in his neck. He’s not as calm as he wants to appear.
“I thought we would have more time,” I murmur, more to myself than anything, as I think of Ronan.
My free hand rests on my stomach, and an overwhelming sense of dread envelops me as I wonder if this is all the time we were destined to have together.
Kieran’s eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror before they focus back on the road. “You don’t get time when people want you dead.”
Mila flinches, and I scowl at Kieran in the mirror.
“Seriously, read the room, Kieran.”
His eyes meet mine again, but I don’t flinch at the iciness in his gaze.
“No point in sugarcoating things.”
“Do you ever think about turning it off?”
He frowns. “Turning what off?”
“You know… the constant fight mode.”
He doesn’t look at me, but I know I’ve struck a chord because his fingers tighten on the wheel.
“No. You turn it off, and you slip. You slip, and someone ends up with a bullet in their skull.”
And we’re back to silence again, only this time Kieran is the one to break it.
“How are you holding up?”
I blink. For a moment there, he almost sounded like he cared.
“Not great.”
Mila squeezes my hand in silent comfort.
I shrug. “But it doesn’t really matter how I feel. It doesn’t change the fact that someone is after us.”
Kieran’s mouth twitches, not with a smile, but more like a grim acknowledgment. “You’re learning.”
I’m not sure how much time passes before we finally pull onto a quiet street just outside the city with nothing but brownstones on either side of us. It’s deceivingly peaceful, which is probably why Ronan chose it.
Kieran slows the car to a crawl before parking it across the street from a three-story brick townhouse. He doesn’t move to exit the car until he’s scanned the surroundings, his hand already reaching for the gun tucked into the back of his jeans.
“Stay here.”
I look around but see nothing strange. “What is it?”
He doesn’t answer. He just gets out of the car, gun already in hand, and stalks across the street toward the safe house.
Mila and I exchange a glance, and I see it in her eyes that she’s barely holding it together. Her fingers tremble as she goes to open her door, but I reach across to stop her.
“Wait until he says it’s clear.”
We watch through the window as Kieran walks up the steps and pulls out a key.
I find myself holding my breath as I watch him disappear inside to check the coast is clear, but when he doesn’t come back after a few minutes, I know something is wrong.
I’m out of the car and sprinting across the street in an instant, with Mila right behind me.
“Fuck!” The word rips through the night like a gunshot.
“Kieran?” I yell, my heart already pounding as I race up the front steps.
“Stay the fuck back,” he barks from inside the doorway, but I ignore him.
The second I step foot in the house and the smell of blood hits my nose, I stumble backward right into Mila.
The interior of the house is dimly lit, with shadows stretching across the walls from the single lamp on the edge of a console table. It’s so dim that at first, I couldn’t see the blood spattered on the walls or the obvious man lying dead in the center of the floor, his throat completely missing.
“Oh, my God.” My hand clamps over my mouth to stop myself from throwing up.
Kieran turns and tries to force me back, but it’s too late. I’ve already seen too much, and from the sound of Mila’s sudden scream, she’s seen it too.
“Don’t look,” I spin around and try to push her back onto the street.
But Mila shakes her head, firmly planting her feet as her eyes lock on something over my shoulder.
“What?”
I turn slowly, my eyes following the splatters of blood along the walls. There’s so much that it almost doesn’t look real. But as I look up at the top of the staircase, I notice another body—a woman this time—slumped against the wall at the very top, her head tilted at an unnatural angle.
Her brown hair is matted with blood, and her hands are stained red as if she tried to fight back.
But she lost.
They both did.
“Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” Mila’s body shakes violently.
“I told you to wait in the car.” Kieran’s dark eyes are wild as he looks from me to Mila.
“I thought you were in trouble. What the hell happened? How did they know we were coming?”
“That’s what I’m going to find out.”