Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
KIERAN
The moment I watched the car disappear through the gates with Riley in the back seat, I knew I made the wrong choice.
Sean O’Keefe made a direct threat against her life and somehow, I still managed to let her convince me it would be all right for her to leave the estate.
Even with three guards in tow, I feel uneasy at the thought of her not being in my line of sight.
How have I gotten myself so wrapped around her little finger that I’m willing to put her life at risk?
I curse myself for not insisting on taking whatever it is she needed to drop off for Ciara to the doctor myself, or at the very least, getting Ronan to do it.
We should be the ones risking our necks, but instead we’re sitting around in his study like a pair of brooding teenagers.
“Anyone want me to lighten the mood, or should I just keep reminding Kieran he let Sean slip through his big, brutish hands?” Brennan smirks in my direction.
“Fuck off.” I lean forward in my chair. “At least I’m doing something. All you’ve done today is annoy the shit out of me.”
“Which, I would argue, is just as important.”
“Enough.” Ronan pinches the bridge of his nose. “We don’t have the luxury of fucking around.”
He’s sitting behind the desk with his shoulders hunched and eyes so empty from exhaustion that the only thing keeping him upright is sheer stubbornness.
Brennan is lounging in one of the armchairs, sipping from a glass of whiskey he didn’t ask permission to pour, wearing a grin so infuriatingly casual it makes me want to punch him in the face.
I drag a hand through my hair. “This isn’t how it was supposed to go. You were meant to be taking a step back to focus on Ciara, and I’ve gone and dragged you into this shit with Sean again.”
“You haven’t dragged me into anything.”
“Then tell me, why are you here instead of being with your wife?”
“Because it’s clear that asking you to juggle both Sean and Cormac was too much. I should never have put you in that position.”
“Don’t give me that. You trusted me to keep things under control, and, look around. I’ve made a colossal fuck-up of it all. Cormac is god-knows-where, and I literally had Sean in my line of sight, and I let him get away. And now he’s making threats against Riley—”
Brennan whistles low. “There he goes playing the Riley card. It took longer than I thought, honestly.”
I turn to him, eyes narrowed and fists clenched. “Shut the fuck up.”
He lifts his glass in salute, but his smile quickly fades when Ronan cuts him a look.
When Ronan’s eyes turn to me, the heat burns in them for a different reason. “Listen to me. We’re going to take down Sean, and we’re going to find Cormac, I promise you that.”
“How?”
“We need to divide our attention. You and Brennan will focus on finding Cormac, and I’ll handle Sean.”
“You’ve lost your fucking mind. You’ve got Ciara upstairs on the verge of giving birth, and you think you can take on Sean, alone?”
“I can. And I will.”
“I’m sure Ciara will love the idea of becoming a widow and a mother on the same day.”
“Oof, that’s a low blow,” Brennan chuckles under his breath, his eyes darting back and forth between me and Ronan.
“It’s true, though. You’re distracted, which makes you an easy target, and the whole point of you stepping back was to avoid a situation like this.”
“Ciara knows the risk.”
“Does she?”
“Does Riley?”
I flinch.
“That’s what I thought, so stay the hell out of my relationship, and I’ll stay out of yours. If I need backup, I’ll bring in Lorcan. He’s already offered to help, and from the sounds of it, he’s had some useful contacts.”
I can tell from the look in Ronan’s eyes that he’s serious about this, and no amount of me trying to convince him this is a bad idea will get him to back down.
“Ciara won’t like it,” I remind him.
Brennan shrugs. “I think Ciara’s a little busy to take much notice of Ronan right now. No wonder you’re so wound up, brother. Go take a shower and knock one out. It’ll chill you out.”
I lean back in my chair. “I vote to reinstate the no-Brennan-at-family-meetings rule.”
“I second that,” Ronan grumbles.
Brennan glances at us over the top of his glass as he takes a sip of whiskey. “Technically, this isn’t a family meeting, considering only three of us are here.”
“Please let me cut out his tongue,” I say to Ronan.
Brennan smirks. “You can gift it to Riley—”
“Enough!” Ronan barks. “From now on, Sean is my domain, and you two can focus on finding out where the hell our brother is. End of discussion.”
“I don’t like this.”
“You don’t need to like this, Kieran. But you need to understand that Sean is mine to deal with; he always has been. So, you and Brennan can keep your eyes on Cormac because we can’t afford to let him slip even further away.”
Brennan looks between the two of us. “You do realize he could be lying dead in a ditch, and that’s why we haven’t found him?”
I shrug. “Good fucking riddance if you ask me.”
“Dead or not, we need to find him, and now that your attention isn’t divided, I expect some results.”
I grit my teeth.
Every instinct I have is screaming at me to fight Ronan on this, but the truth is there, written in the exhaustion on his face.
We can’t keep going on as we have been. Something has to change, and if that means I have to give up on my pursuit of Sean O’Keefe in favor of finding Cormac, then so be it.
“Fine.”
“Look at you, compromising.” Brennan chuckles. “Didn’t think you had it in you, Kieran.”
“Say one more word, and I’ll break your fucking jaw.”
His grin widens.
Ronan pushes back his chair, rubbing a hand over his face. “I need to get back to Ciara. Text me if anything changes.”
I nod. “Go. We’ve got it.”
His eyes flick between me and Brennan like he’s not entirely convinced, before he slips out of the room.
Brennan swirls the whiskey around in his glass. “It feels like order has been restored with Ronan back in the game.”
“Do you want me to shoot you? Is that why you’re being unnecessarily annoying today?”
He stretches his arms behind his head. “Honestly, I could do with the break. Can’t remember the last time I slept for more than a few hours.”
“Why do I have a feeling that’s not because you’ve been working?”
Brennan grins. “Think I’ll go and make the rounds on the clubs,” he sets down his empty glass on the table and gets to his feet. “Make sure no one’s drinking the profits.”
“Or fucking the staff.”
“That too.” He smirks. “Don’t burn the place down while I’m gone, big brother.”
“Fuck off.”
He winks and strolls out of the room in typical Brennan fashion, whistling like the weight of the world isn’t trying to crush us all.
The second I’m alone, I cross over to the window and yank open the heavy curtains that Ronan insists on keeping closed.
The morning sunlight spills across the room and for a moment, I just stand there, staring out of the window, trying to imagine what it will feel like to finally put all of this business with Sean and Cormac behind us.
Riley and I will finally be able to move back to the penthouse and have our own space.
As nice as all the family bonding has been, I’ve missed being able to have the option of pleasuring my wife on whatever surface I please.
With a newfound surge of motivation, I sink into the leather chair and pull out my phone to start dialing, determined to get my hands on a lead.
I scroll through every contact, calling in any favors or old debts with men who know me well enough not to lie when I ask if they’ve seen or heard from Cormac.
But somehow, every single one of them comes back with nothing.
The first dead end I hit, I figure it’s bad luck. The second, I consider to be nothing more than a coincidence. But by the fifth call, to my PI, Aiden, I’m pacing around the office with my fist clenched, ready to be put through a wall.
“Seriously, you’ve heard nothing?”
“Not since the last time you called. I told you I would call you if I found anything. You’re blowing up my phone like a goddamned booty call, Sullivan.”
“And I expected you to have found something by now, considering how much I pay you, Aiden.”
“Your brother is not an easy man to find.”
“Clearly.”
“I have to say, I’m a little impressed.”
“And I’m a little pissed, considering you’re still no closer to getting me some answers.”
“I’m using every resource I have to track him down, but you’re going to have to practice your patience.”
“When have you ever known me to have patience?”
“Well, you’re going to have to find some because this isn’t going to be a quick job. I’ll call you if I find anything.”
Aiden ends the call, and I shut off my phone, feeling that familiar surge of frustration that has me on the verge of upending every piece of furniture in Ronan’s office.
Cormac’s tracks are too clean. If he really was leaking information, there should be something for me to find, a girl he bragged to or a whisper picked up by someone who owed me.
But there isn’t, and that’s what I can’t seem to ignore.
Cormac has never been this careful, so why the hell can’t I pin him down? Why does every trail I chase vanish into smoke the second I get too close?
Unless, of course, someone wants it that way…
The thought is sharp and persistent enough that I can’t ignore it.
What if someone’s been laying down the evidence, making sure that it all leads to Cormac? What if I have been pushing so hard to pin Cormac down as the mole that I’ve walked straight into their plan?
I rub at the back of my neck, the weight of it all sitting heavy on my shoulders.
The problem is I can’t admit this potential explanation to my brothers. I’ve staked too much on Cormac being the one to betray us, and if I backpedal without any proof, I’ll look weak and indecisive, and I don’t need to give Ronan any more reasons to doubt me.
It seems like my only option is to stay quiet for now, and if it turns out someone is playing me, I’ll make them regret it.
But until then, Cormac stays guilty in my book.
I’m just about to call Jace to ask for an ETA for when he’ll be back with Riley when a new notification appears on the screen.
Brennan added you to a group chat: “No Snakes Allowed”.
I huff out a laugh despite myself.
Brennan: Figured it was time to make a new group chat so we can discuss he who shall not be named.
Ronan: Change the name.
Brennan: What, don’t you like my honesty?
Ronan: It’s childish.
Brennan: Fine.
My phone buzzes again.
Brennan has changed the name of the chat to: “Shoot First, Text Later.”
Brennan: Thoughts?
Kieran: No.
Ronan: I don’t pay you to fuck around.
Brennan: Pretty sure you’re not the one who pays me.
Ronan: Want to find out?
Kieran: Please write him out of the will.
Ronan: I’m tempted.
Brennan has changed the name of the chat to: “No Fun Allowed.”
I can’t hold back the ghost of a grin.
Brennan’s a pain in the ass, but he knows when to cut through the heaviness with humor. And after the morning I’ve had, it’s a welcome reprieve.
Kieran: Less talking, more working.
Brennan: On it, Mr. Boss Man! Don’t forget that throne is borrowed.
Ronan: Behave. Both of you.
Kieran: Please let me shoot him.
Brennan has changed the name of the chat to: “Three Men and a Baby Mama.”
Ciara has been added to the group chat.
Ciara: I’ve been added to the family group chat??? I feel honored!!!!
Brennan: You should be.
Ciara: Wait, Riley’s not in here!!! Let me add her!!!
Kieran has removed Ciara from the group chat.
Ronan: Did you seriously just remove my wife?
Brennan: Might as well chop your dick off now, brother.
Kieran: She uses way too many exclamation points. No one is that happy.
Brennan: Especially when they’re married to Ronan.
Ronan has removed Brennan from the group chat.
Kieran: Finally, some peace and quiet.
Your message has not been delivered.
“Asshole.”