Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
KIERAN
The drive back toward Ronan’s feels endless, though I’m pressing the accelerator harder than I should.
Streetlights whip past the windows in streaks of yellow, and my hands grip the wheel, tight enough that my knuckles ache. But the low hum of the car isn’t enough to quiet my mind as images of Riley flash through it.
Her lying bleeding on the floor, her face pale with fear as she calls out my name.
They’re relentless and cruel, but I stopped trying to tell myself she’s fine after I hit the freeway. She might be with Ronan, but that means fuck all at this point. Until she is safely returned to my arms, I’m going to think the worst.
By the time Ronan’s headlights appear down the winding driveway, I’m already halfway to the car.
I barely give him a chance to stop before I’m opening the door and pulling Riley into my arms.
“You’re safe.” I breathe into her neck as I lift her up, wrapping her legs around my waist. I hold her so tightly I’m half afraid I’ll hurt her, but I can’t let go. Not yet.
“I’m safe.”
Her body trembles in my arms as I slowly carry her back toward the house.
Ronan and Ciara are talking, but I don’t listen. Right now, Riley is my only priority, and I need to get her safely inside.
“I’m sorry I left,” I murmur as I climb the front steps.
“I’m sorry too.”
“For what?”
“Dr. Allen is dead because of me.”
Her words stop me in my tracks.
What the hell is she talking about?
Riley must sense she’s let something slip as she tenses in my arms before slowly unravelling her legs from around my waist and dropping her feet to the floor.
“Kieran…” She reaches for me, and that’s when I notice her hands are covered in blood.
An icy rage washes over me, slowly at first, as I stare at the blood.
But then I’m moving, storming back out of the house to where Ronan is helping Ciara out of the car.
His hands are also covered in blood, and even though he’s wearing black, I can tell his shirt is soaked through with blood.
“What the fuck happened?”
“Kieran,” Ciara warns, but I ignore her.
“You told me the location of the safehouse was leaked.”
“It was,” Ronan says coolly.
“Yet, you didn’t think to mention the fact that you were fucking ambushed?”
I’m seconds away from clocking my brother in the face, and Ciara seems to realize that as she quickly steps in front of him to stop me.
“You saw for yourself that Riley is safe,” Ciara states.
“That’s not the point.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No.”
“Stop acting like a caveman, Kieran. Ronan didn’t tell you because you would have been blinded by your rage and likely raced over to the safehouse and gotten yourself killed in the process.”
“Go inside, Ciara. I need to talk to Ronan.”
“No. Not when you look like you’re about to murder the father of my children.”
“Don’t tempt me.” My eyes flick to Ronan’s.
His own darken, but I don’t look away.
I want him to see just how serious I am. If he put Riley in danger, he’s going to wish he was dead by the time I’m finished with him, brother or not.
“If I ever kept something like that from you—”
“Kieran, stop.” Riley appears at my side and tugs on my sleeve. “Ronan took care of it.”
“What if he hadn’t? What if he wasn’t there? What if—”
“Kieran.”
It takes me a second to register that she’s standing in front of me and that her hands are on my face and her lips are on mine. But then her tongue licks along my bottom lip, and heat rushes through my body that snaps me out of my rage.
We’re okay,” she whispers.
“I could have lost you.” I lean into her touch, savoring the warmth of her skin.
“But you didn’t.”
She reaches up onto her tiptoes and kisses me.
My arms instinctively snake around her waist, pulling her flush against my body as I deepen the kiss.
“You need to rest,” I catch Ronan muttering to Ciara, and he subtly claps me on the shoulder as he passes.
But I don’t break apart from Riley until the sound of their footsteps disappears into the house, and I notice Riley’s eyes are shining with tears.
“It’s okay, little dove.” I wipe her cheeks with my thumbs. “You’re safe.”
She shakes her head as her eyes shine with something more than fear. “Kieran…There’s something I need to tell you.”
The way she says it makes my chest tighten.
This is it, the missing piece she’s been hiding from me.
But I can’t hear it now. Not with Finn dead and our alliances crumbling and Cormac nowhere to be found.
So, I kiss her, swallowing whatever words were about to leave her lips.
Her breath hitches against me as my lips linger against hers.
“Later,” I whisper. “We’ll talk. But right now, finding out what the fuck is going on takes priority.”
Riley nods, but her eyes drop to the ground, refusing to meet mine, and that twisting ache in my chest deepens.
“I’ll go and check on Ciara.” She slips past me before I can stop her.
Standing outside alone, I look down the winding drive and exhale.
Riley barely escaped death today, and the thought makes me shudder.
This feeling, the gut-wrenching ache in my chest that makes me feel as if someone is ripping out my insides, is exactly why I’ve avoided relationships.
I saw what almost losing Ciara did to Ronan, and it was enough to put me off for life.
But I also know that I would happily endure a lifetime's worth of pain if it meant having Riley in my life.
Another set of headlights races down the driveway toward me, and I know that the time for contemplation is over.
It’s time to get to work.
“Did I miss anything?” Brennan slams the car door shut.
I ignore his question as I peer into the car.
“Cormac’s not with you?”
“No. Was he meant to be?”
“Fuck.”
Brennan frowns, his eyes looking over my right shoulder. “What happened to you?”
I glance over my shoulder as Ronan approaches us, and the sight of his bloodied hands makes my stomach churn.
“The safehouse got ambushed by two guys, but I took care of it. I didn’t recognize either of them, though.”
“You think they’re working for Sean?” Brennan asks.
“Initially, I would have assumed they were. But after the stunt that was pulled with Finn, I can say with confidence that I have no idea.”
Brennan laughs. “That’s reassuring.”
“I have an idea who it could be,” I say under my breath.
Ronan frowns, tucking his bloodied hands into his pockets.
“Cormac’s phone is disconnected.”
“You sure it’s not just switched off?” Ronan challenges, and I grind my teeth.
“When are you going to accept the fact that our brother is acting shady as fuck?”
“Why don’t we just go over to his place?” Brennan suggests. “Because I don’t think we have time to waste arguing over whether or not our brother has stabbed us in the back.”
I nod. “Fine. We can talk on the way.”
“I call shotgun.” Brennan’s smile quickly vanishes at the look on my face.
I’m not in the mood to mess around. Not when I have a feeling our brother might be the missing piece we’ve been searching for.
“Brennan, you’re staying with the girls,” Ronan orders.
“Seriously? You’re putting me on babysitting duty again?”
“Your whining implies that it’s the other way around,” I say coolly, but Brennan rolls his eyes.
“I swear if I end up having a mani-pedi, you’re both dead.”
Ronan stalks over to his car. “And if you say no to Ciara when she’s heavily pregnant and hormonal, you’ll wish you were dead.”
I’ve not been to Cormac’s place since he’s been back in New York, but the quiet suburban street feels almost staged. The rows of perfectly manicured lawns and cookie-cutter houses are almost nauseating.
Why on earth he chooses to live somewhere like this over the city is beyond me. It’s not like he’s got a wife and kids at home.
Cormac’s house is at the end of the street, behind a set of gates that have been left wide open.
I would have thought nothing of it, except for the fact that as we approach the house, I notice the front door is also wide open, and yet, there are no lights coming from any of the windows.
I glance at Ronan as he pulls up, and his jaw tightens, but he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to.
We both know what this means.
Inside, the silence is suffocating.
It’s clear, from the looks of it, Cormac hasn’t been here for a while.
“He’s not here. Let’s go,” Ronan orders, but I ignore him, heading straight into Cormac’s office.
“No. Not until I know what he’s hiding.”
I can feel it. Proof waiting for me, just out of reach. I can’t shake the feeling he’s at the center of all this.
I start pulling up the couch cushions and tossing them aside. I have no idea what I’m looking for, but I know it’s here.
Ronan scoffs. “Seriously? You think he’s got something hidden under the couch?”
“Yes.”
“You’re wasting your time, Kieran.”
“You’re free to go. I can look by myself.”
Ronan hesitates, but he makes no move to leave.
It’s no secret that he's Cormac’s biggest defender, and I can’t wait to be the one to prove him wrong.
Something about the rug catches my eye, so I kick it aside and drop to my knees.
I can tell just by looking at the floorboards that they’re loose, and my pulse spikes as I pry them up.
I have no idea what I expect to find, but it sure as hell isn’t stacks upon stacks of cash. More than I can count at a glance. And tucked away among it is an envelope that I quickly snatch up.
“What is it?” Ronan asks from where he stands across the room, half-heartedly pulling books from the shelf.
“It looks like bank statements.”
I unfold the top page to find Cormac’s name staring back at me, as well as rows upon rows of large transactions.
My stomach drops.
“I suggest you take a look at this.”
Ronan crosses over to me and snatches up the statements.
As he reads, his face drains of color as his lips move silently, counting up each of the transactions.
“These… These match the encrypted payments.” His hands are actually trembling. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Ronan so panicked. “But… No. There has to be an explanation.”
“There is. The only explanation is that our brother murdered our father and is now trying to destroy us all.” I get to my feet and rip the statements out of his hands. “Think about it. He reappears after Dad’s death, suddenly desperate to be a Sullivan again after all this time? And now this?”
Ronan swallows hard. “It’s not that simple. There are…things that you don’t know.”
I step closer, my own hands trembling.
“Then fucking tell me! What is going on with Cormac that could possibly explain this?”
Ronan opens his mouth, but no words come out.
He and I both know there’s nothing he could say that could explain this level of betrayal.
“That’s what I thought.”
I tuck the statements under my arm and quickly replace the floorboards and rug.
“We need to find Cormac.” The words taste like poison in my mouth. “Before he makes his next move.”
To Be Continued
Kieran and Riley’s story continues in Bound Lies…