58. Ravenna
Ravenna
F irst, I stop by the house and let myself in with the electronic keypad. The place is eerily quiet. No one’s around, not even the staff. I check all the rooms. “Cian? Are you here?”
No one answers.
If he’s not here, then he must be at the compound, or one of the clubs, but I’ll check our old home first.
Back in the car, I give Gin’s driver the address and we head north. As we approach the massive gates, they swing open, inviting us inside the secure grounds. The car stops at the front doors and I get out, glancing around for Cian. If he is here, he hasn’t bothered to come out to greet me.
“You may go,” I tell the driver. “Thank you.”
The car rolls down the driveway, leaving me here. If I need another ride, I can always get one of Cian’s men to take me where I need to go. Or I can borrow one of his cars.
“Mrs. O’Rourke,” Brendan calls as he rounds the building. “What a pleasant surprise.”
I warily eye him. He’s usually not this friendly. “Is my husband here?”
“He is. Come. I’ll take you to him.” He kindly grins.
“Thank you.” I start up the stairs, then frown when Brendan gestures toward the side of the main building.
“This way. He’s not in the office.”
“Where is he?”
“I’ll take you to him.” He sets off on the gravel path, leaving me no choice but to follow. “We’ve had a challenging time trying to find you. It seems some vagrant got hold of your purse.”
I halt. “How did you know my purse was stolen?”
“We didn’t. Mr. O’Rourke had tracking devices installed in your handbags. When we tracked it, we were led to a street person on a park bench who claimed they found your bag in a trash bin.”
Of course he’d put trackers on me. I scoff. “Why were you looking for me? All Cian had to do was answer a single one of my calls or texts and I could have told him where I was.”
“Is that so?” Brendan takes a moment to digest that information, no idea why. Surely Cian told him I’ve been attempting to contact him, right?
Brendan continues walking, and I catch up with him. We enter a smaller building that I’ve only been in once. Old, abandoned car parts and tools take up space in the front room. At first glance, it’s nothing more than a storage shed, but through a thick metal door lies the other room.
Brendan’s keys jingle as he finds the right one for this lock. I’m half curious, half apprehensive.
“Is Cian questioning someone?” I don’t know if I want to interrupt him if he’s doing that type of work.
“Mmm,” Brendan murmurs, noncommittally, as he opens the door. “After you.”
Cautiously, I enter. The central space is set up for interrogations.
A chair sits over a large drain in the middle of the room beneath a single hanging light.
This concrete floor has seen so much blood and gore that it’s discolored—more so near that drain.
I’m relieved to find the single chair unoccupied.
Two holding cells are situated off to either side. They’re open to the main area so anyone being held captive gets a front row seat to whoever’s being questioned.
I turn to Brendan. “Where?—?”
“Ravenna!” Cian shouts, immediately drawing my attention to one of the holding cells.
I rush to him. “Cian! What’s happened? Why are you in there?”
“Leave. Now. Get out of here!” He gazes over my head. “If you touch her, I’ll kill you.”
Brendan slowly approaches us. “I already told you my plans for her. You should be more concerned about yourself.”
I face Brendan. “Release my husband this instant.”
Dark amusement blossoms in his eyes. “So bold. Fearless, aren’t you? I can't wait to break you.”
My lips part, but no sound emerges. I’m anything but fearless. I don’t know how this happened, but Cian’s being held prisoner by his own men. Brendan seems to be in charge now. How? Why?
Dread slithers beneath my skin. The danger of my situation sinks in just as Brendan grabs a handful of my hair and pulls me away from Cian. Pain sears my scalp. I claw at his wrists, but he doesn’t care, even as I draw blood.
He pats me down with his free hand, stealing my new phone from my pocket. It’s the only thing I have on me.
“Let her go!” Cian reaches through the bars, his glare pinned on Brendan.
“I was hoping you’d come for O’Rourke,” he murmurs in my ear. “He’s the best trap I could have laid for you.” He licks the shell of my ear. I cringe. “Got you, little vixen.”
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll let us go, then run far, far away,” I warn, despite being at his mercy.
He laughs. “That’s not how this is going to play out.
I’m in charge here. You’ll be a good girl and do as I say.
For now, I need you to behave.” He drags me by my hair to the cell beside Cian’s.
Tears sting my eyes, a sharp pain splinters my skull.
Then he shoves me to the cold, hard floor.
Rusty hinges screech as he locks me inside.
“I’ll be watching.” Brendan points toward a camera mounted high on the opposite wall. With one last glance at us, he leaves, securing the outside door behind him.
“Are you hurt?” Cian crouches down, gaze alight with fury and concern.
I crawl to him, resting my shoulder against the bars that separate us. “I’m fine. Tell me what in the hell is going on.”
In light of Cian’s imprisonment, what I came here to speak with him about can wait. I need to know what’s happened, so we can rescue ourselves before this goes any further. Before one or both of us end up dead.
“Brendan’s behind it all—everything from the perfume and jewelry, to Devlin. He’s been the one making me think I’m being haunted by Fiona. He drove us apart,” Cian explains, his tone both furious and defeated.
“Why?” What does Brendan have to gain?
“He’s Fiona’s little brother. He wants vengeance.”
Oh . That explains a lot. “You didn’t know she had a brother?”
“I did. But he was much younger, away at boarding school, and I never met him. I certainly didn’t expect him to infiltrate the Gaelic Devils on a many years long revenge scheme.”
It seems Fiona and Brendan were quite close if he essentially gave up his life to avenge hers.
Cian rests his forehead against the iron bars and sighs.
“I fucked up—again. I should have trusted you, but that scene Devlin created in his office was exactly how I found out about my brother and Fiona. Brendan gave him detailed information, everything from how Devlin restrained you to what he said to me. He even called you mo stór . Shawn called Fiona that. I should have seen it for what it was, but… I didn’t.
I was too blinded by my memories, by my fears.
That’s no excuse. I should have seen through the lies.
I should have known you were telling me the truth.
Even Devlin, though a snake, wasn’t the true villain. Brendan used and manipulated him.”
So that’s why Devlin apologized in the end. He really was sorry for his part in all of this.
I reach for Cian through the bars. “Shh. Now you know that I was never unfaithful to you, that’s all that matters.”
“That’s not all that matters. Don’t fucking forgive me.” Angrily, he pulls away, pacing his cell. “I didn’t trust you. Worse, I thought terrible things about you. I was so fucking close to killing you, Ravenna, don’t you understand?”
“I do understand.” I rise to my feet. “Brendan gaslit the hell out of you. He used your PTSD, your trauma , and twisted it to his advantage. You can’t blame yourself for what he did to you.
You were caught in his trap, that doesn’t make you an awful person or make your actions and decisions unforgivable.
Quite the opposite.” I point toward the door.
“Brendan’s evil. He deserves a slow, painful death for what he put you through.
I blame him, and I’ll never forgive what he did. ”
Cian stops pacing and stares back at me. “He’s also the man who kidnapped your sister the day of our wedding.”
Shock ripples through me. I hated Brendan before this moment, now I loathe him with my entire soul. He’s responsible for not only Cian’s ongoing trauma, but Elena’s too.
Brendan’s the reason my sister fled this country and went into hiding, the reason she won’t come home. He’s why my husband had a mental break. He tried to ruin our marriage and nearly succeeded.
He says he wants to avenge his sister’s death, but that’s not what he’s been doing. He’s sick, twisted . Taking too much delight in ruining other people’s lives. A master manipulator playing his game until someone puts a stop to him.
“I want him dead,” I state in a cold, hard voice.
“You and me both, but in case you haven’t noticed we don’t have the upper hand at the moment.” He glances around his cell. “We need to get out of here. Brendan’s set on taking you for himself, and I won’t let that happen.”
I shudder at the thought of Brendan’s hands on me. “I can get us out of these cells, but that lock on the door will be challenging. Plus, he’s watching us. I don’t think we can escape from here.”
As soon as Brendan sees what we’re up to on the camera, he’ll put a stop to it.
Reluctantly, Cian nods, agreeing with my assessment of our situation.
“We’ll have to wait for an opportunity. Until then…
” He clutches the bars separating out cells and sinks to his knees.
“I have wronged you in so many ways. I’ve taken our beautiful, sacred marriage, and twisted it into something unrecognizable.
I’m as much to blame for ruining our marriage as Brendan. ”
“Cian—”
“Don’t. I know you want to soothe me, to say you forgive me, like you always do.
But I need you to know how desperately sorry I am for everything I’ve put you through.
From abandoning you at your father’s house, to threatening your life.
For accusing you of cheating, for punishing you with sex, and for making you lose your job.
I’ve pushed you away again and again, fucked up over and over, but you keep coming back. I know I don’t deserve you.”
“That’s not?—”
“It is true,” he practically snarls. “You’re a saint for putting up with my shit, and you should have given up a long time ago, but I’m glad you didn’t.”
His voice drops so low I have to lean in to hear him. “As much as I don’t deserve your forgiveness, I must ask for it, because I can’t imagine my life without you. You’re the love of my life, my anchor, you’re the person who makes me whole. You’re the beauty to my beast.”
I reach through the bars and caress his cheek, gently tracing his scars with my thumb.
“If you give me another chance, I swear on my soul that I’ll make everything up to you.
I’ll never doubt or question you again. I’ll treat you with the love and respect you deserve every single day.
” He gazes at me with longing and hint of hope in his pale blue eyes.
“You hold my heart in your hands, b roc meala . Do with it what you will.”
My chest flutters, warmth spreads through my veins. Yes, he’s been terrible at times, but I’ve never stopped loving him. He doesn’t seem to understand all the good he’s done to me, he only sees the bad. Someday, he’ll see our relationship from my perspective. In time.
I promised us both that I’d never lie, so I tell him the truth. “I love you.”
He searches my eyes for several long seconds. His palms cup my face. “I love you more.”
“I’ll love you forever, amore mio . I want us, together, until death.”
“If that’s what you really want, then you have me, body, heart, and soul. From now until forever.”
I nod, and his shoulders loosen with relief. He blows out a shaky breath that tells me how afraid he was that I’d finally had enough, that I didn’t want him anymore.
I lean slightly forward, and it’s the sign he needs. His lips crash against mine with heart-wrenching desperation. I kiss him back, pouring all of my longing and hope into it. More than anything in the world, I just want us .
Putting minimal distance between us, he grunts. “These damn bars are in the way. I’ve missed you so much. I thought I’d never see you again.”
“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” I tease him.
He eyes me. “Why did you come?”
I briefly press my lips to his. “I came because I’m far from finished with you, Mr. O’Rourke. We’re married, and this is not how our marriage is going to end. I came to talk some sense into you.”
And to tell you we’re going to have a baby . I keep that to myself, for now. We’re going to get out of this alive. When that happens, then I’ll tell Cian he’s going to be a father.
Right now we need to focus on saving ourselves and each other, so we can have our happily ever after.