2. Cormac
Chapter Two
CORMAC
Hope is a dangerous thing.
I let myself believe that this was some kind of nightmare I could wake up from. That Scout was tucked away somewhere, scared but safe, waiting for me to find him. That I would scoop him up, press my forehead to his, and tell him everything is going to be ok because I will always protect him.
But the longer the silence stretches on, the heavier it becomes.
My son isn’t hiding.
He’s gone.
I’ve screamed his name until my throat is raw, until my lungs ache and the sound of it starts to splinter, breaking apart before it even leaves my mouth. I’ve searched every inch of the property, looking in every shadowed corner where a frightened five-year-old might curl up and hide.
But I’ve found nothing.
My chest tightens until it feels like something inside me is collapsing in on itself from a weight I can no longer carry. Every ruthless decision I’ve had to make, every line I’ve had to cross, has been for one reason, and that is to protect Scout. And I have failed.
I rake a hand through my hair and force myself to breathe, even as panic claws at my insides.
Losing control won’t help bring my son back to me. Maybe nothing will…
Movement catches my eye, and my gun is instantly aimed and ready.
Brennan appears out of the shadows of the trees, holding his hands up as he approaches me carefully, as if I’m no better than a cornered animal.
He looks pale, and my gaze instantly fixates on the dried blood caked to his forehead.
He looks around. “Any sign of him?”
The word no lodges in my throat like broken glass, so I shake my head and pocket my gun.
“You better start talking.”
Brennan doesn’t flinch at my tone. “They came out of nowhere.”
“Who’s they?”
“No clue. But they were fucking streamlined, that’s for sure.”
“They took out the guards so damn fast our men never stood a chance. I tried to get Scout out of the way, but there were too many of them.”
I see it then, the guilt in his eyes.
I step forward and place a hand on his shoulder, gripping it hard.
“This isn’t on you. You did everything you could. If anyone is to blame, it’s me. I should have been watching him myself.” And I mean it.
I should never have let myself believe that I could afford to split my focus like I did, and if Fiona hadn’t come into my life, if she hadn’t been sneaking around and poking her nose in places where it didn’t belong, I would have been at Scout’s side, watching him. Protecting him.
My jaw tightens until it aches.
Every second I wasted on her lies is a second I wasn’t watching my son.
I drop my hand from Brennan’s shoulder and start moving again, because standing still feels like signing a death sentence for Scout.
“Come on. We have work to do.”
As we circle Kieran’s estate, I call every contact I have, every informant that owes me anything, no matter how small. My phone is glued to my ear as I pace the perimeter, barking orders and demanding answers.
Someone knows something, they always do. I just have to give them a good enough reason to talk.
I’m hanging up another call when Kieran sprints down the driveway toward me, his breath clouding in front of his face.
His eyes are wild as he takes in the scene around him. “We found nothing on the way here. The south end’s clear, no tracks past the tree line.”
I curse under my breath as I look past Kieran to see Ronan climbing out of the car, his phone pressed to his ear and his expression carved from stone.
He ends the call with a sharp nod and slips the phone back into his pocket. His demeanor is deathly calm, but I know my brother well enough to know that underneath that cool exterior, a storm is raging.
I step toward him. “Anything?”
“Not yet.”
“Fuck.”
“What the hell happened to you?” Ronan barks as Brennan approaches.
“There’s time for details later, once we have found my son.” My voice shakes from the panic I am failing to contain.
Ronan nods. “Let’s head inside and try to come up with some sort of plan. We can’t afford to cut any corners.”
We circle back toward the house together, the four of us falling into step like muscle memory.
The estate is lit up now, and the number of guards has been doubled. It should feel secure, but it doesn’t.
My eyes scan my surroundings automatically, cataloging everything.
Then I notice something that stops me dead.
Fiona isn’t outside.
My pulse spikes.
I turn slowly, searching the driveway again. “She was here. Where the hell is she?”
Kieran’s brow furrows as he looks down the drive where a dozen men are searching the surrounding bushes. “Who?”
“Fiona. She was right here.”
Ronan follows my gaze, his jaw tightening. “Do you think she left?”
“I think she wouldn’t dare. Unless she had a reason.”
“Cormac, think—,” Kieran calls as I start sprinting toward the house.
I shove the door open hard enough that it slams against the wall. “Fiona!”
The sound echoes through the house, bouncing off the walls where countless family photos hang that suddenly feel like a fucking joke.
Ciara intercepts me halfway down the hall, her hand raised instinctively like she’s stepping in front of a charging animal.
“Cormac, stop.”
“Where is she? Where the fuck is Fiona?”
“She stepped away for a minute to go to the bathroom, I think. Why?”
A minute is all it takes for everything to fall apart.
I brush past her without another word, stalking toward the stairs.
“If you’re wrong, you don’t get to take it back!” Kieran’s voice follows behind me, but I don’t stop to turn around.
My hand tightens on the banister. “If I’m right, I don’t get that luxury anyway.”
I take the stairs two at a time, every step fueled by fury and fear, because if Fiona has chosen this moment to run, then Scout isn’t the only thing that’s been taken from me tonight.
And I don’t know which loss will destroy me first.
I’m about to throw open the door to the bedroom when it creaks open, and Fiona appears, her face tear-stained and blotchy.
“You stay where I can see you, do you understand?” I growl, taking her by the shoulders and shaking her. “I said, do you understand?”
Fiona flinches, but I don’t have it in me to apologize, not when my son is missing.
“Cormac…please—”
“Cormac!” Ronan yells from downstairs.
“Upstairs!” I call back without tearing my gaze away from Fiona.
I know what it’s like to have loved a woman and then lost her, but this hurts on a whole other level because Fiona is still living and breathing, and yet, as I look at her now, she’s nothing but a stranger.
I drop my hands from her shoulders and take a step back. “Don’t make me regret keeping you here.”
“In my office, now,” Kieran orders as he appears at the top of the stairs.
Fiona looks at him, panicked, before she goes scurrying down the stairs, looking seconds away from hurling up her guts on the carpet.
“Don’t,” I warn when I catch his eye.
“Say I told you so?” he finishes, his expression grim.
My body is shaking so hard from the amount of adrenaline pumping through me that I nearly knock the office door off its hinges when I throw it open.
I catch the sound of Ronan’s voice echoing from down below as he talks to our men before he joins us, with Brennan right behind him.
Knowing that my brothers are here with me should steady me. We’ve faced a hell of a lot worse together, but this feels different.
The stakes have never been this high, and any wrong move could mean I never get to see my son again.
Ronan stalks into the office. “Talk to us, Kieran.”
Brennan follows behind him and closes the door as Ronan takes a seat behind the desk.
In moments like this, I don’t envy the fact that he’s the head of the family.
Kieran turns to Ronan. “Adrian’s people were seen moving through Queens less than an hour ago.”
“That’s not a coincidence.” I pace around the room, too on edge to sit.
What I really want is to knock back the decanter of Macallan 18 that Kieran keeps on hand, but there is a good chance that whoever took Scout could turn up for round two. And this time, I’ll be damned if I’m not ready to fight back.
“How many?” Ronan asks.
“Two SUVs with heavy security. But…” Kieran hesitates, and I brace myself for what he’s about to say. “There’s been no confirmed sighting of Scout yet.”
No confirmed sighting.
The words are clinical and completely fucking useless.
Brennan sits. “Are we sure it’s Adrian?”
I nod. “Positive. This has Adrian Smirnov written all over it. He wouldn’t take something this valuable without reason, which makes me think he knows the truth about who Scout really is.”
My stomach twists violently at the thought.
Ronan tilts his head. “If Cormac is right, then Adrian wouldn’t take Scout far. At least not immediately. He’ll want leverage before he makes a move.”
I rake a hand down my face, wiping away the cold sweat that coats my brow. “Or he’s already gone to ground.”
Kieran studies me carefully. “Either way, we find him. But we do it methodically.”
“I don’t give a fuck about methodical. I want my son.”
Ronan leans forward, bracing his elbows on the desk. “And you’ll get him.” He says it with such certainty that I almost believe him. “But losing your head helps no one.”
I hate that he’s right.
The room suddenly feels too small.
Brennan looks nervously between the three of us. “I hate to be the one to ask, but…”
My eyes fly to him. “But what?”
“Do we think Lorcan has anything to do with this?”
My thoughts immediately go to Fiona, and I fight the urge to drag her in here so she can face my brothers for herself.
“I don’t think Lorcan took him. But I don’t think this happened without his involvement either. Not after everything…”
Ronan folds his arms across his chest, eyeing me warily. “So, that must mean that Adrian knows about Scout, and we think Lorcan told him?”
Brennan frowns. “But how would Lorcan know?”
Kieran’s eyes burn on me, but I ignore him.
“There is no way Adrian can know about Scout. I’ve been too careful.”
Ronan doesn’t contradict me, but the silence that follows is worse than if he had.
“Careful doesn’t mean impossible,” he says finally. “And Adrian doesn’t move without leverage or reason.”
I turn away before they can see the doubt creeping in.
The thought of Adrian knowing the truth, of Scout becoming more than a bargaining chip, makes my stomach churn violently.
Ronan’s voice is hard. “We’ll get him back. By whatever means necessary.”
Kieran nods. “Yes. But we have to be smart. Rushing in blind gets him killed.”
That word lands like a gunshot.
Ronan narrows his eyes at our brother. “Kieran…”
“I’m not saying it will happen. I’m saying we act like it could if we make the wrong move. It will make us even more careful.”
I slam my fist into the desk, sending a bunch of papers falling to the floor. “The time for being careful has come and gone. This is my kid we’re talking about here.”
Ronan sounds just as fierce. “I know. Which is why we don’t let our emotions dictate our strategy.”
Silence falls between us again, thick and suffocating.
Then Brennan exhales sharply. “What about Fiona?”
The sound of her name makes me stiffen. “I’m not discussing her right now.”
Kieran’s gaze sharpens. “Cormac.”
“I said not now. My son is missing.”
Kieran throws his arms up. “And Fiona may be connected to the people who took him.”
The words hit harder because they echo the thought I’ve been trying to crush all night.
Ronan’s expression turns thunderous. “Would someone like to fill me in on what the hell you’re talking about?”
“I don’t have any proof that she’s linked to Smirnov.” I am careful not to mention Lorcan because that is a can of worms I don’t want to open.
I want Scout to be everyone’s priority right now, and once he is found, then I can deal with Fiona.
Ronan stares at me. “But you suspect her?”
I don’t answer, but that’s enough for him.
He nods. “We don’t act on suspicion. But we don’t ignore it either.”
I know what that means. It means keeping our distance while also maintaining a sense of control.
“She stays here,” I say immediately. “Where I can see her.”
Ronan nods. “Agreed.”
Kieran hesitates for a fraction of a second, then nods too. “We move at first light. I’ll start tracing Adrian’s movements, and you…” He pauses, meeting my eyes. “You need to be ready to make choices you won’t like.”
As my brothers leave the office, I stalk around the desk and sink into Ronan’s chair, letting my head drop into my hands.
The room spins. Every instinct in me is screaming to tear the world apart until my son is back in my arms.
The once-familiar space that was becoming a sort of second home feels foreign now, like the walls are closing in, without the sound of his laughter echoing in the halls.
What if I never hear Scout’s laugh again?
I bend over the side of the chair and retch, but nothing comes up.
“Cormac?”
I wipe my mouth on the back of my hand and look up to find Fiona hovering in the doorway, her eyes wide and her face pale.
“Can we talk?”
Something inside me snaps. “No.”
“Please. I know you’re angry, but—”
I slam my fist on the desk. “I don’t have time for this. My son is missing, and god help me if I don’t find him—”
I snap my mouth shut before I say something I might regret. But that only pisses me off more.
Why am I still bothering to protect her feelings when she clearly had no regard for mine? She can say she cared about me and Scout all she likes, but what she was doing behind my back tells me everything I need to know about her true feelings.
Her cheeks flush red as she hastily wipes a few stray tears from her face. “I just—”
My voice is cold as ice. “Once Scout is home, then we’ll talk. But right now, I can’t bear to even look at you.”
I don’t need to see her face to imagine the hurt in her eyes, but I don’t soften. I don’t offer her any reassurance that we’ll be able to get through this. Not when something fundamental has already been destroyed between us.
Trust doesn’t fracture cleanly. It rots.
Fiona backs out of the room, and I sit staring at the door long after it closes, my thoughts dark and spiraling.
Scout wouldn’t be gone if she hadn’t come into my life.
And the worst part? I can’t tell what is truth and what is a lie. Hell, for all I know, she could be working with Adrian too, and I had no idea.
As her footsteps disappear down the hall, a single thought anchors itself in my mind.
I will find Scout. And when I do, everyone responsible will pay.
And that includes Fiona if it comes to that.