Chapter 25
Declan
“You’re going to have to do more than just send her presents.” My mother sits in the chair across from my father’s desk. Actually, it’s my desk now, but I can’t stop thinking about it like that. My father’s desk.
“I know, but I’m not sure she’s ready to talk.”
“Can you blame her?” Mother smiles at me sweetly. “You are kind of a freak.”
“I’m in love with her.”
“Love is one word for it, anyway.” She sighs and shakes her head. “You have to talk to her.”
“I will. But not yet.” Even though I desperately want to make her understand.
Casey wasn’t supposed to find out about our connection like that.
I wanted to slowly reveal everything to her in a way that wouldn’t overwhelm or terrify her.
Instead, she got it all dumped on her head, and now she thinks I’m some kind of monster.
But I meant what I said to my mother. I’ve been insanely in love with Casey since the moment I saw that photograph of her back when she was eighteen.
That love’s only grown deeper and more intense over the years until now it fuels me like a nuclear reaction exploding in my core.
Every second of every day, I burn bright because of her.
She’ll come around.
She has to.
Mother talks more business. I suspect she’s as invested in this transition as I am, mostly because it keeps her from thinking about her grief. She lost her beloved husband when my father passed, and it’s pretty obvious she doesn’t know what to do with herself now.
When she leaves, I click through another website of high-end jewelry, trying to imagine what Casey might look like in nothing but a string of pearls and a massive diamond ring. My phone buzzes, and I’m forced to close the tab without buying anything. Seamus’s voice drags me from my fantasies.
“Casey’s tail just reported a problem.”
“Why are they calling you?”
“Because you aren’t answering.”
I get to my feet and start walking to the door. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“She went to lunch with some old-timer. But they haven’t been able to listen in. Apparently, there’s some kind of jamming signal.”
“Jamming signal? Seriously?”
“I know. It’s spy shit.”
“Where is she?”
“Diner on the Upper West Side. Want the address?”
“Send it now. I’m going to her.”
A bad feeling shivers through me as I get behind the wheel of my BMW. I pull out toward Amsterdam Avenue, my teeth gritted together.
This is probably nothing. Old diners get terrible reception. Whatever listening device her guards are using probably just can’t penetrate its old stone walls.
But I don’t know why she’s meeting with an old guy anyway. There are no old men in her life. Sheila never married, and she didn’t know her grandparents.
This is someone new. Someone she met recently.
I press down on the gas, driving recklessly. Worry fills my stomach. Something is deeply wrong here, but I can’t say what exactly.
I’ve been watching Casey intensely for seven years. Before that, I got occasional reports from Sheila on her upbringing.
I know this girl better than anyone else in the world.
I’ve studied her. Obsessed over her. Thought about her endlessly. I made her my assistant just so I could keep her close.
This isn’t something she’d normally do.
I speed through the city streets, swerving to avoid pedestrians, blowing past Uber drivers, and completely ignoring lights and stop signs. It’s a minor miracle I don’t have a cop on my tail. As I get close to the diner, my phone rings again.
“I haven’t heard from her guards,” Seamus says, sounding a little panicked. “They were supposed to check in again.”
“I’m almost there.”
“Seriously? Already?”
“I left the second you called. Send more people. Send everyone you can.”
“Declan, this is probably nothing.”
“I don’t care. Get me backup right fucking now. I think her guards are already dead.”
I slam the phone down on the passenger seat and nearly rear-end a Honda Civic. My brakes scream as I turn the wheel and fly around it, slamming on my horn like the bewildered other driver is somehow at fault.
The diner’s up ahead. I approach it at full speed and come to a tearing halt right in the middle of the street. I leap out, heart racing—
But there’s nothing.
No Casey. No Senesi. Not even a hint of the Whelan men. If they’re still alive, I’m going to personally end them all night and slow for abandoning my wife.
I look in the diner. The place is crowded, but I don’t see anyone I recognize. I’m on edge as I come back out, ready to get back in my car—
When a woman’s scream slams adrenaline right into my veins.
That was Casey.
All thought leaves me. I run headlong toward where the scream came from. It must’ve been half a block away, down a narrow alley between a dry cleaner and an Indian restaurant.
I’m out of control as I go careening around the corner. I have to slam my shoulder into the far wall, my gun already coming out of its holster at my hip.
Casey’s standing with her face crushed against a dumpster twenty feet away.
Behind her, an older, boring-looking man’s got her arm wrenched up behind her back and a knife pressed between her shoulder blades.
The man’s grinning like a psychopath, his face twisted into a demonic snarl as he turns to stare at me.
There’s no surprise in his eyes. There’s no emotion at all. Only a cold, dark emptiness.
Senesi.
No doubt in my mind.
I’ve seen men like him before. Killers and monsters. My brother Cormac was like that a while back before he found his family and saved himself.
But this creature is something new.
Senesi looks like any other nondescript old person wandering the streets. Except the manic glint in his eye hints at the demon lurking under the surface.
I raise my gun—
But Senesi twists, putting Casey between me and him.
She screams in pain, and my finger stops inches from pulling the trigger.
My heart’s racing. Senesi peers at me over Casey’s shoulder. Her face is drawn in agony, and her eyes are pleading with me.
Please help.
I have to steady myself. I can’t let how much I care about her fuck up this situation.
“Let me guess. The guards gave me away.” Senesi’s grin gets bigger. “I guessed I had at least another ten more minutes before you showed up.”
“I drove fast. Let her go.”
He tuts, shaking his head. “Can’t do that. She’s mine now, Whelan. I don’t have any problems with you in particular, but I will if you insist on getting in my way.”
“Let her fucking go.” I keep my gun steady. Tears roll down Casey’s cheeks. I hate that she’s so scared. But I keep my aim trained right on Senesi’s skull.
Can I kill him before he stabs my wife?
“You know the funniest bit? This boring fucking bitch wandered right into my trap. She came to me. Isn’t that hilarious? The stupid, naive cunt practically tilted back her head and begged me to cut her throat. It was almost too easy. Now you’re making it fun.”
“I won’t ask again. Let her go, Senesi. She’s not yours.”
His lips twist into a snarl. “You’re wrong.
She’s fucking mine. Her parents ruined me, don’t you get it?
I’ve been hiding away in shithole countries, bouncing around between worthless jobs, wasting myself all because I knew the Feds would come after me if I ever set foot in America.
But then I heard little baby Casey Brennan was tangled up with Declan Whelan, and you know what?
I couldn’t help myself. I thought I’d better come finish what I started and bury her whole worthless fucking family. ”
“Last chance. Let her go.”
“Now you get to play hero. Big, strong Declan. My dick’s hard right now.
You’re so tough and strong. Look at how much you care.
It’s so fucking delicious. But here’s the thing.
I’ve really enjoyed myself these last weeks.
It’s nice to have a purpose again. So I’ll do everyone a favor and keep the fun going, how’s that sound? ”
I’m inches from going for the kill when he shoves Casey forward. She screams in surprise and stumbles ahead. I try to get a good angle on Senesi, but the old fucker’s fast. He darts away, using the alley’s dumpsters as cover, and scrambles around the corner as Casey staggers and drops to her knees.
There’s a half second when I consider going after him. If I can catch him now and kill him, that’ll end all our problems. But Casey’s crying, and I can’t stand the thought of leaving her alone.
“It’s okay, baby, it’s okay.” I shove my gun away and pull her into my arms. Her body shakes with sobs. “I’ve got you now.”
“It was him,” she whispers. “I can’t believe I was so stupid.”
“This is what he does. It’s the reason he’s so terrifying. Senesi’s a master of sneaking and surprise. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
I guide her out of there before the killer decides to come back for another round. We reach my car right as Seamus pulls up with a whole truck filled with Whelan guards. “Fan out, you might find him.”
But we both know that isn’t going to happen.