Chapter 31
REGAN
Tires crunch over gravel as the Escalade rolls down a quiet road.
There’s not much around here except fields, trees, and hills.
Cormac Whelan sits behind the wheel, eyes fixed on the road like there isn’t a thought in his head or a worry in his heart.
While in the back seat, Kieren lays slumped to the side, a gag between his teeth, his wrists and feet bound together. Like the pig he is.
This has been one of the weirdest drives of my life.
Cormac’s not much of a talker. He's got a reputation in the family. He’s their killer, their ghostman.
I guess he’s some kind of fancy assassin.
When Liam explained this part of the plan, he made it clear that the only reason I’m involved is because Cormac agreed to keep me safe. That’s saying something.
“Almost here,” Cormac grunts. I flinch in surprise. It’s the first time I’ve heard him talk since he picked me up.
“Where are we exactly?”
He doesn’t answer. That was probably expecting too much from him.
The car rolls over a rise and Cormac slows.
Several Jeeps follow us, all of them holding Whelan soldiers.
We pull into the front yard of what looks like an old farmhouse.
Woods press up against the half-cleared area, and the structure itself looms like an owl, the windows like multi-faceted eyes.
I shiver, scanning the trees, trying to figure what the hell we’re doing here.
All I know is what Liam told me, and that wasn’t much.
Cormac parks and kills the engine. The Jeeps fan around us and do the same.
“Are you sure this is right? It feels wrong, I mean, there’s nobody around—“
He ignores me and gets out. I scramble to follow as he yanks open the back door and roughly drags Kieren to the ground. If I didn’t hate him, I might pity how pathetic he looks now.
The Kieren I remember glowed. He walked into the room and everyone nearby wanted to get close to him. He was funny, outgoing, good-looking, and charming in a way most people can’t begin to emulate. I loved being with him, at least until I didn’t anymore, and now I wonder how much of that was true.
“Stay here.” Cormac strides forward into the clearing. He stands facing the building. A dozen Whelan soldiers join him as I crouch down beside Kieren.
“You alive?” I say softly while we wait. Wind rustles trees and I’m sure the place is abandoned. I reach out and tug the gag from Kieren’s mouth.
“For now.” Kieren watches the cloudless sky. He works his jaw. “Pretty stars.”
I frown at him, trying to feel anger, but there’s nothing in me anymore.
The hatred is cold now, gone soft and mushy and burned out.
Here he is, the man who ruined me, who broke me, but also who freed me.
If he hadn’t done what he did, I would still be trapped in my old life, living with Kieren, working for my father, keeping his secrets, smiling through it all and pretending like everything was okay, when it wasn’t.
“You could’ve done this without Luke, you know. I keep asking myself, why would you bring Luke into this?”
Kieren’s eyes close. “He practically begged me to let him.”
“Fuck you.”
“It’s true.”
“You manipulated him. You planted the seeds.”
“Seeds don’t always sprout. Your brother’s his own person. He didn’t have to listen to me, didn’t have to talk, didn’t have to do any of that shit, but he did. Why are you so fast to forgive him?”
“Because he’s my brother.”
“You used to love me.” Kieren turns his face in my direction. “Remember that?”
“Like a bad dream.”
“Luke loved me too. Not the way you did obviously, but like I was his older brother. It wasn’t hard, you know, all it took was a few clumsy nudges, and he was chomping at the bit to do something that would hurt your family.”
“When did things with Vera start?”
“I don’t remember anymore. I think they never stopped.”
My toes go cold hearing that. “What do you mean?”
“We fooled around in high school. Kept hooking up through college. We’d sneak off here or there, you know, fuck in a car or whatever.
It was fun until she was talking about more, about our families and the businesses, telling me all this bullshit about how she was going to bring me up through the Baranov ranks…
and I thought if I married her, it might actually happen…
I was stuck with your fucking father. But with Vera? ”
I stand and kick him in the ribs. He grunts in surprise and has the audacity to look betrayed. “You were cheating on me the whole time?!”
“Don’t be so childish, Regan, it’s not like—“
I kick him again. “Childish! Fuck you!”
“Damn it,” he groans, rolling onto his back. “Please don’t hit me again.”
“You are the sickest person I’ve ever met, Kieren, and I’m glad Vera ruined you. The pair of you were meant for each other.”
I grab his gag and shove it back into his mouth. He looks annoyed as I storm off to stand beside Cormac right when the front door opens and people come out.
A tall man is in the lead, clearly a soldier.
He’s armed, wearing serious military gear, including a full helmet.
Behind him is a woman, slight and thin, shorter than me, with a pointed nose and ice blue eyes.
Her blond hair falls in pretty ringlets around her dollish face.
She’s wearing all black and heavy boots.
“Vera Baranov,” Cormac says, not moving from his place. The two groups face each other across the empty expanse of the front yard, Vera at their head. She looks at Cormac like she’s bored.
“I didn’t expect them to send an actual Whelan brother. I feel honored.”
“We want to make an exchange.”
“I suppose you would, but what do you have that I could possibly want?”
Cormac’s eyes flit over the assembled soldiers. There are a lot of them, easily double our number, which is bad. Though Cormac doesn’t seem bothered.
“I want what you stole from the Carrigans. I want the dossier. In exchange, I’m offering Kieren’s life. I’ll send him back to you, mostly whole, which is more than he deserves.”
Vera’s lips quirk. “You have my fiancé? He’s here, right now?”
“Yes,” Cormac confirms.
“Darling!” Vera’s voice is lighthearted like she’s in a sitcom or something. “Oh, darling! I hope you’re doing alright. My daddy so does want you back, darling Kieren.”
“Then make the trade,” Cormac says with a soft snarl. “No more games. Do this easy.”
“But Kieren!” Vera ignores him and keeps going. “Daddy does love your jokes, drinking that nasty bourbon stuff, and smoking cigars, but I hate all of that. I find you tedious, self-absorbed, and not that good in bed.” She looks at me and winks. “Right, girl?”
“Fuck you.”
“Don’t be mad at me, I’m not the selfish lover. Ten rough humps and boom, he’s done, go ahead and finish yourself off. What a joke.”
Kieren’s response is muffled by the gag. He rolls away from the car, looking livid.
Vera’s description of his abilities in bed are exaggerated, but not by much.
“His life for the dossier,” Cormac presses. “He’s still worth something.”
“Worth what, exactly? He got me what I wanted. I would’ve married him, if at least because I knew I could control him, but what’s the point now? He’s tapped out. I don’t want a ruined husband. No, thank you, please keep him.”
Cormac seems utterly at ease. “Then why are we here? You knew our terms.”
“I wanted to see her.” Vera’s attention turns to me. I feel chill and strange as I shuffle closer to Cormac. That says a lot: I’d rather be near the psycho ghostman than that bitch. “How are you, lovey? Are you doing well? Sorry about stealing your man and all, it really wasn’t personal.”
“Go to hell, Vera. You’ve been sleeping with him behind my back for years.”
“He told you that?” She laughs daintily. “God yes, it’s true. Can you imagine dealing with him for that long? It was exhausting. But here we are.”
“Dossier for his life,” Cormac says flatly.
“Not accepted. But how about this?” Vera points at me. “You give me her, plus Kieren, and I’ll give you half the dossier. No more though. We need the other half to make your life miserable. What do you say? Hand them over and let me play? Pretty please?”
“The full dossier,” Cormac says.
“Hey!” I round on him in outrage. “I’m not part of this bargain!”
Vera laughs, delighted, eyes sparkling with excitement. “No, thank you, but this is really fun. Truthfully, I don’t have any of the dossier with me. You’re only here for one reason—“
Cormac shifts forward, moving in front of me, as the Baranov soldiers raise their weapons.
“This was a trap,” Vera says, sounding hungry and eager. “How didn’t you see that it was a trap?”