34. Cormac
Chapter Thirty-Four
CORMAC
I’m gripping the wheel so tightly my knuckles are white.
The car hums beneath me as I head across town, but I barely hear it. My mind is too consumed by Fiona.
It was a dick move to walk away from her like I did, but right now I don’t trust myself to keep calm.
Distance is the best thing for us, but it didn’t make it any easier to walk away.
Problem is if I let myself think about the hurt in her eyes for too long, I’ll turn this car around and go home. And that can’t happen. At least not until I find out what information Aiden has for me.
I swore I wouldn’t care, and yet I do. And I hate myself for letting things get this far. And the truth is, I don’t know whether I’m running from danger…or from her.
The city lights blur past my windows as I drive, the cool air blowing in from the cracked window doing nothing to settle the tension crawling under my skin.
Kieran’s words have been festering in my mind ever since he brought up his suspicions, burrowing deeper every time I try to dismiss them.
You don’t know anything.
I hate how easily a part of me latched onto that doubt, how quickly it turned into something poisonous threading through everything I thought I knew about Fiona.
I’m only a couple of blocks away from where I’m meant to be meeting Aiden when a prickling sensation spreads across the back of my neck.
I’ve learned to trust that feeling because it’s saved my life more times than I can count. So, I straighten in my seat and scan the mirrors.
That’s when I see them—a set of headlights following too closely behind me.
I tighten my grip on the wheel, forcing myself to breathe past the spike of adrenaline.
But as I pass the next intersection, everything happens all at once, and it’s all I can do to keep control of the car.
A sedan lunges out across my lane from the left, its tires screeching as it cuts me off, sealing off my escape before my brain fully registers what’s happening.
“Fuck—”
The windshield explodes.
The crack of the gunshot rings in my skull as shards of glass explode across my lap.
I duck down as my instincts take over, my heart slamming against my ribs as I try to think.
Another shot hits the roof, causing the car to shake.
I slam my foot on the gas and try to angle the wheel enough to break free.
But the car is quick to follow as another bullet hits my door.
My breath comes in fast and sharp as a thought hits me so hard it nearly has me losing control of the wheel.
If they kill me, they will go after Scout next.
“Not fucking happening,” I growl.
I reach across to the glove box and pull out my gun.
Another shot fires at my passenger side as whoever is tailing me tries their best to cut me off. But I know this city like the back of my hand.
I swerve down a side street and cut in front of them before rolling down the window and firing twice without hesitation.
The first bullet hits the windshield and takes out the man in the passenger seat.
The driver panics and swerves out of sight as I quickly disappear down another side street. But it doesn’t take long for them to catch up to me.
I slam the brakes just enough to throw them off.
The car overshoots and momentarily pulls up along my passenger side.
That’s all the opening I need.
I fire through the shattered window and lodge a bullet right into the driver’s neck.
The car veers off the road and collides with the side of a parked truck, setting off both of the alarms.
I don’t let myself feel any relief.
I skid to a stop and climb out of the car, sprinting over to the wreck.
Both men are slumped forwards, their eyes open and unseeing, as blood pours from their wounds.
Nausea claws up my throat as I lean in, trying to see past all the blood, but neither man looks familiar.
Sirens start to sound in the distance, so I quickly search the car as well as the men.
I take everything I can carry—a couple of phones, a laptop bag, a loaded Glock, and a handful of loose documents. Anything that could help me identify these men.
Though I have a horrible feeling I already know who they’re working for.
Adrian Smirvov.
A deliberate attack like this means these men have been tracking my movements, and what’s even more terrifying is that I have no idea if they were alone.
If there are others and they’re watching me right now…
Just the thought of going back to the penthouse where Scout is has me bending over and emptying the contents of my stomach.
I can’t risk my son, or Fiona, for that matter.
Wiping my mouth on the back of my hand, I head back to the car and dump all of the tech and paperwork into the trunk before getting behind the wheel.
I have no idea where to go from here, but I don’t have time to think, so I just drive.
The city blurs around me.
I barely notice the lights I’m running or the near misses that send brakes screeching behind me. My mind is too loud.
Fiona and Scout’s faces are front and center. It’s enough to almost make me turn around and go to her, but then I see the ambush again, and I stop myself cold.
By the time my head clears enough to notice, I’m already parked outside Kieran’s estate in Washington Heights.
Warm yellow light spills through the curtains, and I catch sight of a silhouette moving across the living room.
It looks so calm and peaceful that it almost doesn’t seem real.
I barely register getting out of the car and climbing the front steps or knocking my blood-stained knuckles on the front door. But the second it opens, the world tilts around me.
Riley stands there in a pair of pink plaid pajamas, her auburn hair gathered in a loose braid, and her newborn daughter tucked against her chest.
Her eyes widen when she sees my blood-stained clothes and my wild expression, but she doesn’t flinch. If anything, she looks heartbroken for me, and that almost undoes me more than the ambush.
“Oh God, Cormac…”
“I shouldn’t be here. Fuck. Riley, I shouldn’t have—” I manage, my voice rough and unsteady as I stumble back a step.
Aubrey stirs, and I take another step back as if I might contaminate them just by breathing the same air.
“I’ll go. I shouldn’t… Shit, I didn’t think. I’m sorry. I’ll figure it out.”
But before I can leave, heavy footsteps rush down the hallway, and Kieran appears. His dark hair is tousled, and he’s wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants, but his tired face instantly sharpens as he takes in the sight of me standing on his doorstep, covered in blood.
He gently pulls Riley back behind him, shielding her and the baby with one arm while keeping his eyes locked on me.
“Inside. Now.”
“I shouldn’t?—”
“Cormac. Get the fuck inside.” His tone leaves no room for argument.
I step across the threshold, and Kieran quickly locks the door and hits the security system, all while never taking his eyes off me.
My legs feel like they might give out, and I can’t seem to stop staring at Aubrey.
I might have led Smirnov’s men away from Scout, but it’s likely I led them straight here instead.
I don’t think I’ve ever hated myself more.
Kieran places a hand on my shoulder and leads me into the living room. “Come on. Sit.”
I do as he says, collapsing onto the couch as Kieran goes to pour us both a drink.
Riley lingers in the hallway, still rocking their daughter gently, her eyes flicking between me and the dried blood on my hands.
Kieran forces a glass of whiskey into my hand. “What the fuck happened, Cormac?”
“I was ambushed…” My voice comes out hoarse, so I quickly gulp down my whiskey.
Kieran wastes no time snatching the empty glass from me and refilling it.
“They weren’t trying to scare me. They were trying to kill me.”
Kieran’s jaw tightens.
“Who is they?”
I scrub a hand over my face, leaving a streak of dried blood along my jaw. “I don’t know. It all happened too fast. But I have a feeling they’re Smirnov’s men.”
Kieran goes still. “Adrian gave the order?”
“I don’t know. I think they might have been watching my building. There is no way they would know exactly where I was going to be when this was a last-minute arrangement.”
Kieran steps closer, clutching my refilled glass so tightly I’m surprised it doesn’t shatter.
“Cormac… What if someone told us you were going out? Did you talk to anyone after you left the office? Who knew your movements?”
My stomach twists as Fiona’s face flashes in my mind, the quiet worry in her eyes as she watched me head out the door.
Did she know? Is that why she looked so pained to see me go?
I swallow hard as I push the thought down. I didn’t tell her where I was going. I didn’t even tell her that I was leaving the house until she saw me by the elevator.
“I made arrangements to meet Aiden Clark on the phone.”
Kieran exhales sharply as he drops down onto the couch beside me and hands me my glass.
“Then your phone is compromised.”
My world fractures in slow motion.
If my phone is compromised, then whoever has been listening knows not only where I live, but about Scout too.
“Drink,” Kieran orders.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re shaking.”
I look down, and my hands are trembling so badly from the adrenaline still pumping through my veins that my drink threatens to spill all over the carpet. I ball my free hand into a fist as I knock back my drink, hissing as the liquor burns my throat.
“Ok, brother. Now, start from the beginning.”
I tell him everything, from where the car appeared to the phones and laptop I stashed in my car.
Kieran listens without interrupting, but I see the storm building behind his eyes.
When I finish, the silence stretches between us.
“Kieran… I can’t go home.” The words tear out of me before I can stop them. “If someone followed me after the crash, if they tracked the plates, if I lead them to Scout?—”
“You have to.”
I blink. “What?”
“You’re going back to get Fiona and Scout. And you’re bringing them here.”
“No. Absolutely not. I’m not dragging danger to your fucking doorstep. Not with Riley and the baby?—”
Kieran’s expression doesn’t change, but something fierce flickers behind his eyes.
“Cormac! Do you think you’re the only one in this family who lives with a target on his back?”
“That’s not what I?—”
“We chose this life. We chose to have families of our own, and this is the cost.”
I clench my jaw.
“It still doesn’t mean I’m putting Riley in the line of fire.”
“You didn’t. The second you had Scout, the second I had Aubrey, we put them in it ourselves. We can’t pretend otherwise.” He gestures toward the hallway where Riley hums softly to soothe the baby. “We accept the risks because the alternative is worse.”
I stare at the floor.
My breathing feels too tight, too shallow.
“I know you don’t want to risk leading Smirnov’s men to Scout, but you also can’t leave him unprotected. You need to go home, Cormac. You need to get your son.”
My throat burns.
He’s right.
“And Fiona. Because whether I want to admit it or not, she’s in danger too.”
I squeeze my eyes shut.
Every instinct wars inside me, but Kieran’s right.
Whatever alliance Fiona has, I know I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I walked away and left her in the line of fire because I care about her too damn much.
“I can’t go back alone.”
“I’ll call Brennan and Ronan to help clean up the mess and to keep eyes on you from the street in case anyone is lingering around the building.”
A soft cry comes from the hallway, followed by Riley quietly shushing the baby back to sleep.
Guilt gnaws at my insides.
“I didn’t think, I just drove. I didn’t know where else to go.”
Kieran nods. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you came to me.”
I glance up and meet my brother’s gaze. I can see it in his eyes that he’s sincere, and that means more than I can put into words. Maybe the added strain I put on our relationship by keeping Scout a secret is finally starting to ease.
“I don’t want Scout growing up like this,” I say quietly.
“None of us do. But what we want doesn’t change the reality. We protect our own. And regardless of my thoughts, that includes Fiona too.”
“I don’t know if she’s innocent.” The words taste like poison in my mouth. “I don’t know if she walked into my life by chance or if someone put her there. And I hate that I doubt her. I fucking hate it.”
“Then find out the truth. But don’t leave her defenseless while you figure it out.
” He gets to his feet and pulls his phone out of his pocket.
“I’m calling Ronan. Ciara and Elena can bring the twins over here while he heads to your place and scouts the perimeter.
Brennan will join him once he’s taken care of the cleanup. ”
I stand slowly, feeling the weight of what’s coming settle on my shoulders.
“Drive straight to the penthouse and bring Scout and Fiona back here.”
“Kieran—”
“I’m not asking.”
I look past him, toward the faint glow of the hallway where Riley cradles Aubrey in her arms.
The house feels warm and safe, two things I never thought I was missing, never thought I needed. But now I want them so badly. Not just for myself, but for Scout too. The longing is so strong that it physically hurts.
“Go.” Kieran lifts his phone to his ear.
I nod once and head toward the door.
As I step out into the cold night, Kieran’s voice follows me down the steps, already speaking into the phone with calm authority.
“Ronan, wake up. We’ve got a problem.”