Chapter Thirty-Five
Flynn
“Fuck,” Christian breathes, eyes blown wide, arms locked around Declan like he’s checking he’s solid.
Tiernan just stands there, frozen, mouth half open, like the world tilted and he hasn’t caught up yet.
“We saw the blood—” Christian starts, voice cracking.
Declan steps back, grinning, and I haul Christian into a hug next. He laughs against my shoulder, the sound rough.
Christian pulls away, blinking fast. “We struck a deal with Rurik before they even rolled up,” I explain, clapping him on the back. “Fake rounds, blood bags under the shirts.”
They stare at me like I just spoke Latin.
“I leaned over you,” Tiernan rasps, face going pale again. “You weren’t breathing. Kaden saw it too.”
“Kaden was in on it,” I say, gripping Tiernan’s shoulder hard enough to anchor him. “His job was to keep you from getting too close and spotting the act.”
Christian and Tiernan are only twenty-six and twenty-seven; we’ve known them since they were scrawny kids trailing after Nolan.
When Nolan died with no heir, Christian stepped up and proved he’s twice the man Flanagan ever was.
Right now he looks about twelve, eyes glassy, trying to process that his big brothers aren’t actually in body bags.
“Those fucking drugs,” Kian snarls again from the corner, rolling his shoulders like he’s trying to shake the paralysis out of his arms. “You told me I wouldn’t feel a thing, you lying bastard.”
“Same cocktail you took for Alek last year,” Christian mutters, rubbing the heel of his hand over his face. “Fecking Christ.”
“Sorry we kept you in the dark,” I say, softer now. “Flanagan was always breathing down your necks. We needed him to believe it one hundred percent.”
Relief floods their faces so fast it almost hurts to watch.
“So Flanagan takes the burn?” Tiernan asks, voice steadying.
We all nod.
“Rules are rules,” I shrug. “And he does love his precious rules.”
“The ghost of Christmas past,” Kaden drawls from the doorway, strolling in with that shit-eating smirk, hands in his pockets like he didn’t just sell the performance of a lifetime.
Christian spins. “Wait. Viviana and Autumn, did they know?”
“Yeah,” Declan answers, already bracing.
Christian’s eyes go huge. “She passed out. Viviana actually collapsed in my arms.”
Tiernan drags a hand through his hair. “Autumn dropped to her knees, sobbing like her world had ended.”
The room goes dead quiet for half a second.
Then we lose it.
Declan wheezes first, shoulders shaking. “She what?”
“Full faint,” Christian says, half laughing, half horrified. “I hold her in my arms like a corpse.”
“And Autumn,” Christian adds, “I’ve never seen anyone cry that hard. Thought she was going to break in half.”
I stare at Declan. He stares back.
“They might be better at this than we are,” Declan says, voice thick with pride and disbelief.
Connor throws his head back and roars with laughter. “Viviana, I expected. But Autumn? Jesus Christ, we created monsters.”
I drag a hand over my mouth, trying to wipe the grin off, failing hard.
My girl just fooled an entire room of killers while her heart was probably hammering out of her chest.
Fuck, I’m proud.
Declan’s mansion rises ahead of us, black against the pre-dawn sky, every window lit like a warning.
Our men line the walls, rifles glinting.
I’m out of the SUV before it fully stops, boots hitting gravel hard enough to jar my spine.
All I can think about is her scent, her skin, the way she curls into me when the world gets too loud.
For one heartbeat tonight I thought I might never feel that again.
I take the stairs two at a time, shoulder shoving the front door wide.
The living room is quiet except for the soft turn of a page. Viviana sits curled on the couch, legs tucked under her, reading like it’s just another Friday night.
“Firecracker.” Declan’s voice cracks. He crosses the room in three strides, hauls her up, and crushes her to his chest. The book hits the rug with a dull thud. His mouth finds hers, hard, desperate, one hand already sliding down the curve of her spine.
“Whoa, nope, not here, mate.” I throw a palm over my eyes, half-laughing, half-sick with impatience.
Kian and Connor drop onto the opposite couch. Kaden leans against the doorframe, arms folded, watching me like he already knows.
“Good to see you all in one piece,” Viviana says, rolling her eyes even while Declan’s arms stay locked around her waist. “And why the hell did you send Flanagan’s lapdog?”
“No signal,” Declan mutters against her neck. “Doyle was the only runner we had.”
My pulse spikes. “Autumn?” I scan the room again, chest tightening when it’s still empty of her.
Viviana turns, frown deepening. “She left.”
The air leaves my lungs. “Left?”
“Home,” she says slowly, like I’m stupid. “To your place.”
Rage and ice flood my veins at the same time. “Why the fuck would she do that?”
Viviana’s eyes widen. “Doyle.”
The name lands like a blade between my ribs.
“Doyle?” My voice is barely audible.
“Flynn.” She steps out of Declan’s arms, pointing at me with fear in her eyes. “You told Doyle to take her to the mansion and that you’d meet her at sunrise.”
Every muscle in my body locks so hard my vision tunnels.
“No,” I whisper. “I didn’t.”
I’m moving before anyone can stop me, boots pounding up the stairs, blood roaring in my ears. I slam into the bedroom, rip the drawer open looking for my phone I left behind when I took the burner. My real phone shakes in my hand as I dial.
Kaden fills the doorway; Kian right behind him.
“Come on, come on.” The ringing feels endless. “Pick up, baby, please—”
“The number you have dialled is not available—”
The phone slips from my fingers, clatters to the floor.
My heart stops dead.
“No.” The word rips out of me, raw, broken.
Declan’s hand clamps my arm. “We’re going to your place. Now.”
I can’t speak. I just nod.
The drive is a blur of speed and flying dirt. My knuckles are white on the dash, every second stretching into torture.
The gates swing open. Guards scatter as we tear up the drive.
I’m out while the SUV still rolls, boots skidding on marble. One of the gate men stumbles back when I grab his shirt and slam him against the wall.
“My wife?” I roar.
He pales. “She—she never came back, boss. Not since she left with you.”
The world tilts.
I turn to Kaden, voice shaking with something darker than rage. “Someone intercepted them.”
Declan steps close, eyes deadly calm. “Flynn.”
I meet his gaze, hands trembling, fear so sharp it cuts. “Tell me I didn’t just hand my wife to her stalker.”
His jaw flexes. “We will find her.”
I shove past him, already moving. “I will burn this city to the ground.”
“Where are we going?” Declan calls, keeping pace.
My voice comes out ice and venom.
“To see Flanagan.”
“You motherfucker.” I slam the cell door so hard the hinges scream. Flanagan scrambles to his feet, chains rattling, but that smirk, that fucking smirk, is already curling his busted lip.
“You knew,” I snarl, voice shaking the concrete walls. “You knew exactly who Doyle was.”
He tilts his head, amused. “Knew what?”
The guard hasn’t even finished turning the key before I’m on him.
First punch snaps his head back, cartilage crunching. Second splits his cheek wide; blood sprays hot across my knuckles and the floor. It’s not enough. It’ll never be enough.
“I’m going to fucking kill you—”
“Flynn!” Declan’s arms lock under mine from behind, hauling me off. I thrash, boots scraping concrete, every muscle burning to get back to Flanagan’s throat.
Autumn. My wife. Gone.
“Kian!” Declan barks.
Kian’s hands clamp my shoulders, Connor piling in too. I swing wild, nearly catching Connor in the jaw.
“Move,” I growl at him, vision red, chest heaving like I’ve run ten miles.
Connor doesn’t flinch, just plants himself between me and the bleeding mess on the floor.
Declan yanks me back harder. My spine hits his chest; I can feel his heart hammering against my shoulder blade. “I’m not letting go,” he says low, steady, the only calm thing in the room. “I’m not fighting you, brother. Breathe.”
My fists shake at my sides, knuckles split and dripping.
“I—” The word cracks. My lungs can’t find air. “I need to find her.”
“We will,” Declan says, fierce, with no room for doubt. “We won’t stop. I swear on my life, Flynn. I’ll burn this whole fucking city down with you until she’s back in your arms. You were there when they took Viviana. I’m here now. We’re here.”
Kian steps in close on my left, eyes hard. “All of us.”
Connor nods once on my right, blood still on his sleeve from holding me back.
I drag in a ragged breath that tastes like iron and panic. My arms drop, heavy, useless.
The rage doesn’t leave. It just coils tighter, colder, waiting.
I look at Flanagan one last time, sprawled, coughing blood, still smirking.
“You really didn’t know,” Flanagan wheezes, coughing blood onto the concrete between laughs.
“How long?” Declan drops to a crouch in front of him, voice deadly quiet.
Flanagan leans his head back against the wall, eyes glittering. “After the hotel. She was there taking pictures.” He flicks his gaze up to me. “He was too pissed to notice you were there too. I clocked it then.”
Kian’s hand is still clamped on my shoulder, knuckles white, ready.
“Why the fuck didn’t you tell us?” Kian growls. “She never did a thing to you. You’ve got a daughter her age.”
Flanagan shrugs, blood bubbling at the corner of his mouth. “Leverage.”
“Leverage for what?” The words rip out of me, low and shaking.
“In case I got caught, I could trade him. Never thought the sick bastard would actually take her.” He laughs again, wet and ugly. “Guess today’s not my day.”
“Where is he?” Declan snaps.
“City apartment, but he won’t be there.” Flanagan’s eyes lock on mine. “He came to me out of nowhere looking for work. I knew his old man before he died. Doyle never gave a shit about the Consortium… until her.”
My fists clench so hard my knuckles crack.
“He used us to track her,” I say, voice flat, lethal. “When he realised she was close to the Callaghans, he crawled closer to you.”
Flanagan nods, smirking. “Got real protective of my health all of a sudden.”
I slam my fist into the wall. Concrete bites skin, pain shoots up my forearm, but it’s nothing compared to the inferno inside my chest.
“It’s not your fault,” Connor tries.
Flanagan keeps talking, voice syrupy with venom. “He escalated the second he saw you with her. You mentioning her name used to make him twitch. Then you married her?” He whistles low. “That broke whatever was left of him.”
I knew I painted a target on her. I thought I was the shield.
“He’s going to fuck her, kill her, then probably himself,” Flanagan says, grinning through a mask of blood.
The roar that tears out of me isn’t human.
I lunge.
Declan throws his whole body into me first, shoulder slamming into my chest, boots skidding across the floor.
He’s strong, but I’m bigger, heavier, pure fighter muscle, and I’m already moving.
Kian piles in from behind, arms locking around my waist, heels digging in.
Connor jumps in front, palms on my shoulders, trying to anchor me.
It takes all three of them to haul me back two steps.
“Close the fucking cell!” Connor bellows at the guard.
The iron door starts swinging.
I shove forward again, veins in my neck bulging, every muscle straining against the three men holding me. My voice comes out raw, shredded.
“I’m going to kill you, Flanagan. I’m going to burn you to the fucking ground. My face will be the last thing you ever see.”
The door slams shut between us.
I’m still roaring when they drag me out.
“Fucking hell, Flynn.” Declan finally releases me, palms up like he’s calming a wild animal. “We need to think. Where could he take her?”
“Not the docks,” Kian mutters, “not the city. Too many eyes.”
“Her phone’s dark,” Connor adds, voice tight. “He knew we’d ping it. Probably ditched the second he had her.”
I stop dead in the middle of the corridor, blood still dripping from my knuckles.
"Tracking her."
They all look at me.
“No phone, Flynn,” Kian says slowly. “We can’t.”
I stare at them, chest heaving, and something cold and sharp slices through the rage.
Not her phone.
A slow, vicious smile starts to pull at my mouth.
“Her camera,” I say, voice low. “She never goes anywhere without that fucking camera.”
Connor frowns. “It’s a camera, mate. We can’t—”
“We can.” The words come out as a growl. “I stuck a tracker on; she never knew. That’s how Kaden and I found her at the motel the night she ran.”
I’m already moving, boots pounding up the stairs two at a time, burner to my ear.
“Kaden, log into the camera tracker. Now.”
I hit the SUV at a sprint, the others piling in behind me. Kian floors it before the doors even shut, tyres screaming, gravel spitting against the undercarriage.
Please, baby. Please still have it with you. Please let that little red dot be blinking.
Because I’m coming for her.
I’m coming to tear him apart.