CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE RONAN
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
RONAN
NOW
Fuck, it’s cold.
It’s pretty much hot all year round in Miami, and even when I went to California for college, it was warm more often than not.
But upstate New York in November?
It’s fucking freezing.
I watch the scene unfolding from the parking lot, my fisted hands the only outward sign of how agitated I am.
Once upon time, I wore my heart on my sleeve. Every feeling, every emotion—it was written all over my face.
But not anymore.
Not since Chloe left.
Dad and Damon made sure of that.
I shake off the thought and refocus on Ryker pushing Chloe behind him. I know it’s my brother that he’s protecting her from, and while I would like to think he would never hurt her, I’m not an idiot.
He doesn’t have the same history with her that I do. She hadn’t ever been the reason his heart beat. And more than that, he has every bit of our father’s cruelty running through his veins.
The clerk behind the counter peers up from her magazine, taking in the part of the scene she can see from her post before her attention flickers back to whatever she’s reading.
Considering we’re in the middle of nowhere, this probably isn’t the weirdest thing she’s seen today.
Ryker turns to Chloe and says something through clenched teeth, and although she looks like she’s about to argue again, she lets out an annoyed sigh before heading my way.
I duck behind the car I’ve been following her in, hoping the tinted windows are enough to stop her from noticing me the second she steps outside.
Chloe glances around, her eyes tracking over the parking lot, but she gazes straight past me, allowing me to relax slightly.
Now that Damon’s been found out, she’ll be on the lookout for him, which means I might be able to keep tailing her without her noticing.
She gets behind the wheel but doesn’t turn the car on immediately, instead keeping her attention on the doors like she’s waiting for someone.
Ryker.
I don’t think she realizes he was in her trunk the whole time or that the motherfucker popped out like a daisy as soon as he knew the coast was clear.
He’s a big guy, so I have no clue how he fit in there and got out with just a quick stretch before striding inside, but it’s kind of impressive.
Despite a quick search on the guy, I haven’t been able to find anything. Not a social security number. Not a social media presence. Not even a fucking bank account. Meaning he’s likely living under a fake identity, which only poses more questions.
Camilla De Marco wouldn’t have hired someone inexperienced to guard Chloe, and she would have run an intense background check. One I would love to get my hands on.
Glancing back inside, I find Ryker striding toward the attendant with an arm full of snacks and what I recognize as Chloe’s favorite energy drink, making my chest tighten uncomfortably.
It’s unrealistic to think she hasn’t been with anyone since she left, but the idea that he knows what she would reach for in the gas station sucks up all the air around me, making it impossible to drag in a breath.
Tearing my attention off him, I return it to Chloe. She looks like she’s three seconds from peeling out of here before either of them can follow her, and I think that would be preferable at this point.
That way it would just be me and her.
And then what? I ask myself. Because I still don’t have a plan.
If I defer from my family and don’t bring her back the way Dad has ordered, I’ll be spending the rest of my life on the run.
But at least she’ll be safe.
She deserves that after what my family put her through.
They can deny it all they want, insist that what she’s saying is a lie, but I know Chloe. I know when she’s hurting, and I’ve never seen the kind of devastation in her eyes like I did yesterday.
Every word that came out of her mouth was laced with agony, and that’s all I needed to know it was the truth, regardless of what Damon said.
Ryker strides out of the gas station and heads straight for her car without pausing.
I climb into the driver’s seat of the rental SUV and start the engine, ready to continue following her, but I can’t help but smirk knowing my brother won’t be on our tail.
The idiot shouldn’t have left his car unlocked where anyone could disable the starter motor in a matter of seconds.
Hopefully it will slow him down enough to get Chloe to safety, because I refuse to let anyone in my bloodline hurt her ever again.