CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN RONAN
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
RONAN
NOW
“Wake up!”
I’m startled from my dreamless sleep with a rough shake that almost sends me falling off the edge of the bed.
“Fuck off,” I grumble, reaching for a pillow to pull over my head. This better not be some drill Dad insists on us taking part in every few months. I’m in no fucking mood to deal with Salvatore and his paranoia right now.
The pillow is ripped from my hand before it gets anywhere near my face, and I’m shaken once again.
“Get the fuck out of bed, Ronan. It’s Chloe.”
Those words have me sitting up before they can finish forming.
Damon stands at the edge of the bed, his chest bare, but his eyes are free from the haze of sleep, telling me he’s been awake for a while.
Then I notice the dark marks beneath his eyes and wonder if he’s slept at all.
“What’s going on?” I ask, reaching for the sweatpants I keep beside the bed in case I need to be ready quickly.
“You have to go to Chloe. Now.” He’s frantic. Worried, almost. But that doesn’t make any sense because he’s adamant about his hatred of her. Even when I’ve seen through the lies, when he can’t quite hide the truth, he’s never looked this…scared.
Something’s wrong.
Something’s very fucking wrong.
I’m off the edge of the bed before I can continue to question my brother because the fact he’s scared is all I need to know.
I barely manage to pick up my gun on the way out of the room before I sprint down the stairs and across the house.
Every slap of my bare feet on tiled floors is too loud to my own ears, but I don’t slow. Not even for a second.
Because Chloe needs me, and I refuse to let her down again.
I’ve already failed her too often. I can’t do it again.
A guard gives me a confused look as I pass him, but I don’t pause.
Not until I’m bounding down the stairs to the cellar and sharp stone cuts into the bottom of my feet.
Chloe’s cell is halfway down the hallway, and when I notice the door open, my stomach bottoms out.
The cellar is silent aside from some rustling, and when I finally pause in the doorway with my gun raised, my stomach rolls with the need to purge.
Ralph stands over an unconscious Chloe, blood dripping down her pretty face as he tries to move her the way he wants her.
This motherfucker was going to rape her.
He came down here with the sole intention of violating what doesn’t belong to him, and that’s all I need to know for him to die.
I squeeze the trigger with practiced ease, but there’s a satisfaction that comes with killing someone that genuinely deserves to die that I don’t get to experience very often.
I’ve never killed anyone that wasn’t a criminal, but that doesn’t automatically mean they’re a bad person or that they’ve done bad things that hurt others. No, it’s rare that I get to end the scum of the earth, and knowing what Ralph intended to do to my girl only makes the satisfaction grow.
Rushing forward, I tug his limp body off Chloe. Every inch of her is covered in blood. Both hers and the asshole I just killed. With shaking fingers, I check her pulse, my stomach rolling at the idea that I was too late.
But then I feel it. Her pulse beats against the pads of my fingers, and I choke down a sob of relief.
Thank fuck she’s alive.
Now I just have to get her the fuck out of here.
And to do that I have to betray my own family.
Chloe isn’t dying down here in this godforsaken cellar, and she’s sure as hell not being killed by anyone in my bloodline, which means I only have one choice.
I have to run.
Reaching for the thin sheet, I tear it in half and carefully wipe away some of the blood from Chloe’s face. If she wakes up and all she sees is red, she’s going to freak out.
Once the worst of the blood is wiped away, I carefully gather her against my chest, and just for a second, I allow myself to breathe her in, to remind myself she’s okay, and nothing is ever going to hurt her again.
Because I won’t let it.
She’s known too much pain in her life, and I refuse to allow her to experience another second in the future.
I turn around and stop dead when I find Damon standing in the doorway, his eyes bouncing from Ralph to the unconscious woman in my arms.
“I’ll deal with this. Get her out of here,” he says, his eyes lingering on her for long seconds before flicking up to meet mine.
“What are you going to tell Dad?”
He hesitates for a moment. “I’ll work it out. Just get her as far away from here as you can.”
I nod, tightening my hold on Chloe. A life on the run isn’t what I want for Chloe, but being safe and alive is all that matters. Everything else we can figure out along the way.
Damon steps out of the doorway to allow me to pass, but there’s a question niggling in the back of my mind that I can’t quite ignore.
“Why are you doing this?”
His attention drops to Chloe, his eyes filling with regret and something I can’t quite place. “Because regardless of how I feel about her, she’s always been your endgame.”
That’s not the whole truth. Hell, it might not even be some of it, but I don’t have time to argue right now.
He tugs something from his pocket and hands it to me.
“I’ll call you on this tomorrow to check in.
It’s a burner with no connection to the family and is completely untraceable.
I’ve also added the fucking bodyguard’s number and De Marco’s.
She might stop threatening to castrate me if you let her know Chloe’s no longer in danger. ”
“And you just had this lying around?”
He shrugs but doesn’t bother answering. “Your car is parked out front. I’ll text you when I have a replacement set up for you.”
“Dad will kill you if he finds out you helped me.”
“Maybe. But you’re my brother and Chloe—” He stops himself. “She never deserved to die for his paranoia.”
I have a million questions, but they can wait until I have her outside these walls. “Thank you.”
He nods. “Go. I set off one of the perimeter alarms around the back. It should keep security busy for long enough for you to get out.”
With one last look, I head up the steps toward the front of the house, but there’s one thing that just isn’t sitting right with me.
How did he set all these wheels into motion so quickly?