Chapter 13
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I’ve lost her.
I’ve fucking lost control of the woman I’ve ruled with an iron fist for five years. Admitting I don’t know where she is causes a living, vengeful rage to tear up my insides.
The manager at the pub where she works told me she’d said she was sick and left early on Monday. Monday. Three fucking days ago. She isn’t off with her friend Willow, and she isn’t at her flat.
And now I’ve had to return to Ireland because I’m due back at work.
I don’t fucking have time for work. Without her, I can’t complete my plan.
She’s the final piece, the killer blow to destroy a man who destroyed me when he murdered my seventeen-year-old sister.
My pregnant seventeen-year-old sister. It makes me feel sick even now to know that Liam Mahoney defiled her, then discarded her.
The captain throttles back the engines, and I close my eyes, memories from a dark, stormy night slamming into me like a battering ram. Aisling slumped against the steering wheel, her face covered in blood, Liam’s name on her lips. Not mine, not Mother’s or Father’s. His.
She never should have been driving that night.
She’d found out about him and his “Rowan,” and before my parents could stop her, she’d stolen Da’s keys and driven off to confront him.
None of us even knew they were seeing each other.
If I had, I’d have put that fucker in the ground—and that is still the plan.
Except he’ll live in Hell instead, knowing he was the cause of his family’s downfall, and the death of the woman he never gave up searching for.
Unless I can find her and fast, it’s all fucked.
I won’t let that happen. Aisling deserves her revenge, as does my father, and I plan to give it to them. Da never recovered from Aisling’s death, turning to drink. He died three years ago from liver disease.
Mahoney has blood on his hands. Too much fucking blood.
Soon, there will be even more, except this time, he’ll know the agony of permanently losing someone he loves and knowing exactly where she’s gone.
Even though I’ve stoked the fires of betrayal over the past five years, the fact that he kept looking for her tells me everything I need to know. Despite everything, he still loves her.
Where the fuck is she?
Another month and everything would have been ready to go.
How fucking dare she run out on me? When I catch up to her, I’ll make her pay.
I had planned to kill her quickly. Now, that’s off the table.
I will make her suffer. I will record every single moment of her drawn-out death and send it to Mahoney.
He’ll need a lobotomy to scrape those images from his mind.
The air steward opens the door, and a blast of cold air whips through the cabin. I disembark, ignoring the cheery goodbyes from the cabin crew, and stomp down the jetway. As I emerge into the arrivals hall, I groan.
“Mother.” I lean down and kiss her weathered cheek. “You didn’t need to pick me up.”
“How the fuck did you let this happen?” She glowers at me then spins on her heel and marches toward the exit. Head bowed, I follow her. She’s right to be angry at me. I’ve fucked up, and we both know it.
Mother deserves her revenge, too, and no matter what it costs me, I will give it to her. She’s bankrolled this entire project and kept me calm when my temper and impatience got the better of me. We need this done, now more than ever.
The engine’s running by the time I catch up to her. I toss my bag in the back seat, climb into the car, and brace.
“I told you that girl wasn’t as compliant as you thought she was. But what do I know? I’m only your mother.” She jams the car into gear and pulls into the traffic, earning a blast on the horn from the car she cut up. “Like all men, you think with your dick.”
“I slept with her to keep her under control.”
Mother snorts. “Keep telling yourself that. Did you know her friend, Willow, has put up a missing poster near that pub she worked at?”
I startle, eyes widening. “No.”
“No.” Another snort. “This is why I’m the brains, and you’re the brawn.”
“We’ll find her. We will.” I’m not sure if I’m trying to convince her or me. Anxiety digs its claws into my stomach. The thought that all this work, this planning could be for nothing is a sickening feeling I can’t shake.
“I’ve already found her.”
My jaw drops. “Where is she?”
Mother stops at a red light and turns to me. “That bastard Mahoney has her.” She spits his name, her lip curling in hatred. “And we need to come up with a plan to take her back. Fast.”