Chapter 38
LIAM
No matter what I do, I cannot silence the mass of anxiety that’s moved into my gut, set up home, and declared it’s here for the duration until Rowan walks safely back through that door.
I never should have called off security, no matter what the cost, but I had Sorcha in one ear and Rowan in the other, and even Patrick assured me the likelihood of anything happening to her was so minimal it wasn’t even worth worrying about.
Easy for him to say. His woman is safe and sound and shooting the odd, annoyed glance at me as I pace up and down the kitchen. Okay, stomp, not pace. Semantics.
I can only hope she drives around for a bit until she’s let off some steam and cursed me to hell and back. Then she’ll feel a lot better and come home.
Make no mistake, this is Rowan’s home, even if she doesn’t know it yet or isn’t ready to accept it.
I cannot lose her over my stupid fuckup.
I refuse to. Whatever it takes, I will fight for her, for us.
I should’ve fought for us all those years ago, but I was an idiot who took that letter at face value, heard someone who sounded like Rowan tell me she was hurt, and swallowed every vicious lie.
I never trusted us, our love, our connection. Rowan isn’t the only one that fucker Murray manipulated, and for that, and stealing five years from my woman and from me, he will pay.
My phone pings. When I glance down, I can’t open the message fast enough.
Rebel
just saw Brian. Following.
My heart rate triple times it, shooting up so fast my vision blurs. Another text comes in. It’s a picture of a dark blue estate car. I can make out half the number plate, but the other half is obscured by a tree branch.
I duck out of the kitchen and call her. No answer. Call again. No answer.
Me
Answer your fucking phone.
Nothing.
Goddammit. Grabbing a set of car keys, I snatch my coat off the banister and slam the front door behind me.
I have no idea where to start looking, but if it takes me all night, I will drive the length and breadth of this country until I find out where she is.
I put out a call in our security group chat to keep an eye out for Sorcha’s car and report back immediately. She can’t hide from me forever.
Christ, if he sees her… what if he takes her again? What if he hurts her? I can kill him, sure, but what use will that be if she’s gone?
My stomach curdles, fear circling. She’s so fucking reckless. She always was a risk taker, but this is just fucking stupidity. Is this her way of punishing me for keeping the fake murder from her? If so, she’s succeeded.
I’m in fucking purgatory.
Dan’s parking the car when I reach the garage. I never should’ve called him off. Fuck Sorcha. Fuck Rowan. Fuck the lot of them.
“Boss.” Dan jerks his chin. “Sorry she made me.”
“Not your fault.” I press the key fob, and the indicators flash once, the mirrors whirring as they slot into place.
“Um, boss?”
Irritated, I glance over my shoulder. “What?”
“I hope I didn’t overstep, but…” He grimaces. “When you called me back here, I kind of asked Jeff to take over.”
I blink, jaw slack. “You…” I walk over to him and clap both hands on his arms. “Fucking brilliant. Thank you.”
I jump in the car and call Jeff. “You on her?”
“Yes, Boss. It looks like she’s following someone.”
I grind my teeth. “Has she made you?”
“No, Boss.”
“Send me your live location and stay with her. I’m on my way.”
I hang up. His location comes through to my phone. Dongally Road, five miles from here. I set off, flooring the accelerator as soon as I’m on open road. I’ve driven about three miles when Jeff calls.
“The car she’s tracking is at the Celtic Cross pub. She drove past. I pulled in. She’s probably going to circle back around.”
“Stay on the line. Let me know if she does.”
He goes silent, then. “Yep. Here she is.”
“And the driver of the car?”
“He’s gone inside.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. At least he won’t see her driving into the car park. “Thanks, Jeff. I’ll be there shortly. When I get there, you can take off.”
I arrive a few minutes later. Sorcha’s Saab is parked, but there’s no sign of Rowan. I make eye contact with Jeff and hook my thumb over my shoulder. He acknowledges me and drives off.
If Rowan has gone inside the pub where Murray is, I will spank her so hard, she won’t be able to sit down for a fucking week.
I get out of the car, lock it, and make my way around the side of the building. I clock her peering through a window, hand shielding her eyes. This fucking woman.
“Rebel.”
She jerks like she’s been shot. “Jesus Christ, Liam.” Her eyes cool by several degrees. “How did you find me?”
“That’s what you want to talk about? Now? Here? What the fuck are you doing, Rowan?”
Her lips thin. “Following the bastard who ruined my life.”
“To what end? What do you think you’re going to discover hanging around outside a pub?”
“I don’t know. But I couldn’t just let him walk out without me following him. I’m sick of waiting. I’m sick of being controlled.”
Spoken like a true Mahoney. She isn’t one, but she’s got all the grit and backbone that befits my family name. Then again, she always did. Before that fucker stole her from me. “We’re gathering intel. For fuck’s sake, let me deal with it.”
She squares her shoulders and drills me with her eyes. “I don’t need you to save me. I need you to stand beside me.”
Well, fuck. I run a hand down my face. “I am standing beside you. What if he saw you, huh? What if he took you from me again?” My voice cracks, fear throttling me. I look away. Fucking hate showing weakness.
“Hey.” Her knuckle brushes underneath my chin. “Look at me.”
When I do, her eyes are soft. “I’m okay. I’m here. I’m safe. I’m with you.”
“You’re not mad at me anymore?”
“Oh, I’m still mad, but this isn’t the time or the place, is it?”
Guess not. I peer through the window. Murray’s standing at the bar on his phone. A flash of irritation crosses his face. He grabs a pack of cigarettes off the bar and heads for the exit.
“He’s on the phone, and he doesn’t look happy.
” I grab Rowan’s hand and edge toward the front of the pub.
We flatten against the brick, ears cocked.
The door slams shut. The temptation to charge the bastard and smash his face into the ground until he’s nothing but blood and sinew and pulp claws at me, but like Patrick said, if I do that, I’ll never get answers.
Rowan briefly touches her forehead to my upper back.
It grounds me in a way only she can. There has to be a reason Murray did what he did to Rowan and to me.
Once I know that, I’ll move. Torture would be fun, but it’s widely accepted as a terrible technique to get to the truth.
The torture victim will say and do anything to make the pain stop.
As much as it kills me to admit it, Patrick is right. We get the intel, and then we move.
“—said yes, I hear you.”
A pause, the sound of a lighter, the smell of smoke in the air. “You don’t have to keep going on.” Another pause, then a snort. “Yes, I will. When she’s back where she belongs.”
Rowan’s hand flexes in mine. I squeeze back. It’s evident he’s talking about Rowan. The only place she belongs is with me, as this cunt will soon find out.
“Fine. I’ll stay away.”
My ears prick. Stay away from where?
“Mam, for fuck’s sake, calm down. I’ll leave it to you from now on. Okay?”
Ah, his mother is in on it. I glance behind me at Rowan, frowning. This whole thing is getting weirder by the minute.
“No, I don’t need reminding that he took her from us. Aisling is the first person I think of every time I open my fucking eyes. Mahoney will pay for what he did.”
Rowan’s free hand curls into my coat. I’ve always thought this was about Rowan, some fucked up obsession he had with her. But it’s never been about Rowan. She was only a tool, a casualty. It’s about me.
Aisling. A memory pricks at me, but before I can lock on, it fades. The name rings a bell, though.
“Okay, sit tight. I’m on my way.”
A car door slams. Engine fires. Tires kick up loose stones in the badly maintained car park.
“He’s gone.”
Rowan peels herself away from the wall, pupils blown wide. “Liam? What the fuck is going on? Who is Aisling? And why is he blaming you for whatever happened to her?”
I roll my lips. “I don’t know. But I’m going to find out. And when I do, Brian Murray will wish he’d never crossed me.”