Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
LIAM
“Where do you think he took her?”
“Where else?”
The voices come to me from very far away, and although I keep trying to open my eyelids, they are so heavy.
My stomach churns, but otherwise, I feel warm and happy, like when I’m lying in Isla’s arms after we make love.
I guess this is why people drink to excess. It does make me feel more than the ache in my chest, the hole in my stomach. Isla’s chosen Cillian, or at least... I think she has?
I don’t remember much after she told us she was going to have our baby. Wait... our baby? It can’t belong to all of us, can it?
Why can’t it?
Besides, does it matter? It’s not like Isla can belong to everyone either, but in a way, she already does.
I guess something’s wrong because Dare and Cillian seem to be arguing, the voices stressed.
I can’t seem to care. I’m floating on a cloud made of Irish whiskey and beer. I try to sit up, but my head spins.
“Is Liam coming to?” I think that’s Dare.
Cillian snorts. “I doubt it. He probably had half a bottle of Irish whiskey before I even ordered the pitcher.”
“Why'd you let him drink so much?”
“Because he needed it, Dare. Liam never gets like this. He’s crazy about her.”
“Aye. Well, he can take a number.”
“You can’t seriously still be possessive. Thought you hated her.”
Dare doesn’t respond.
Of course, he doesn’t hate her. I’m pretty sure she’s impossible to hate. She’s beautiful and smart and hilarious and everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman.
Even though I guess I never thought I wanted a woman at all, not like that. To warm my bed once in a while, sure, but to hold in my arms? To come home to?
Only Isla has ever made me feel that way, and I think it’s the same for all three of us.
I clear my throat and open my eyes, and it’s gone dark outside.
What the fuck? It was broad daylight, early in the day, when we left the bar. Why are we still in the car?
“What’s going on?” My words are slurred at first, but then straighten out.
“Oh, thank Christ,” Dare mutters.
“Isla’s been taken.”
Panic rises in my chest, clawing up my throat.
I blink, shake my head… Whoa, big mistake.
The world spins around me and my stomach threatens to turn me inside out.
I clear my throat. “What did you say?”
“It was Cormac.” Dare sounds exasperated. “And maybe if you hadn’t drunk the whole bar, we could have—”
Cillian elbows him, and he shuts up.
“Cormac Callahan has Isla? You know that for sure?”
I can finally focus on Dare without him doubling.
My throat is dry, and my stomach rolls. My head feels like someone’s pounding it with a hammer, but I’m glad I'm present again.
Now I remember why I don’t usually drink much.
I don’t like being out of control, but if I’m honest with myself, I’ve felt out of control about Isla from day one.
Dare tugs his laptop out from his bag, fiddling with it, typing and clicking.
I have no idea what he’s doing. I’ve never been a tech guy, other than office equipment and checking my emails and calendar.
My head is still trying to wrap around Isla being taken.
We just got her back. She was safe, right next to us, and what did I do? I got too drunk to help her. To protect her.
“Shite.” Dare sounds frustrated. “It was Cormac. I hacked into the camera system–he’s clear as day.”
I lean forward, and for a moment, I think I’m going to throw up. “Cill. Pull over.”
Cillian doesn’t ask questions, just pulls over on the side of the interstate, and I manage to get the door open before whiskey flows out of me and onto the dirt.
Coughing and wiping my mouth, I shut the door. “All right, go. How close are we to home?”
“Ten minutes to town. Where to first, boss?”
I try to speak, but words won’t come out. I slam my fists against the back of Cillian’s seat over and over until Cillian grunts with the movement of the seat.
“Liam?” Dare looks at me, clearly concerned, and I let out a long, shaky breath.
“We’ll find her. Let’s go.”
Cillian pulls back onto the interstate and speeds off, but it’s too slow. We’ll never find her in time. And if Cormac has her....
She’s not safe. She’s not safe, and she could be pregnant with my baby. A baby that I want to raise, that I want to be there for. And I want to be there for Isla, too, despite my jealousy, despite the fact that she may have chosen my best friend.
I pull out my phone, ignoring the multiple work missed messages. Right now, all I can think about is Isla.
Getting to her. Seeing her. Making sure she’s okay. I don’t give a fuck if she’s chosen Cillian, or Dare, or none of us. I just want her in my life. Her and the baby.
I call Ollie Porter, one of my right-hand men, first.
He answers on the first ring. “Boss? Where have you been?”
“Busy. I need a favor.”
“Anything."
“I need you to stake out Cormac Callahan's property.”
“Which one?”
“All of them.”
He goes silent on the other line for a moment. “That’ll take a lot of men. He owns a lot of the buildings in town. Warehouses, a couple of suburban homes for his mistresses, and then of course, there’s the mansion.”
I glance at Dare, and he nods. After all the time he, Cill, and I have worked together, we have a sort of telepathy.
“I’ll send you a list of every property he owns in the city.”
“I don’t even know if we have that many guys, boss, at least not ones that are available—”
“Make them available.”
“Gonna cost a pretty penny.”
“Did I fucking stutter? Pay them whatever they ask. I’ll wire you the money.”
He clears his throat, clearly nervous now. “All right, boss. I’ll handle it.”
“Keep an eye out for a leggy brunette. She’ll be close to Cormac or Reese, his muscle.”
“What should I do if I see her?”
“Retrieve her. No matter the consequences.”
“And Cormac’s men?”
“Take care of them.”
He goes silent, and I just hang up.
I know what he wanted to say. I know he knows that this will start a war.
I don’t care. We need her back, safe and sound, and I swear to God, if he hurts a hair on her head…
“What are you going to do if the baby’s mine?” Dare snaps at Cillian.
They were clearly arguing about something earlier when I was passed out, and this seems to be a continuation of it.
I groan, running a hand through my hair. “Shut the fuck up.”
“What’s that, boss?” Cillian raises an eyebrow, looking at me in the rearview mirror.
“I said, shut the fuck up. It doesn’t matter whose baby it is. She’s ours, isn’t she? The baby will be, too.”
Cillian nearly veers off the road, and Dare turns around to stare at me, both of them looking absolutely floored.
“Focus on the road, Cill. We need to find her before something happens to her.”
I’ll pluck out Cormac’s eyeballs with my own hands if he’s hurt her. Consequences be damned.