The engine revs as I slam my foot on the accelerator. I speed along the road back to Aughris House, my hands practically strangling the steering wheel as I go.
When Roisin called, I wasn’t doing anything important. Just following Liam around, trying to get a handle on what he spends his day doing. I want him to trust me, but I don’t have time to get him to do so.
Instead, I decided early this morning after I left Roisin sleeping in the bed to resort to old-fashioned spy work to try and figure out what the fuck is going on.
Liam, of course, is the prime suspect for all the fucking bullshit that Roisin has walked into. He’s her brother, sure, but as we know from Kieran, being a sibling in this fucking family means exactly fuck all.
Following Liam required stealth, and I was perfectly happy to do it…
Until my cell rang.
Opening it, I found Roisin’s number, and I took the call, ducking into a different room so Liam didn’t hear me.
When she spoke, I heard the cool, detached tone of an Interpol agent.
Which meant that something was fucking bad.
And then, when she said Moretti’s name, coupled with an explosion?
I knew it was really fucking bad.
I didn’t even bother trying to catch Liam up. I jumped into the Jag and headed to town, desperate to find Roisin.
To make sure that she was okay.
Now, she and Stassi are sitting in the back seat. Stassi looks rattled, her blonde hair disheveled, her face pale.
Roisin looks…
Well.
Roisin looks like she’s calculating revenge.
A rush of pride swells in my chest. That’s my fucking girl.
She’s not your girl, dickwad.
“What happened?” I snarl.
Roisin looks at Stassi. “Should we wait for Liam?”
“Tell me. Right the fuck now.”
The manor house is practically in view. I know that I should wait for Liam but…
I don’t give a fuck.
“We went shopping. Stassi wanted to run some errands for the wedding , and I agreed to go with her. We made it through two shops just fine, but by the time we got to the third Moretti found us. He didn’t shoot on site so I’m assuming he was trying to kidnap one of us, maybe both. Probably had a sedative in his pocket but was trying to avoid attention, which makes me think that it was sanctioned or something. Either way, the explosion was a clear distraction, and he wanted us.”
My hands tighten on the steering wheel.
I live in a world of bad men. I know, deeply, the awful things that people can do to each other, and I know that I’ve done them in order to preserve my own family. There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do to keep them safe, and I’d sell my fucking soul to do it.
But Andrei Moretti is a different type of evil.
I’m anchored to my family. He has no anchor. He’s willing to turn on anyone and everyone, and sells his ability to sin to the highest bidder, regardless of whether or not he believes in the cause. There’s nothing that money won’t buy with him, and there’s no task that he won’t do.
There’s also no amount of pain that he won’t cause.
Recently, he was employed by Benicio Souza, the cartel leader who happens to be my sister-in-law Marisol’s father. Benicio died in an accident, but Moretti was kind of obsessed with Marisol, if their account is right.
And now, he seems to be obsessed with Roisin.
Or Stassi.
Something, however, makes me think that whoever hired Moretti is also the one who tried to frame Roisin.
And whoever it is, they’re someone with deep fucking pockets.
We pull into the drive and Liam is standing there, his face marked with fury. When Roisin opens the door, he immediately barks, “What the fuck? Why did I just get a call from David saying that the fucking car exploded?”
“Because the car exploded,” Roisin says in her same even tone.
Liam’s face contorts. “The fucking car exploded,” he yells, “and not a fuckin’ one of you thought to call me! What the—”
“Yell like that again and see what happens,” Stassi interrupts.
We all turn to look at her.
Because that voice?
It’s cold as ice.
Liam immediately stops. His face is bright red and his eyes are wild, but he’s looking at Stassi with something I recognize.
Because it’s exactly how I felt when Roisin called me.
“Can someone please, for the love of God, tell me what is going on?” Liam says slowly.
We all turn to look at Roisin, who raises an eyebrow at me. “Told you we should have waited for Liam.”
I don’t care.
I listen to Roisin relate the story again, her detached tone completely impassive as she goes through the details. She’s a wonderful police officer, certainly.
But I itch to get more out of her than just this.
The detachment makes me uncomfortable. When I think of Roisin, of all the things she told me and all the things I’ve recently learned, this is a woman who has been through a lot of suffering in her life.
And hearing her voice, it’s clear to me that the way she’s learned to handle it is to just… not feel anything.
It bothers me. It makes me want to irritate her, to get her angry.
To make her feel something, so that this strange, flat person isn’t in front of me anymore.
Roisin finishes, taking a deep breath. She looks at her brother, folding her arms.
“Any idea why the most feared assassin in the world might be coming for your fiancé and your sister?”
“Or my sister,” he mutters.
Roisin’s eyebrows raise.
Liam shrugs. “We don’t know that he was coming for both of you. It could have been either one. So before we jump to conclusions, I think it’s important to say that it could have been either one of you, or both. Three options.”
“Fine,” Roisin spits. “Any reason that someone would be coming for your fiancé or your sister, or both of them?”
Liam’s nostrils flare, and he shoots me a meaningful glare.
Fuck you, man.
“If you think that you’re going to try and fucking hide something from me like this, when Roisin was one of the targets, then you’re fucking delusional,” I growl.
His eyes narrow. “And what’s it to you then? You’ve said many times your only loyalty is to your family. So what’s Roisin to you? Not family,” he snarls.
I step forward, until the space between Liam and I is compressed. We’re about evenly matched in height, and I stare into his fucking eyes like I’m about to take down a bear.
“Roisin is mine,” I snarl.
The vehemence rocks me. It’s the truth, and while I’ve been trying to deny it, I can’t anymore.
Roisin is mine.
And I’ll fucking deal with what that means at another time.
But today?
I’ll burn the world down for her.
