Chapter 6

Keelan

I n this crouched position, the muscles in my calves and quads began to burn and cramp, but I couldn’t risk moving from the hedges, or Finn’s men would spot me. The sun had set a few hours ago, shrouding the manicured landscape in darkness. Once the shift started, I could move freely.

As newly elected mayor of Los Angeles, Finn Ryan had access to the Getty House, but he felt the home was beneath his powerful status, so he only went there for appearances. He spent most of his time in his mansion in Hidden Hills. There was no sign of any additional police presence on the property. I only assumed that Finn was overly confident in his security and didn’t want cops skulking around his pristine home.

From Gavin’s information, Finn had men on rotation across the grounds every hour. However, there was a small window of opportunity to sneak in, roughly around eight o’clock. When the third shift of guards went to exit the compound through one of the access roads on the east wing, there would be a two-minute gap where the backyard was unguarded. That would be my chance to cross the yard and get to the back door that the house employees used. Finn would never allow those beneath his status to use the front entrance.

I snorted. Your worst nightmare is coming inside, Finn.

The crackle of static on my left had me crouching even lower to the ground. The indistinct murmur of a man’s voice told me it was time to move. I waited for the guard to pass the hedge and turn the corner. The security shift was starting, and it was time to move.

Now.

I crawled free from the hedges, my skin itching from the fucking branches, and made my way to the wall of the house. Cameras were everywhere, so I wore dark grays and blues to throw off the video feed. When I reached the door, I blew out a breath.

Almost there.

Suddenly, it swung open before I could grab the handle, and a blond-haired man stepped out. Before he turned, I wrapped my hands around his head and jerked hard. There was a sharp crack, and his body fell toward the ground, dead. I quickly tucked it into the shrubs next to the door, ensuring nothing stuck out for someone to see.

Seeing an opportunity, I stripped him of his jacket and pants, pulling them over my clothes. I tugged the collar high on my neck to conceal my tattoos. Luckily, the guy was roughly the same size as me, making the disguise easier. That was what I thought until I tried on his clothes and realized they were a bit too snug for the amount of movement I’d be doing. But if any staff spotted me, I’d at least blend in .

After double-checking my surroundings, I opened the door and snuck inside. The room was empty; from a glance, it was the laundry room. The smell of linens and detergent hit my nose, triggering an itch that threatened to devolve into a sneeze. I tugged on the collar that scratched around my throat. I needed to get moving.

Slowly, I crept out of the laundry room toward a narrow set of stairs leading to the upper-level offices. Finn conducted all his business from home. Sadie had once mentioned that her dad “felt like the true king of California, meeting his lowly subjects in his castle.” The thought made me smirk.

The king needs the guillotine. But first, I need to find his queen.

Reaching the top of the stairs, I looked around, my ears honing in on the silence. According to my intel, Finn was in Vegas for a business meeting. So, it was just the evening house staff and Aisling.

One of Finn’s larger offices was down the hallway, along with the primary bedroom. Assuming Aisling was in there, I headed that way. God, I could barely move in these tight-fitting clothes.

Hopefully, I’ll be in and out within the hour.

It was then that I heard a heavy thud coming from the office. The mahogany door was slightly ajar, so I crept closer and listened.

“Oh, fuck! That’s right! Right there! Fuck me, just like that….” A woman moaned in pleasure, her breathy sighs floating from the doorway. I slowly peered around the doorframe. Aisling perched on Finn’s black marble-topped desk with an empty bottle of wine beside her.

Her skirt had hitched up around her hips, and she had splayed her legs wide, resting her black Louboutin heels on a man’s bare ass. Her head tipped back, eyes shut. The man wore a white chef’s coat, and his black pants pooled around his ankles. His close-cropped brown hair glistened with sweat as he fucked Aisling relentlessly on that desk. He was really going at it—the desk underneath her squeaked with every thrust.

That’s most definitely not Finn. Wicked delight pulled at my lips. The dirty bitch is fucking the personal chef. And on her husband’s desk, out of all the places. She has style.

I let her have a few more moments of her filthy pleasure before I slipped inside and cleared my throat loudly. “Well, well, what the fuck do we have here, Aisling?”

They both jerked, and Aisling’s eyes widened in absolute horror when she met my gaze. The unnamed man jumped back and yanked his pants up before holding his hands out in front of him in a placating gesture.

“I’m not looking for any trouble—” was all he said before bolting for the door. Before he could pass me, I snatched the nearby bronze lamp and smashed it against the back of his head. He went down with a thump. A small pool of blood rapidly spread around him, but he was still breathing. Or he looked like he was, anyway.

“James!” Aisling shrieked, bringing her hand to her mouth while the other quickly pulled her blouse together to conceal her bare chest. “Oh, God, you killed him!”

“Relax, Mrs. Ryan. Your little chef is just out cold. He’ll nap peacefully while we have a chat.” I shoved the door shut and turned the lock.

Aisling stood, now yanking her skirt back to cover her long, slender legs. She tried to grab the phone, but I pulled out a hunting knife .

“Ah, I wouldn’t do that. I’m just here to talk,” I said, waving the knife toward an empty chair. “And you know better than to scream. You’ll be dead before any of your guards can make it upstairs. Sit.” I readjusted my collar with my other hand. This fucking shirt.

Aisling’s hands trembled as she nodded in agreement and sat in the chair. She stumbled a little, clearly intoxicated.

“What do you want, Keelan? Finn’s not here. And neither is Sadie.”

I raised a brow. “You don’t seem all that shocked to see me. Word spread already?”

Aisling pressed her lips together. Of course, the Ryans would be the first to learn that I had escaped. Every cop on their payroll would make sure to seal up this case real quick, sending an army out there to find me on their own, most likely to kill me instead of sending me back to prison. But Aisling clearly missed the memo—dismissing most of the guards on the floor so she could fuck her chef boyfriend.

“I know he’s not fucking here,” I growled. “But I need information … like where Sadie’s hiding.”

Aisling’s face paled. “You can’t be serious. Why the hell would I tell you anything about her?”

I sat in the chair across from her and waved the knife at her face, the silver metal gleaming in the dim light. “Because,” I drawled, “I need to find her before some very, very bad men do.”

Aisling snorted derisively. “You are the bad person, Keelan. You slaughtered a man in front of my daughter, forcing her to run away. Because of what you did, Finn’s violence toward me has kicked up a notch. If he can’t have his daughter to beat, too, he gives it to me tenfold.”

I found myself clutching my hand into a fist. Finn was always a fucker. I knew he had been hurting Sadie since she was little. We grew up together; I saw the bruises. Since Aisling wasn’t willing to let go of the wealth, she pretended it wasn’t happening, only accepting her fate that met the back of his hand.

So many times, I wanted to kill the bastard for putting his hands on his family, but my father would stop me. Telling me to mind my fucking business so I wouldn’t ruin the chance of our families working together someday.

“Not as violent as I’m going to be with you if you don’t start talking,” I threatened.

“Right,” she scoffed. “So that you could what … find and kill her for what she did? I might not be the mother of the year, but I sure as hell know better than to send a viper her way.”

“Goddammit, Aisling!” I shouted, jumping to my feet. Although I knew I needed to keep my voice down, the rage in my chest felt like it was about to explode. I pressed my knife against her throat to make a goddamn point. This little back-and-forth chat annoyed the shit out of me, as did the clothes I wore. “You and your husband signed an agreement to give her to me. That makes her my property now, not yours. I don’t give a fuck if we aren’t married yet. So, I’d be careful about what you don’t tell me. I’m not going to kill her.”

Aisling blinked, confused. Her lips parted as she tried to process my words. They seemed to have more of an impact than the knife to her throat .

“What are you talking about?” she asked, her eyes growing like saucers. “Her testimony put you behind bars for the rest of your pathetic life. How can I trust you won’t punish her because of that?”

I stepped back and pulled the knife away from her throat. Running a hand through my messy hair, I felt a rush of satisfaction. “I never said I wouldn’t punish her,” I said, my lip turning up. “I just said I won’t kill her.”

On the desk, I spotted a small metal device near an ashtray and snatched it. I closed the gap between us and seized her right wrist, yanking her off the chair and onto the ground. I drove my knee into her back and pulled her arm behind her body.

Aisling let out a wail as I leaned down to murmur my threat against her ear. “Do not scream, or I’ll kill the next person who walks through that door before I fucking kill you. And it won’t be a quick, painless death. If you don’t talk, I’ll use your beloved husband’s cigar cutter to snip off every single finger on your hand and force-feed them down your throat. Tell me where she is.” I touched the cold metal to her thumb.

“Chester, Vermont! She’s in Vermont.” Aisling broke down in tears. So, that was all it took for her to break down? A surge of rage pumped through me. Sadie was lucky someone else didn’t come knocking on her childhood home before me because her mother would’ve spilled her location before they even started with the fun, painful part. “She’s been living there this entire year.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I was the one who helped her escape. Once she settled, she began writing me coded letters. Never with any details, just in case Finn figured it out. All I know is that she’s working at a bookshop near the main town. Sadie leaves clues in the letters, hidden messages her brother taught her. There’s a P.O. box she sends them to, so Finn never finds them. Please, Keelan, don’t hurt her. I’ll do anything you want. Sadie has suffered enough between our two families.”

I cocked my head to the right and studied her. Yeah, it was pretty clear she and Sadie weren’t the mother-daughter rivals they pretended to be with everyone around them, and though her spilling Sadie’s details made me question if there was something she was hiding or if she was lying, I didn’t have any other choice but to follow up with the information she gave me.

I released Aisling’s arm and stood straight. Aisling scrambled to her knees and seized my pant leg. The smell of wine rolled off her in waves, and I wrinkled my nose at her.

“You can’t blame her for running away from you. From us. All of this shit. This life was never meant for her. Sadie deserved to have something better than this . The least you can do for Sadie is to let her live. Let her be free from all this … filth. If you ever felt anything for her, anything at all, let her go.”

I looked down at this blubbering woman, this absent parent who contributed to Sadie’s loneliness and cowardice. I bared my teeth in a savage, mocking grin.

“Dear Aisling, I can’t leave my wife alone,” I said. “She’s far too valuable to me. I have to protect what is mine. But I do agree with one thing. Once I have her again, she will never, ever look into her pathetic father’s eyes again. Perhaps yours, too.”

Aisling released my leg, clutching her stomach as tears streamed down her cheeks. Her eyes scanned my face for any mercy. “My sins will never be forgiven. The damage already done to Sadie will forever burn inside my soul. She’s too good for you. She’s too good for all of us. You’ll break her!”

“Maybe that’s the point,” I said, staring at the woman pathetically begging at my feet.

My body felt like I had fallen into icy water at those words. Though, I didn’t give a fuck. I’d bury that nagging guilt inside my head as soon as I walked out of that door.

“If I were you, I’d find a way out now. The next time I step into this city and face those who didn’t do shit to help me get out of that hellhole, I’m going to burn them and everyone they love to the fucking ground.” That was my one courtesy to my wife’s mother. There wouldn’t be another one. The next time I returned to the town, everyone would pay.

I spun on my heel, walked past James, who moaned softly on the Persian rug, and unlocked the door. I peered over my shoulder, and Aisling drunkenly climbed to her feet, tears mixed with mascara running down her face like inked scars.

“Oh, and if you ever mention I was here, I’ll return and fulfill that promise of snipping those dainty fingers. I’ll also tell Finn you were fucking the cook. Then another person’s blood will be on your disgusting family name,” I warned her, and then I was gone.

Time to reclaim my prize.