Chapter 32

JULY 15 – SATURDAY 2:23 PM

M yles

Ren grabbed my arm to stop my pacing.

"It's going to be okay. Look." She held out her phone, displaying the same thing as the board. The plane had been delayed but would be landing any minute. When I got the call from my granda that my gran was in the hospital and Lip needed to come home, I planned to fly to Ireland to pick him up. As luck would have it, out of the three private jets that we had between the families, they were all in use and booked up. How does that even happen? So here I was, a nervous wreck about the fact Lip had to fly as an unaccompanied minor but also on a commercial flight.

Ren refused to stay at the cabin. She said that the moment she moved back into Wayward, she would become a prisoner to the property, and until that moment, she wasn't going to hide. I quickly realized that I couldn't say no to her, so I rented a car through my father's company. She was in disguise, but I still searched every person's face as they walked by. To me, everyone was a threat.

Then, to add more worry, Lip's plane was delayed for an hour. Now, every second longer it spent in the air, I imagined the worst. Did he make it on the plane okay? Were the flight attendants being nice to him? Had my father somehow intervened, and he wasn't on the plane but somewhere with him? Was the plane going to make it or fall out of the sky? There had been loads of plane issues lately, like doors and windows blowing out and tires falling off. The thought of him on an ill-maintained plane was making me sick to my stomach.

"Breathe, Myles," Ren said, gripping both of my arms and giving me a little smile. "The plane is showing as landed. He's on the ground safe and sound."

"Are ya sure?" Ren pointed to the glowing board with dozens of flights, and sure enough, his plane number said arrived. Slumping with relief, I took a deep breath. "Thanks for comin' with me. I would've gone stir crazy without ya."

Ren slipped her hand into mine, linking our fingers. "Anytime."

It seemed to take forever before people began to emerge, but I spotted my brother the moment he and who I presumed was the flight attendant walked through the doors. He was happily chatting away, and it was comforting to see that despite Lip being Lip, the woman was smiling and talking with him.

"Myles," Lip yelled the moment he saw me and jerked away from the attendant to run at me. He was like a miniature tornado, with his arms out wide and a smile on his face. I had to let go of Ren to catch my brother as he leaped on me. It had to be a me thing because most people didn't get jumped on the number of times I did.

"Hiya, bud," I said, gripping my brother tight, his arms wrapped around my neck in a stranglehold.

"I had so much fun. I got to ride a pony, and we went to the pub," Lip said, his face shining with excitement.

"Granda was takin' ya to the pub, was he?"

"Aye," he said, putting on a thick accent even though he'd lose it again in a few weeks.

I shook my head. I could picture him sitting at the bar, talking to the old men like he was one of them.

"You must be Myles," the attendant said.

"Aye, I am."

Ren held out the paperwork I needed to prove he was my brother. She nodded as she looked it over and then handed it back.

"I figured, but it's best to double-check. It was great flying with you, Lip," she said, holding out her hand. My brother shook it like a pro. He wasn't quite seven, and yet he was the oldest soul I'd ever met. I half expected him to be sitting at the breakfast table one morning with coffee and a tablet, looking at stock projections. The kid amazed me.

As soon as she was out of earshot, I turned to Ren. "Lip, you remember Ren? You met her at Thanksgiving dinner."

His little lips pressed together as he stared at her. Ren took off the dark sunglasses, and his face lit up.

"House hippos," he squealed, making us both laugh. "Why is your hair blue?"

"That is an excellent question. Myles, why is my hair blue?" I flushed hot as she hit me with an annoyed stare before putting the sunglasses back on.

"Ya look like you belong in a rock band. Besides, it's in the same cool color palette as the white. I thought you'd appreciate it." Ren was starting to get quite the collection of wigs, but I really liked this icy blue color on her, not that she'd been overly impressed when she took it out of the bag.

"Can I dye my hair green?" Lip asked, his eyes filled with excitement. "Luck of da Irish," he growled.

"Maybe, but no promises," I said, setting Lip down. I hated to admit it, but the short, spiky hair he had going would look stylish in green. I took Lip's hand and Ren's, but Lip pulled away and broke us apart. I hadn't contemplated that Lip might have a problem with Ren and me, but my burst of fear was short-lived as he took each of our hands and wanted us to swing him. I should've known.

By the time we rolled up to the building we were renovating, it was seven o'clock, and Lip had talked our ears off. Question after question, he had to the point where it felt like we were being interrogated. Then he wanted to stop and get ice cream from his favorite spot because the place in Ireland didn't have the swirl combination he liked. I even dared to stop at the arcade for an hour, and he was still wound up tighter than an eight-day clock.

"This is going to be a club," Ren asked, looking up at the drab brown building.

"I promise once the renovations are done, you won't believe the difference. The inside is all gutted, and the contractors have installed all new wiring and plumbing. It's a big project."

"And Nash is overseeing this?" I nodded. "He really doesn't sleep," Ren mumbled as we got out of the car.

Lip skipped ahead of us as we walked through the door, and I knew he had found Nash and Nora when he squealed. The sound echoed in the large, empty room.

"Uncle Nash, Auntie Nora," Lip chimed as he hugged them and managed to jump up and down at the same time. Nash smiled down at Lip, his face warm and relaxed as he spoke to my little brother, but the moment he looked up and saw Ren with me, the lighthearted smile faded. I knew he'd be pissed that I brought her, but we were already in town, and I'd been promising her that I'd show her the spot.

"Nora, did he get ya talked into workin' here?" Nora looked around.

"Needs a ton of work still, but I see the potential," she said. Liam's sister didn't want anything to do with Lawrence or her family as long as they associated with him. So, she'd been sleeping in their pool house and working whatever job she could to make money.

"Remember, the best part is that you get an apartment upstairs," Nash said, and her lip twitched up.

"And a fair salary?"

"Yes, of course," Nash said.

"Alright, count me in. I'll be the manager when you're ready." Nora looked at Ren. "I know you, don't I?"

Ren slipped off the sunglasses and held out her hand. "We met last year at Thanksgiving dinner."

"Ren, that's right. You're the one who made Lawrence look like the shady piece of shit he is." Ren glanced at Nash, but he just shrugged. "He knows what I think of his old man, and I'll break all of his fingers if he ever tries to touch me." Nora rolled out her shoulders. She and Liam were a lot alike. Nora was just extraverted with her fire while Liam kept his under wraps.

"He won't cause of your father," Nash said, but Nora didn't look convinced and crossed her arms.

"Please, that man would touch his own daughter if he had one," Nora snarled.

"Come on, I'll give ya both a quick tour," I said, wanting to get Lip out of there before he started to ask questions that he had no business knowing the answers to yet. We reached the furthest end of the building, and Ren pointed out areas where things would look great. Although I agreed with her, I wasn't getting between her, Nash, and whatever he had planned.

"Hey, I need to talk to Nash. Would ya mind lookin' out for Lip?"

"Sure," Ren answered and walked over to where Lip was looking out the front window. As soon as she reached him, I could hear her tell him some fact about animals that had him chatting a mile a minute. I glanced over my shoulder at Nash and spotted him staring at Ren. Fucker. I needed to ask her to marry me before he jumped the line. Asshole would be shady like that.

Nash

It wasn't bad enough that Ren was at school with me and living in my cabin—making it smell all girly—now here she was, strutting around my business like she owned it. That might be a little cynical, Ren never acted like she owned anything, but that wasn't the point. It didn't matter where I went. She was there like an annoying fly, just buzzing around and trying to draw my attention.

Ren was wearing short jean shorts that showed off her legs and hot ass. She had shitkickers on, but they were blue with snowflakes on them, and I knew that they had to be a gift from Myles. The long blue wig suited her, and so did the fashionable hat and dark glasses. Myles stepped into my line of sight, and I glared at him for ruining my view.

"Ya havin' fun starin' at my girl's ass," he asked quietly, and I shrugged.

"How do you know that's what I was looking at?"

Myles rolled his eyes. "Spare me. That look on yer face is not for my brother, or if it is, I'm cleanin' yer clock right now."

I snorted. "Fine, you caught me. What the fuck are you going to do about it?"

Myles smiled. "Nothin', just askin'." He looked over his shoulder at Ren, and his entire face lit up. I hated him just a little for finding a piece of happiness in this world where it was less than rare. "She does have a nice ass, man. The perfect handful and firm."

"Enough of that. You act like you're addicted," I said as he laughed.

"That's because I am."

I pushed aside the little green monster, trying to grow. "Follow me, I'll show you downstairs and fill you in on some other shit."

As we walked, I pointed out all the extra improvements the city didn't know about, including my new soundproof cells. That took some significant configuration from the engineer. So was the walk-in vault that was going to house all of our cash, drugs, and weapons. We'd just exited out of the lower area when Myles's phone rang.

"Shite, it's my father. He's probably wanting an update on Lip. I'll be right back," he said and then answered the phone as he walked outside.

The place was really coming along. When Liam said that the workers were fast and efficient, I didn't think they meant this fast, but I wasn't about to complain. It was better if they thought I was pissed off rather than impressed. It kept them on their toes.

Walking back to where we'd left Ren and Lip, I stopped and leaned against the wall. Ren had found a place to sit down, and Lip was sitting on her lap with his eyes closed. She was rocking him slightly, and the sight of them tugged at a long-lost part of my heart. A part that had shattered and I thought was gone forever. My child would've been two by now. Had I been ready to be a father? No. But that wasn't the point. It was just something else that my father had stolen from me by killing Mya and my unborn child. My hand clenched into a fist as the anger that never went away stirred to life.

I still had no idea who I was meeting in Italy, but I was going no matter what. I'd figure it out when I got there. I had to. Ren looked at me, and the corner of her mouth curled up. Even if it meant sacrificing any happiness, I needed to stop my father forever. I'd do whatever it took to crush him.