37. Valentina

Chapter 37

Valentina

I try to get Ronan to let me go back to his place, but he refuses to let me out of his sight.

I’m relieved, if I’m honest with myself. I didn’t really want to sit alone in that house worried that something bad was going to happen. The sound of rifle fire and the screams of injured and dying men play through my head, and I’m worried I might have a freaking breakdown if I don’t have something around to distract me from all these bad thoughts.

The warehouse manager, Louis, hurries around talking way too fast. Niall follows with Uncle Eddie, and their expressions are gloomy. Louis is older, in his late forties, with thinning hair and pale skin. He describes how Cormac came and started loading pallets, and when Louis tried to stop him, Cormac claimed that he had approval directly from Ronan.

“But he wouldn’t let me call. He just kept saying it was approved, but it was important that we didn’t make any noise. I’m sorry, Mr. Hayes, I tried my best.”

“You’re not at fault.” Ronan strides into the center of the massive space and finds most of the special hockey sticks are missing. He inspects what’s leftover, and it’s clear what happened. Cormac came with work equipment and a shipping truck and cleared out all the drugs. “Thank you, Louis, but we need some time to ourselves.”

“Yes, right, of course. I’ll be, uh, in my office if you need me.” Louis hurries away.

Ronan stalks around the ring of empty space. Niall stands with his arms crossed, glaring at the ceiling. Uncle Eddie slowly sits down on a pallet with a sigh, hands on his knees.

“This is bad,” Uncle Eddie declares.

“It’s worse than bad.” Ronan stops pacing. “Cormac declared war.”

Uncle Eddie grimaces. “It can’t be that bad.”

“There are missing cousins,” Niall points out. “Almost half our members aren’t accounted for right now.”

“A third, at most,” Uncle Eddie counters and sighs. “But I hear what you’re saying.”

“Cormac stole from the family.” Ronan gestures around them. “Millions of dollars, gone. We have customers and orders that need to be fulfilled. Rocco’s waiting on his pallets in the next few days. If we can’t get the goods and bring them back, we’re going deep into debt for this, and it’s going to be very bad for the family’s finances.”

“Assuming there is a family.” Niall shakes his head when Ronan glares at him. “Don’t act like you’re not thinking it. Cormac took the drugs knowing full well the implications. He’s not playing for second place, it’s either he comes out on top, or he takes us all down with him.”

“That fucking traitor fuck.” Ronan slams a fist into a shelving unit and the whole structure vibrates.

I don’t understand what would drive Cormac to do something like this, but I’m starting to believe Ronan when he said that the faults would’ve always shown themselves. Cormac was using my presence to drum up support, but he must’ve been planning a coup or something similar ever since Ronan was named the boss. He wants the top job—he doesn’t care about anything else.

One man’s ambition over an entire family of people.

“What do we do?” Niall asks, watching Ronan.

“Hunt Cormac down. Strangle him nice and slow. Kill anyone that defected to his side.” Ronan barks it at Niall like they’re orders.

“Come on, be realistic,” Uncle Eddie says. “I know you’re angry, but you can’t go ahead and start killing your own damn blood.”

“Half my cousins aren’t actually related to me,” Ronan snarls. “They stole from you too. Why the fuck aren’t you more upset?”

“Because we saw this coming,” Uncle Eddie barks back. “You should’ve seen it too. I know you’ve been busy trying to win them over, but there was no getting Cormac back on your side. That boy’s always been a snake, and now he’s showing himself for what he really is. You should’ve been ready for it.”

Ronan’s nostrils flare as he tries to get himself under control. I feel like this meeting is going to spiral into violence, but then Niall takes out his phone and holds it up.

“We could always call him.” Niall wiggles the cell around. “I mean, we have his number, right? We could always talk to him.”

Calm slowly descends around Ronan. He tilts his head back and blows out a breath before nodding. “All right. Call him.”

“I could’ve thought of that,” Uncle Eddie mumbles.

I stay off to the side, watching. Ronan keeps throwing me glances like he’s making sure that I’m still here and still safe. I hate that he’s going through this, and I wish I could do something to help, but I’m powerless right now and I hate it.

Niall hands his phone off to Ronan as the dial tone buzzes. There’s nothing for several, agonizing moments, until Cormac’s voice appears on the line.

“I was wondering when you’d reach out.”

“Hello, Cormac,” Ronan says. “Where are my hockey sticks?”

Cormac laughs softly. It sounds as though he’s somewhere with lots of high ceilings—the sound echoes all around him. “We need to talk. Meet me in Millennium Park near that hideous bean.”

“Why there?” Ronan asks.

“Somewhere public. I want to make sure you’re not going to do anything stupid. And Ronan, leave the girl at home, all right?”

Ronan’s jaw works. The men glance at me, and I wish I could sink into myself. “You know I can’t let this go, Cormac.” Ronan sounds like he’s struggling to stay in control. “You crossed a line. There’s no coming back.”

“You’re right about that, cousin . See you in an hour.” He hangs up and the line goes dead.

Ronan tosses the phone back to Niall, who slips it into his pocket. Ronan rubs his nose for a moment, thinking. “I need you two to take Valentina back to my house. Post guards and make sure she’s safe.”

“You’re going?” I ask him, honestly surprised.

“If I can resolve this without blowing up the family, I’m going to take the risk. Please don’t argue. I need to know you’re safe.”

I bite my lip to keep from talking more and give him a nod.

Ronan turns away. He walks to the edge of the aisle and pauses like he wants to look back, but his shoulders straighten, and I can guess what he’s thinking: this is his purpose. Even if it’s hard, even if he’s walking into a trap, this is what he’s meant to do.

I hate it so much. I want to call him over and kiss him. But he continues forward and doesn’t look back.