Cormac shrugs. “It was meant to be a scare tactic.”
I take a sip of my second drink. “I suspect they took Mila because they knew Ciara would come after her.”
Kieran nods. “And that you would follow.”
“Exactly.”
The room falls quiet as we all sip on our drinks.
Kieran looks at each of us in turn. “That means the mole's had eyes on Ciara for a while, and subsequently those close to her like Mila and Max.”
I nod before turning to Cormac. “Which is why I need you to start watching Mila’s apartment round the clock, just in case.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Do you think she’s still in danger?”
“She might not be the target anymore, but she’s still leverage, and I don’t want to take any chances.”
“I’ll handle it. They seemed pretty shaken the other day after that hospital visit… Something happened, didn’t it?”
I shrug, keeping my face neutral. “She lost her brother. That’s going to mess anyone up.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Cormac swirls the whiskey around in his glass. “Mila looked fine coming out. If anything, it was Ciara who looked like she had seen a ghost.”
My gut tightens, but I don’t let my unease show on my face. “Don’t read into it. They were probably just talking about Max.”
“Sure.”
I can tell from the look in his eyes that he doesn’t believe it, and in truth, I’m not sure I do either.
The sun is startingto set by the time I leave Kieran’s after having spent hours going through each screw-up that has happened with our businesses over the past few days with my brothers. I need all of us to be fully up to date on everything because I can’t afford for anything to slip through the cracks.
My head is pounding as I park my car in the garage, and I’m desperate to take a shower to try and clear my thoughts. But before I do that, I need to lay eyes on my wife.
I find her in the lounge, curled up on the couch with a book in her lap, though I can tell she’s not reading it from the way her eyes stare blankly at the page. She’s already in her pajamas, with her hair damp and loose around her shoulders.
My eyes scan the room, landing on Stephen, who stands by the window looking out over the grounds of the house.
He catches my eye and gives me a curt nod.
“You can go.”
Ciara’s head snaps up at the sound of my voice. She must have been so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear me come in.
“You’re home early.”
“I had to cut the meeting short.” I take a seat beside her.
I could easily have stayed at Kieran’s until the early hours of the morning, but the ache in my chest from being apart from Ciara was too much to bear.
It seems married life has turned me soft, at least in the matters of the heart.
I lean back, lifting Ciara’s feet into my lap. “Cormac’s watching Mila’s place for now.”
She nods, though I can tell she’s still distracted from the way she’s not meeting my eyes.
Something is clearly off. I can feel it radiating from her.
“Everything okay?” I start massaging her heels.
