“She’s not involved.”
“Are you sure about that?”
I meet his eyes and see the challenge in them. “Don’t start.”
“She’s his daughter, Ronan.” He stalks over to the bar and picks up a rocks glass. “You don’t know what she knows, what she’s hiding?—”
“She’s not hiding anything.”
“You don’tknowthat.”
“I do.” I get to my feet, my temper rising. “Because if she were, I’d see it. I’dfeelit.”
Kieran scoffs. “Feelings don’t mean shit. You don’t think it’s a little too coincidental that our father was being bribed by Ryan McCarthy, and the second he’s in the ground, Callum McCarthy comes out of the woodwork and ends up marrying his sister off to the new head of the Sullivan empire?”
“I was the one who suggested the marriage between myself and Ciara,” I remind him.
“Then I guess you went and did all the hard work for him.”
I bristle at his words, but I don’t let it show on my face that he hit a nerve.
Kieran picks up a decanter of whiskey and pours himself a measure, not bothering to offer any to the rest of us. “I get that you want to protect her, but you don’t get to gamble with the rest of our necks to do it,”
“What do you want?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“All I’m saying is that there’s no harm in having eyes on her as well as Callum.”
Brennan shakes his head. “She literallyliveswith Ronan.”
Kieran shrugs. “So? She’s alone right now, isn’t she? Who the hell knows what she’s up to?”
I ball my hands into fists, fighting the urge to send one into my brother’s face for even daring to question Ciara.
I think of her face this morning, of the tears that streamed down her cheeks and the pain in her eyes as she clung to me like I was the only thing holding her together.
She’s not part of this.
I know it in my bones.
But I also know I won’t win this fight with Kieran right now, so I dip my chin and cross my arms over my chest. “Fine. But if she finds out we’ve been keeping tabs on her, you’re the one who has to explain it to her.”
Brennan chuckles to himself. “Can’t wait for that conversation.”
Kieran scoffs. “And if it turns out she’s been playing us?”
“Then there will be hell to pay.”
Chapter Forty
CIARA
I double-checkthe time on my phone and hold my breath as I unlock the front door of my family home.
Callum’s car is gone, just like I knew it would be, but I know I only have an hour or so before he gets back from his weekly meeting with our accountant to go over the family accounts.
The irony isn’t lost on me, considering what I’m about to do.
I let myself in and shut the door quietly behind me. Even though I’m alone, my pulse still thuds in my ears as I stand in the middle of the foyer because I haven’t been back here since Callum confirmed the rumors about my father to be true. Since then, everything has fallen apart, and I feel sick to my stomach as I realize there are likely even more secrets that my father took with him to the grave.
