“She’s here!”Kyla falls to her knees, sobbing. “I found her! I got her!”
She scoops Bronwyn into her arms. Bronwyn is gagged and blindfolded.
“Take off her blindfold first,” Seamus says, his voice softer now. “So she’s not afraid.” He drops to one knee beside them.
Kyla’s hands shake too badly. I step in, my fingers steady, and peel the blindfold off.Bronwyn blinks up at me. I yank the gag away next in one motion. Her eyes are red-rimmed. Terrified. For half a second, I see Erin. Same fear. Same wide eyes when thebomb went off.
I shove the thought away. Not now. Not fuckingnow.
“What happened?” She gasps. “Where am I?”
She’s shivering. Seamus gathers her in his arms. “Do you remember anything, love?”
Mam drops to her knees, pulling Bronwyn close, kissing her cheeks. “My baby.”
“I remember… a bomb. That’s all I remember.”
The sun’s long gone down.
Seamus and Zoya’s little ones are tucked into bed upstairs. Bronwyn curls into the couch, legs folded under her, drinking tea spiked with Jack Daniels.A family favorite.
Da stands by the fireplace, arms crossed, while Seamus paces.
“You found nothing?” he asks.
Declan shakes his head. “None of the security cameras were triggered. Whoever came had access to our gates.”
“So she doesn’t remember anything at all about who took her,” Seamus mutters. “We’ve gotnofootage.Notriggered alarms.Nosigns of entry. And yet… here she is.” He rakes a hand through his hair. “What the hell am I supposed to do with this? Bronwyn, you sure you don’t remember anything? Nothing?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “I remember the explosion. And then… blank. I just woke up, and I was here.”
“How long was she gone?” Seamus asks.
“Twelve hours,” Kyla answers.
“Wow.” Bronwyn sips her tea. “Well, that’s scary as hell.”
“Tell me about it,” Seamus growls. He looks at the bodyguards in the hallway. “You were at the cemetery perimeter. I want a full report by eight a.m.” He points at Nate, head of security. “Pick your top three. They’ll be glued to Bronwyn.”
“Oh, Seamus…” Bronwyn starts.
“Hush.” He cuts her off.
“I agree with your brother,” Da says.
“Someone showed up, took our girl, and brought her back like she’s a message.”
“A warning,” Mam says, standing. “Wedoknow it was a warning. Aye?”
“Aye.” Seamus’s jaw tightens. “But for what?”
I want to open my mouth and let it all spill out. Every dark, twisted bit of it. But I stay quiet. I have to.
“Well,” Kyla says, thoughtful now. “It happened right at Malachy’s burial, didn’t it? So maybe… he had the key to something. Or he knew something none of us did.”
Seamus looks at me. “Right. Something happened,” he continues. “But Bronwyn came back. So we’ve got no leads on who the hell did this. But we do know that the stronger we solidify our clan, the less likely they are to try it again.”
“Well then.” Kyla rises to her feet. “Time we start making advantageous moves, isn’t it? Seamus married Zoya. That gave us an alliance with the Kopolovs. But we don’t need Moscow right now. We needIreland. This is where we live. This is where we earn.” Her eyes are bright. “This is where we set roots, gain momentum. Where we thrive.”
