I turn my attention back to the computer screen, bristling at Brennan chuckling under his breath as he heads out of the office. I find his good mood is grating on my nerves more than usual.
It doesn’t take long for me to be interrupted again by someone knocking on the door. But the knock is soft and hesitant, and I don’t need to look up to know it’s Riley. I’ve barely seen her for the past few days. I’ve been locked away in this room day and night.
But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been on my mind.
I hope she knows that I’m doing this for her. I don’t want her to ever have to experience what she did at the safe house ever again. I was meant to be her safe haven and I failed her, but I’ll be damned if I do so again.
She lingers outside for a moment before nudging the door open. She’s dressed for bed in an oversized college tee and a pair of shorts that show off her toned legs.
Fuck, it seems like forever that I’ve had her naked in my bed, but it would be selfish of me to do so now when I’m this distracted.
Riley deserves my undivided attention, and I want to give that to her. But not until I’ve made some progress on trying to track down my brother.
She leans against the doorframe with her arms crossed. “It’s after midnight. Are you going to be much longer?”
“I’ll be in bed soon.” I look back at my screen.
I don’t need to look up to know she’s frowning at me.
“That’s what you said last night. And I’m pretty sure you didn’t come to bed at all.” The irritation in her tone is clear as day, but I don’t have the patience right now to appease her.
I want nothing more than to climb between the sheets and wrap my body around hers, but I can’t. And having her remind me of what I’m missing isn’t helping.
I slam my laptop shut. “Some things are more important than sleep right now. Maybe if I didn’t have people getting on my back, I’d actually get things done a lot quicker.”
The second the words leave my mouth, I regret them. But it’s too late.
Riley stiffens, and I catch the flash of pain in her eyes.
“Fine. Do what you like.”
The door closes with a sharp bang that makes me flinch.
“Fuck.” I drag a hand down my face.
She doesn’t deserve that. She’s been nothing but patient as I’ve buried myself away in this room while I hunt for Cormac.
With every hour that passes, I’ve unintentionally shut her out, and instead of giving her the reassurance she’s clearly seeking, what do I do? I bite her head off like the asshole I am.
I shove the guilt aside and try to focus. I don’t have the luxury of feelings or time right now. The search for Cormac is eating me alive, but what else am I supposed to do? I can’t risk him coming after Riley.
Every path I follow leads to dead ends. Cormac covered his tracks so carefully I would find it admirable if I didn’t want to wring his fucking neck for it.
In my opinion, the only thing this thoroughness proves is guilt.
Why else would he vanish like this? Why take every precaution to stay buried if he didn’t have something to hide?
I scroll one more time through the list of accounts I’ve been monitoring for the past few hours.
My brain is so fried I almost miss the charge that is tucked away, but it’s there.
A payment for a storage locker back in New York.
My pulse quickens as I look back through the statement, clocking that an identical payment has been made every month for what looks like years. Considering the fact Cormac hasn’t lived in New York for almost half a decade, I can’t help but wonder what he’s keeping there.
It might be nothing, but it still warrants being checked out because at this point, I have no other leads.
Adrenaline pushes back my exhaustion as I grab my phone off the desk and shoot Ronan a text. Even though he’s only a few doors down, I’m not about to go and wake the sleeping dragon that is pregnant Ciara.
