We lie there in the dark with Riley’s head resting against my chest, the silence no longer heavy but comfortable now.
I listen to her breathing as I try to work up the courage to tell her what’s been on my mind ever since I found out Sean had taken her.
“You know, I thought I had lost you for good. And I realized that was the first time in my life I have ever felt real fear. Not the kind that gets your heart pumping before a fight, that’s nothing in comparison to what I felt. Thinking you were gone, I felt…empty.”
Riley shifts in my arms so that she can look up at me.
“Kieran…”
“I realized you were gone after I went outside to apologize to you.” My voice cracks a little. “I was a coward, hiding behind my anger instead of owning my mistakes, and I came to my senses too late.”
Riley’s eyes shine with tears as she looks at me.
“You came outside?”
“Much later than I should have, but yeah. I read your letter, and I wanted to talk things over. But…”
Riley starts to cry.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
She wipes her eyes. “Nothing bad. But you have no idea how much it means to me that you came outside at all.”
I reach out to wipe my thumb over her cheek.
“You mean everything to me, little dove, and so does our baby.”
Riley moves to rest her head on my chest, and I listen to the sound of her breathing slow until she finally falls asleep.
Even then, I hold her a while longer, watching the rise and fall of her chest.
My body aches with exhaustion, but my mind won’t stop racing with images of her chained up and terrified. It keeps looping behind my eyes like some sick nightmare that I can’t escape.
I need to clear my head and maybe take a shower myself, so I press a kiss to her forehead, slip out of bed, and head downstairs.
The low hum of conversation pulls me toward the kitchen where I find Ronan sitting at the table with his phone pressed to his ear and a half-drunk mug of coffee in front of him. His expression is grim as he scribbles something in the notebook in front of him, but the moment he ends the call, he pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out a string of curses.
I slide into the seat across from him. “Everything okay?”
“I’m not sure.” He slides the notebook toward me.
“What’s this?”
“One of my contacts says Cormac’s being held here.”
I study the address scrawled on the paper and frown.
“And you believe him?”
“He’s credible.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“I don’t know, but it’s the first true lead we’ve had in weeks.”
“And we happen to get this address now? After everything that’s just happened? Seems too much like a coincidence to me, brother.”
“Maybe, but if there’s even a chance Cormac’s alive, we can’t ignore it.”
