Aidan and Liam trail after them, alert and scanning the room like sentries.
“What the hell is happening?” Cora demands.
The room collapses into chaos. Da grumbles, Declan swears, Bren demands answers, and Jack tries in vain to get everyone to shut the hell up while Seamus just makes his way to the bar cart with a shake of his head.
Owen gently covers April’s ears and carries her toward another room, Liam following closely behind. A moment later, Owen returns—sans April and Liam—and falls into place beside Cora, arms crossed, eyes sharp, surveying the chaos with quiet control, ready for whatever comes next.
Helen steps forward, letting out a low, controlled sigh.
“Enough,” she says, voice fierce and steady.
No one listens.
Then Cora claps her hands once, sharp and decisive, the sound cracking through the room like a gunshot.
“Oi! Shut. Up. All of you.”
Silence drops like a blade.
Every man turns toward her. Some shocked, some grudgingly impressed, all forced quiet by the sheer authority in her voice.
“Matt says Lily’s missing,” Cora cuts in, her voice slicing clean through the tension as her glare sweeps the room. “And if he’s right, my best friend has been taken by the same bastards who took me—which Iwarnedyou would happen.”
Her eyes lock on my Da, unblinking, and I can feel the accusation radiating off her.
“But someone didn’t want to listen.”
She steps forward, jaw set, every inch of her radiating command. “So we arenotdoing this macho bullshit right now.”
Helen nods, voice steady, hard as polished stone. “We can deal with family drama after Lily is safe. For now, we need to listen to Matt. He’s the one who knows the most about what’s going on.”
Da opens his mouth, anger still radiating off him in waves, but even he doesn’t dare push past Helen’s look or Cora’s. Theroom vibrates with restrained fury, every man aware that trying to override them now would be catastrophic.
Jonathan exhales slowly, dragging a hand over his face. With a woman like Helen and a daughter like Cora, it’s a wonder he isn’t fully grey. God help us all when he steps down, and Cora steps up.
I draw in a shaky breath, letting the room settle just enough to be heard over ragged heartbeats and restrained anger. All eyes are on me now, and I know any second wasted is another second Lily could be in danger.
“She left hours ago,” I say, voice rough. “But she never came home. Her flat’s empty, her phone goes straight to voicemail. I checked every feed I could—”
“After Matt rang me, I checked everything I could think of—street cams, nearby buildings, everything. Nothing. She went to some fancy office building and never came back out,” Owen cuts in, voice tight, eyes scanning the room as if willing someone to have answers.
Sharing a look with Owen and Aidan, I start talking as fast as I can, each word clipped and urgent. Trying to get the facts out before anyone can misread the danger, before anyone can freeze under the weight of it. Orchis. Salvatore. The strip club. Calling the wedding off. Ghost shipments. The emails. Every piece of intel we’ve gathered, every thread we’ve pulled—everything.
Halfway through, I chance a look at Jonathan, expecting him to be annoyed that I’m laying everything bare—even things I haven’t had a chance to tell him yet—but instead I find cold determination. Apparently, he agrees the time for keeping things on a need-to-know basis is over.
With every word, the room tightens around us. Jack’s jaw clenches. Bren mutters under his breath. Seamus’s hands curlinto fists. Declan and Da exchange grim looks, the kind that only come from understanding just how deep this goes. Horror spreads across everyone’s face as Owen and I lay it out piece by piece, making them see the storm we’re standing in the middle of and the fact that Lily is caught in it.
“She’s gone,” I continue, voice low, sharp. “And everything points to it being that fucking ring trying to steal more from us. As if we haven’t already lost enough.”
“Over my dead fucking body.” Da spits the words, each one a punch that echoes through the room, shocking everyone into tense silence.
Cora steps forward, voice sharp and commanding. “Then we need to move.Now. This isn’t our first brush with these bastards—you know your roles. Wewillfind her before it’s too late.”
Jonathan steps up beside Cora, eyes sweeping his assembled inner circle. “You heard her. It’s time to focus, follow the plan, and play to your strengths. No mistakes. Not tonight.”
Seeing the shared looks of determination, the fear in my chest finally sharpens into certainty—we will stop at nothing.
“We’re bringing her home,” I vow, more to myself than anyone else, heart hammering. “Before it’s too late.”
