I frowned. Who the fuck was Sylvie?
“Fine. I only know what Chloe told me.” Her eyes met mine, and the look wasn’t friendly at all. “She was too busy gushing about you to go into too much detail, but, yeah, Ghost is her father.”
Gushing about me? Why did that make me so happy? I shook the happiness away and leant forward to listen to the story that Chloe had told her but hadn’t trusted me with.
“Her mum's name was Ciara Vienno. She was the only daughter of some guy who no longer matters.” She shrugged. “But their family was pretty powerful a few decades ago.”
Keeley nodded her head in agreement.
“She was married when she was sixteen to a man named Caleb Malony. It wasn’t a happy relationship. Ciara didn’t want to be there.”
“I’ve heard of Caleb. He used to run a huge part of the west coast. He pretty much controlled what went in and out of Ireland at one point. But what does he have to do with Chloe?” I asked.
“Because that’s who her mum was married to until she ran off with a biker who promised her the world and—”
Elodie groaned. “And knocked her up instead?” She rolled her eyes. “That sounds like Ghost.”
“Except he didn’t knock her up and leave. They didn’t stay together, but Ghost was pretty active in their lives. He looked after them. It wasn’t like Ciara could go back to her husband with another man’s baby.” Sy shrugged. “Anyway, that was before. Caleb caught up with them when Chloe was twelve. His men shot her mum in the head in front of her. Can you imagine how that affected her?” She looked at each one of us in turn and no one spoke. “She only got away because she was hiding. Ghost took her in after that. Made sure she was placed with families he trusted. And then, when she was old enough to work, he found her work. Firstly, as a childminder for Isla—”
“Isla?” Elodie looked taken aback. “As in Isla who used to date my husband?”
I had forgotten that part of the past. “Isla is with Chance now,” I muttered, and Elodie glared at me. “She has been for years. I don’t think you need to worry.”
“I’m not worried. I was just wondering how long this girl has been part of our lives without us even knowing it,” she snapped right back.
“Anyway.” Sy rolled her eyes. “Ghost tried to keep her hidden. She was always moving, and she had rules to keep her safe.”
“Safe?” I lifted my eyebrows until it felt like they would disappear into my hairline. “Why would he have to keep her safe?”
“Because of Caleb. He’s been looking for her for years. As a kid I think he might have just killed her and been done with it, but she’s not a kid anymore and—” Sy fell silent before clearing her throat. “There was some stuff sent to my flat even in the few days she was with me. And they weren’t the kind of things you would send to someone you wanted to kill.”
I did a double take. “Are you saying her mother's ex husband has been stalking her since she was a kid? What kind of sick fuck does that?” At my side, my fists clenched.
All that time, and she hadn’t said a word. Not one word about what she was going through. I didn’t know how she had managed to function, let alone be the kind, sweet girl she was.
“What do you think he will do if he finds her?” Elodie’s voice shook with worry and I couldn’t blame her. I was worried as well.
From behind us, the door to the pub banged open and Sy lifted her head as Domino and Chance stomped into the room.
I twisted in my chair to find Chance just standing there. He had a bag in his hands. A simple black clutch bag with a silverbuckle. It was the bag Chloe had been holding in front of her at the grave side.
“I don’t think he will kill her,” Sy said quietly but the weight of her words made my head snap to her. “I think he will do something so much worse. I think he plans on keeping her.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“And this is our bedroom.” The hand that gripped my bicep was so tight that it felt like he was grinding my bones into dust. I didn’t fight, though. I knew I couldn’t win. Plus, fighting would just make him angry and I didn’t want that. I had already seen firsthand what happened when you made Caleb angry.
“Ours?” I squeaked before I could stop myself. “What do you mean, ours?” Fear made my voice unusually high, and I had to force myself to lower it.
He dragged me into the room. His grip was punishing. “Yes, Ciara.” Pulling me to his side, he wrapped his arms around me. Turning me in a circle, he started pointing out things that literally made no sense to me.
“Don’t you remember?” He dragged me forward. So we were nose to wall with the wallpaper. “You picked out this wallpaper before you left. I remembered, and I kept it. As soon as I knew you were coming home, I had it put up. Everything here is for you. I did it in your favourite colours.”
I looked around and frowned. I liked blue well enough, but it wasn’t my favourite colour. “I like yellow.”
He whirled on me. His hands came down on my shoulders and he began to shake me. My head whipped back and forth so violently that my vision streamed.
He was crazy. Ghost had always said he was, but I hadn’t realised he meant really crazy. Certifiably crazy.
