Page 160 of Deceived Wrath

Fiona and Scout’s faces are front and center. It’s enough to almost make me turn around and go to her, but then I see the ambush again, and I stop myself cold.

By the time my head clears enough to notice, I’m already parked outside Kieran’s estate in Washington Heights.

Warm yellow light spills through the curtains, and I catch sight of a silhouette moving across the living room.

It looks so calm and peaceful that it almost doesn’t seem real.

I barely register getting out of the car and climbing the front steps or knocking my blood-stained knuckles on the front door. But the second it opens, the world tilts around me.

Riley stands there in a pair of pink plaid pajamas, her auburn hair gathered in a loose braid, and her newborn daughter tucked against her chest.

Her eyes widen when she sees my blood-stained clothes and my wild expression, but she doesn’t flinch. If anything, she looks heartbroken for me, and that almost undoes me more than the ambush.

“Oh God, Cormac…”

“I shouldn’t be here. Fuck. Riley, I shouldn’t have—” I manage, my voice rough and unsteady as I stumble back a step.

Aubrey stirs, and I take another step back as if I might contaminate them just by breathing the same air.

“I’ll go. I shouldn’t… Shit, I didn’t think. I’m sorry. I’ll figure it out.”

But before I can leave, heavy footsteps rush down the hallway, and Kieran appears. His dark hair is tousled, and he’s wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants, but his tired face instantly sharpens as he takes in the sight of me standing on his doorstep, covered in blood.

He gently pulls Riley back behind him, shielding her and the baby with one arm while keeping his eyes locked on me.

“Inside. Now.”

“I shouldn’t?—”

“Cormac. Get the fuck inside.” His tone leaves no room for argument.

I step across the threshold, and Kieran quickly locks the door and hits the security system, all while never taking his eyes off me.

My legs feel like they might give out, and I can’t seem to stop staring at Aubrey.

I might have led Smirnov’s men away from Scout, but it’s likely I led them straight here instead.

I don’t think I’ve ever hated myself more.

Kieran places a hand on my shoulder and leads me into the living room. “Come on. Sit.”

I do as he says, collapsing onto the couch as Kieran goes to pour us both a drink.

Riley lingers in the hallway, still rocking their daughter gently, her eyes flicking between me and the dried blood on my hands.

Kieran forces a glass of whiskey into my hand. “What the fuck happened, Cormac?”

“I was ambushed…” My voice comes out hoarse, so I quickly gulp down my whiskey.

Kieran wastes no time snatching the empty glass from me and refilling it.

“They weren’t trying to scare me. They were trying to kill me.”

Kieran’s jaw tightens.

“Who isthey?”

I scrub a hand over my face, leaving a streak of dried blood along my jaw. “I don’t know. It all happened too fast. But I have a feeling they’re Smirnov’s men.”