Page 173 of Deceived Wrath

They must have finally decided to come up for air and take a break after locking themselves away for the past few hours.

Without thinking, I press myself against the wall and creep along the hallway until Cormac’s voice becomes louder. Right now, I’m going in blind when it comes to this laptop, but maybe I might hear something that could at least point me in the right direction…

“Any luck?” Cormac asks someone.

It’s Brennan who replies. “It’s taking some time. I might have to call Connell to help.”

“Do it because we don’t have fucking time. Smirnov could decide to show his face at any point, and I would like to be prepared.”

“Cormac,” Ronan warns. “Take a break.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Not even a little.”

Brennan’s voice comes again. “Ronan’s right, you’re cranky when you’re tired.”

“I don’t have time to sleep, not when I’ve just painted a fucking great target on the back of everyone in this family.”

My breath catches.

I don’t recognize the name Smirnov, but from Cormac’s tone, it’s clear that whoever this guy is, he’s dangerous.

It’s Kieran who replies. “You did what you had to do.”

“Yeah, well, it’s about to come back and bite me on the ass.”

Brennan says, “If we can get Connell to take a look at the tech you brought in, it could give us a clue as to where Smirnov is. I’ll give him a call and get him here within the hour to clear the security and give me a clean path into the metadata.”

Kieran adds, “Take my office on the second floor. Ronan, Cormac, and I will be down in the basement with Jace and Leo, putting together a protection plan if shit hits the fan and we need to get everyone out of here.”

The second floor?

This is the opening I’ve been looking for. If that’s where the laptop is going to be, all that’s left is to get in and out without anyone noticing. The only problem is, I have a horrible feeling that’s going to be near enough impossible.

“Do you need something?”

I blink to find Cormac standing in front of me. I have been so lost in my head that I haven’t even noticed the kitchen door opening.

“Uh…just…water,” I manage to choke out.

I shove my hands behind my back to hide how much they’re shaking as Cormac goes to get me a bottle of water from the fridge.

He hands me the water. “Are you okay?”

I don’t meet his eyes. “Yeah, fine.”

“This will be over soon, I promise.” He reaches up to gently brush his knuckles over my cheek.

It’s enough to make my eyes sting with tears.

I don’t know how I’m going to survive this. Even if I manage to clear my debt with Lorcan, there will be nothing left for me on the other side of it.

I leave Cormac to his meeting and practically sprint down the hall to the bathroom.

There’s no way I can be around Ciara and Riley when I’m in this much of a state. All it will take is one of them asking if I’m all right, and I’ll be blurting out everything.

I brace my hands on the edge of the sink as I try not to throw up.