While Kiera stares up at her brother through a tear-clouded gaze, her words hit me like a thunderbolt.Not many people know I exist.
In this precise moment, there’s no second-guessing that I’ve landed on a planet that revolves around Kieran. I gulp in trepidation and stalk in front of him. “Your sister misses you, Kieran. If Kiera said she . . .”
Oye, he hasn’t shut me up!Caught off guard by his attention, the words crawling up my throat begin to stall. Adnan had a don’t-speak-until-you’re-spoken-to policy while colleagues were around.
The beautiful girl nods through her silent sobs, encouraging me to continue. Pearla and Benson stare at me through bleak, porcelain faces, having accepted their time on earth has ended.
I clear my throat. “Kiera . . . misses you, Kieran. She spun the circumstances to get here. To visityou,Kieran.You need to trust Kiera has done all she’s humanly capable of to get your attention. She . . . misses you.”
Kieran hands over the handgun and steps toward me slowly. I’m not sure what the bastard expects, but his knuckles softly rap against my cheek. “Ava—”
“No! You’re controlling.” I jump into action, pushing him away.
With a tender touch, Kieran claims the back of my neck. Only the sinister flame in his eyes has warned I’ve gone too far, and if I strive at pushing him away this time . . . I will pay. Not now. Sometime later. The subject of his little sister isn’t up for discussion. But I still the trembling in my bones, square my shoulders, and speak to him as if we were equals. “Kiera’s here now. Enjoy the time you have with her.”
The muscles in his jaw flex. “Alright,eun beag. I’ll cherish the time with the lassie. But I still must know, how then?”
In a scarce tone, Kiera murmurs, “I forged a letter in your name, brother.”
“This letter come with an envelope? Benson?” Kieran growls. The man in question lowers himself prostrate to the ground again as Kieran stalks toward him. Every man on Kieran’s payroll holds out their gun. “I’m about to beat thismotherfeckerwith my bare hands. Benson, did you not examine the envelope?”
“Please, stop,” Kiera whimpers, dropping a hand on Kieran’s shoulder only to have him shrug away. Kieran rounds on her with a sneer.
“Sister, while you call Benson and Pearla clan, these twoarseholesare paid outta thearseto watch over you! I’m not in the habit of training people onmypayroll. You don’t take my money and not follow through. Said compensation requires my sister’s safety. Do you gotthat?”
“Yes,” Pearla and Benson reply, mouths muffled by the ground.
“Get thefeckup. Look me in the eye.Say it again.”
The two caregivers scamper to their feet, profusely repeating their agreement. Kiera rushes into Kieran’s arms, supplicating him for mercy.
Taking the opportunity, I make a run for it. I’m not running as fast as my legs will carry me toward the perimeter of Kieran’s lair. That’ll come later. I hurry off to the front door and make a beeline up the stairs to my bedroom. The sight of the love that afamiliahas for each other breaks my heart into a trillion irreparable pieces.
22
Kieran
Istand in the door to the suite Kiera once claimed as her own during family vacations. She’s sitting on a bench at the partition near the windows. Her fingertips glide over the shiny black piano.
“Ava ascertained how I appreciate music.” She smiles at me, her fingers walking across the keys. A lovely melody begins to play as she speaks. “Sometimes, I imagine my big brother introduced me to his friends.”
I roll my eyes. “Ain’t got no mates, Kiera.”
Rolling her eyes, Kiera snorts. “Hello! Everyone in Clan MacKenzie.”
My mouth tips to one side. “I should tell you what Brody did to me on my last visit.”
“Woah, sounds menacing.” Kiera presses a couple of keys, and music floats in my direction. I see Mam for a second. The one whose smile shone brighter than fireworks at Edinburgh Castle on New Year’s. The one who loved her son.
Kiera batters the piano, releasing another off-key note. “Hello? What did Brody do?”
I shake the image from my mind. “The nugget thought I betrayed their clan. He was gonna shoot me dead.”
She chuckles then coughs. “No. Be honest!”
“Aye, the whole clan. They had me—Ewan too.”
A fond memory mollifies Ava’s eagerness. “I remember being awean—”