Page 129 of Crimson Flames

Boris shakes his head. “Fear.”

That’s when I realize…something went wrong with our family and Boris didn’t leave. For the first time, he stayed.

“But you stayed,” I say, tilting his head with my hand and cupping his face. “You stayed and you’re fighting for him.”

His hand covers mine while his forehead meets my shoulder.

“I am. Dr. K helped me see that I can process my emotions even when the fear sets in. She helped me work through it, so that walking away no longer feels like my only escape from the overwhelming feelings.”

Wrapping my arms around him, I hold him tight.

“I’m so proud of you,” I whisper.

This is what a family is; this is what I want our family to be. A team that stays and fights for each other.

I try to calm myself down using all of the tools Dr. K gave us. It’s not easy, but as the fog lifts, I begin to realize a few things.

“Cillian, do you think you could create a distraction for Ronan if I had a plan?”

He holds up his phone. “Ten steps ahead of you, Sweetheart. What do you need?”

“Boris,” I say as we break apart. “How many men could we get to Ireland within the next four hours?”

He takes a minute to think, then glances at Alexi. “Teams A and B, plus the recruits from the east end and transport.”

Alexi nods. “About two hundred.”

“Evie, get Lyra and Kia on the phone. Lev, I need you to pull up a map and get me a pen. Akio, Adrian, and Damien, I need at least four explosives and two triggers.”

“What are you thinking, my little fox?” Boris asks as he watches my brain work.

“Ronan wants a war. Let’s show him what we’re capable of. We have been training Kai for this exact scenario, so let’s combine our skills and take down the Reapers once and for all.”

“Feck yes,” Cillian whispers from behind me. “Talk dirty to us baby.”

I crack a smile as I think about our son. He’s capable and we are all fighters. By the end of the day, Ronan O’Brian’s empire will go up in flames, and my family will walk away unscathed.

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I have the house in my sights, the scope perfectly trained on Ronan’s office where I find him pacing back and forth. Kai sits in the chair in front of him as he’s no doubt lecturing him about his plan. I could shoot him from here, but there would be a risk to Kai.

Besides, we have no idea what Ronan has set up in there, and I won’t take any chances with my son’s life. Our family has lost enough. No more.

“Damien,” I say, gesturing for him to drop into position next to me. He does and Az follows, laying down with us as if he toocould see our enemy in the long range rifle. I hand over the scope to him with everything set up just right. “If things get out of hand, take him out.”

I line everything up for him and he nods. “I got this, Nessy. Now go get my nephew.”

Warmth floods my chest as I see our family rally together. Alexi has his troops gathered along the property line, and Lev is connecting to the power lines outside the house. Ronan has a backup generator, but it only works for his office, which will keep us covered in darkness until we get to our target.

Akio and Adrian have explosives at the four corners of Ronan’s land to trigger as distractions. When I give the word, all hell will break loose and Cillian will activate his plan. I have no idea what it is, but after the perfect execution he and Damien pulled off earlier, I’m trusting him and his insane ideas for once.

Lyra and Kia are showing everyone the property and helping set up the missions to take out Ronan’s men not currently here, which thankfully, isn’t many.

“Are you ready?” I ask Cillian as Boris walks over to us.

They both nod. “We have twelve minutes to get in before my distraction begins,” Cillian says.

“Once we’ve made it into the house, Akio and Adrian will trigger the bombs, and Lev will cut the power.”

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