Page 53 of Stay, Swear.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Kieran

Phoenix’s body is locked tight, her eyes are unfocused, and she’s not responding to my voice. In a panic I called Mac to come in here. He has more experience with stuff like this. Mac comes rushing into the room and slides over to me. He kneels down in front of her and takes in her rigid posture and dissociative state.

“So I think we can rule out her being in subspace…” He smirks up at me but I’m so close to full on panicking I don’t even grin.

“Mac seriously, help her.”

“Okay, okay. First off, you don’t move.” He turns his attention to Nix and in the most gentle and soothing voice I’ve ever heard him use he tells her, “Hey, Phoenix? It’s Mac, you’re having a panic attack or a flashback. You’re in Rowan’s office with Me and Kieran. You’re safe, it’s just a memory.Slow, calm, deep breaths. You’re in Kieran’s lap. Can you feel him?”

After a few painfully long seconds she nods her head. Her eyes are still focused on the blank wall in front of her.

“Good. That’s good, honey. Can you let out a deep breath and relax back into him? His arms are around you. You won’t fall.” Slowly she begins to relax back into me. Blinking her eyes a few times, she looks at me before saying the only thing she could have said to render both Mac and I speechless.

“Riley.”

Mac and I lock eyes instantly. It feels like all the air has just been sucked out of the room.

“What did you just say?” Mac chokes out while barely hanging onto his composure.

“Does the name Riley mean anything to you both? But specifically to you, Mac.”

Mac’s face drains of all color. He actually has me worried he’s going to pass out.

“Where did you go, Mo Stóirín? What was that?” My hands comb through her beautiful locks as I patiently wait for her answer.

“When I was nine I tried to escape. There was a new girl. She was my size but only seven. She would tell me her best friend and his brothers were coming to save her. She said her Dad and their Dad were extremely important. His name was Mac. Her name when I knew her was Thirty-Three. She was stubborn though and told everyone she wasn’t Thirty-Three she was Riley.” Mac’s face crumples as she speaks, his entire demeanor defeated. He picks a paperweight up from the coffee table and throws it across the room as hard as he can causing a frame on the wall to shatter.

“FUCK!” He storms out of the room. I want to go after him, he’s my best friend and he needs me. But she needs me more and she’s my priority now.

“Riley was a girl who Mac was in love with when we were little. Her Da and mine had been friends since high school. Her dad is the Don of the five families, she’s Elle’s sister. She was walking to our house one day after school when she never showed up. She disappeared, and we were never able to find her. Mac beats himself up about it every day. I used to be right there with him when we were younger, but I can now recognize that we were kids. We couldn’t have done anything to prevent this from happening. We’ve always been in Jersey though Nix. How the hell did they take her here but she ended up in Ohio?” The realization that the ring she took down was so much bigger than we thought hits me.

“I don’t know, Kie. But my owners. They were top dogs. They had people working under them. Their reach is probably way farther than we realize.” My stomach churns in the worst way when she says owners. I’m going to make sure we disassemble every last one of these fuckers, limb from limb.

“Those words, the message, what do they mean?”

“David, my fathers best friend, used to say them when I would try to run and he’d catch me. Right before he’d grab me he’d always say it. It’s a message, they’re here, and they’re coming for me.”

* **

I’ve got Nix settled down. She called Carrie, let me hold her until she was feeling more herself, and now we’re looking for Mac before we go outside to hang out with the others. Tonight, after I make sure she’s asleep, I’ll meet with my brothers and fill them in. Knocking on his nerd room door I wait a few seconds before pushing it open. He’s typing away on his keyboard. Several monitors flashing with codes and different things at lightning speed. I don’t know what any of it means but if I had to take a wild guess, they’re all searching for Riley.

Nix stands in the doorway silently while I make my way behind him and clamp my hand firmly on his shoulder.

“Mac, come on brother, let’s go outside. We can pick this back up later.”

His eyes dart up to mine, “I can’t stop, she’s waiting for me, Kieran. She’s waiting for me to save her.”

“Mac, we were kids back then and now we have no leads. She was still there when Nix was there but she was sold not long after. When she was traded back a few months later, Riley was gone.”

His eyes turn watery as he takes a shuttered breath, “She was waiting on me. She needed me to save her and I couldn’t.”

Grabbing him by the back of the neck I lead him to a standing position before pulling him into the tightest hug I can manage.

“We were kids Mac, seven and nine. Even Roe and Dec were only twelve and fifteen. I’m so sorry, and I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you have closure. But we have to put this behind us for the time being. There are women and kids being hurt right now and we need to save them. After that Mac, I swear I won’t stop until we find answers.”

His tears soak my shoulder as he nods, “Promise we’ll findher, K? She deserves to come home and be put to rest properly.” Him accepting what’s almost certainly what we’ll find breaks me.

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