Page 10 of The Chief's Captive

RONAN

The pub seems almost back to normal. There's a table missing, likely the one Eamon smashed when I shoved him. And there are a few with chips in the veneer from the firefight, but Benny's done a decent job of making it look like nothing happened. I heard a report a few days ago that our friends on the garda have covered up the shooting. It's probably a good thing for Eamon that they're still loyal to me and I am in control. He has no contacts with the authorities. They'd throw him behind bars faster than he could draw his weapon.

"You ready, Boss?" Aiden, another of my soldiers, looks to me as I stand in the dining room of the pub. We're here to address a matter of great importance. My cousin Shane has defected, choosing to side with Eamon over me. The squabble about who is the rightful leader of this family needs to end before we fracture completely. Our enemies will see the weakness and strike, so I can't show mercy now. It would be interpreted the wrong way.

"Let's go," I tell him, and I follow him and Lochlan to the back room. "Where did you find him?"

My body feels worn out and weak. I'm pushing it. I can feel it. Maeve was wise to caution me, but business matters that involve the integrity of my inner circle and those I trust can't be pushed off. And I can't very well have them dragging Eamon's cohorts into my home to scope it out. This is where we do business, and I have business to tend to.

"He was snooping around Declan's." Aiden's voice sounds tense, and I wonder if there is something more he's not telling me. I know Declan and I don't always see eye to eye, Connor either. My brothers have always been loyal to me, though, and I won't entertain the idea that they're considering defecting like the rest of this untrustworthy lot.

I tuck that tidbit of information and the suspicion surrounding it away for another time and focus ahead of myself. Aiden opens the door, and I step into the small office space. Finn is here with Lochlan. They each have a hand on the shoulder of the betrayer. Shane sits with his head down, blood dripping from his nose from the beating he's obviously taken already at my men's hands. I have no intention of soiling my fists with more, but he will earn his blows as we talk, I'm sure.

Shane is younger than me, younger than Eamon by several years. Younger than Declan or even Lochlan, but bold enough and experienced enough in family business to know what he's doing. Ten years we've served together after he returned from overseas serving the country in Syria for the defense forces. He's a strong man, but he's a fool for falling for Eamon's tricks. I won't harm him for being naive or gullible, but I will send a message to Eamon that I'm coming for him.

"I just need to know one thing, Shane." My words lift his head up, and I see the evil intent in his gaze. He's turned against me entirely based on Eamon's lies, and even if I could convince himthat my cousin is wrong, Shane will never return to be loyal to me. The damage is done.

He's tight-lipped. Won't even open his lips to breathe, let alone talk. His heart is hardened against me, seared with a hot iron, and anything I say to him will only add fuel to Eamon's fire when Shane returns with this message.

"If you were loyal to my father and you, of all people, knew how he intended for me to lead this family, how could you believe Eamon's lies?" My question hangs in the air unanswered. I'll never understand a heart that can be divided in loyalty and integrity so easily. Power and money, fame, they'll never sway me to be disloyal to my oath.

Shane's mouth moves, his tongue gathering spit, and he releases it at my feet in an act of direct disrespect and active rebellion, and my eyes slowly close and then reopen, looking into Lochlan's steel gaze. He understands what it means, and I don't even have to give the order.

Finn holds Shane while Lochlan lands blow after blow, teaching the man a lesson he'll not soon forget and sending a message to Eamon. Shane will return to my cousin's camp bloodied and barely alive, maybe dragged in by his own people on death's doorstep, and when he does, Eamon will know I’m not taking prisoners. Those who stand against me will die.

They continue to beat him senseless until I raise one hand. Their allegiance to me is so true, so faithful, that it instantly halts their attack. Like my commands are seamlessly spoken to their hands from my brain before I even think the thoughts.

Shane hangs limp from Finn's arms, and blood seeps out of every orifice in his body. He's wet himself, and his legs are weakand limp too. I hear the rasp of his shallow breathing and know it's enough, but the minute I leave, they'll do more.

I lean down, careful not to allow his blood to tarnish my clothing, and I speak softly into his ear. "When you wake up, and Eamon is leaning over your battered and bruised body, make sure you tell him I'm coming. I'll stay awake day and night, search high and low. Nothing will stop me, and anyone who comes between me and him will die along with him. He's a dead man."

When I straighten and glance at Loch, he begins the assault again, and I turn and follow Aiden out of the pub, nodding at Benny, who stands behind the bar, on my way.

My rage carries me all the way home where I move straight to my bedroom, seeking solitude before I tear into my own men. When I get out of control like this, people get hurt, and I'm walking on thin ice with some of these men as it is. I'm not a fool. If Eamon is targeting my own brothers, he'll be having his agents speak to every one of my family members or brothers in blood. I can't let it come down to my killing my own trusted men over this.

When I throw the door open, I'm surprised by the sight. For a moment, I forgot Ms. Walsh was here, locked away in my room. But now I see something even more shocking than my own surprise at seeing her in my bedroom. She's tied to my armchair with ropes and gagged by one of my ties.

Anger swells in my chest, making it ache. It can't be good for my recovery, but I can't control it. I've already had a terrible evening, and seeing this only makes me more livid than ever. I walk over to her and remove the gag instantly while I scream, "Get in here, now!"

She's whimpering and sniffling. I can see her red-rimmed eyes are puffy from crying. She trembles as I untie each of the ropes to free her, but she doesn't move. In fact, when I hear the door open behind me and sense someone standing there, she looks all the more scared.

I turn to see Declan standing there glaring at her, and I know he's the one who did this.

"What the hell happened? Why is she bound?" He doesn't look intimidated by me. He looks angry and justified.

"She was climbing out your window, Ro. I had no choice." Declan's self-justification enrages me more than the idea that Maeve would try to escape. Of course she would. She's been begging to go home all week. I expected nothing less than this, but as I turn back to her and see the bruises on her wrists and the welt across her face now that the gag is gone, I know he touched her.

My fury turns on him, and I storm over to him while clenching my jaw. He's my brother, and while he's an idiot for touching what belongs to me—what I'm growing fond of—he thought he was honoring my wishes.

"If you ever touch her again, I will kill you myself," I tell him in a gravelly, low voice. His eyes darken and he purses his lips, but he gives one nod and backs out, shutting the door behind himself.

I turn to Maeve who is still trembling, white as a sheet. She looks so fragile, and the need to chase that fear away overpowers my good senses. I walk to her and pick her up, cradling her and carrying her to bed. I fold the covers back, not thinking of how she would likely sleep on top and not under them, and I lay her down.

"Did they hurt you?" I ask, but I know the answer. The marks on her face and arms already tell the story.

"You don't care, anyway…" Maeve rolls to her side and lets a few tears fall but bravely blinks the rest away and swipes at her eyes. She's so beautiful and fragile, and I am furious that my brother harmed her.

I stand over her for a second, biting my lips while wondering how I can make her see that this isn't actually what I want for her. I've done nothing but respect her, and while she is here against her will, my intention for her is pure. I've seen the way she acts, so respectful even under her anger and fear. It's made me realize what a true gem she is, how I've stormed into her world when she never expected it and transplanted her into a world she knows nothing of.

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