Page 84 of Vengeful Union

I swallow, trying to keep my cool. I can’t exactly curse him out when we’re in the car alone.

“And don’t get to thinking that Rory feels the same way about you. You’re a pawn in this war with the Burkes, nothing more.”

“I wouldn’t dream of believing Rory cares about me.”

That’s not true. I’m hoping against hope that he does, that he even feels an inkling of what I feel for him.

“Good,” Niall grunts as we pull up at the venue.

It’s unassuming from the outside, just a large building, but as we walk into the front door, I realize that it’s a lot more ornate than I thought.

Crystal chandeliers hang from the ceilings, and there’s fine art lining the walls.

We walk into a huge ballroom full of people–some of them I recognize from business with my father, but most of them, I don’t. They’re Murphy’s men and his allies, and my father doesn’t like to associate with those types of people.

As soon as we walk into the ballroom, Niall’s face changes. He puts on a big smile, looking merry instead of cool, and drops my arm.

He trails off toward a group of men in the corner, leaving me by myself, and I make a beeline for the champagne table.

I’m going to need some liquid courage to get through this night.

Chapter Twenty-Four

24

RORY

I waitfor a long moment before moving from the foyer, watching the closed door that Lara and my father exited. I can’t believe I let them go alone.

Who knows what my father will say to her. I know she must be terrified. But I didn’t know what else to do.

One of us had to stay behind to try and get some evidence, and it's not like my father was going to allow Lara to stay behind by herself.

But I feel wrong about letting her leave with him, something tight in my throat that I can’t make go away just by swallowing over and over.

I can no longer deny even to myself that I have feelings for Lara Burke. I’m in love with her, and that’s the long and short of it.

Given the way we met, there’s no way she feels the same way about me.

After this is over, I’ll let her go, and I’ll never tell her how I feel about her.

My heart clenches in my chest just thinking about it, and I focus on the task at hand.

I have to finish this, have to see it through, so that even when I go, Lara will be safe. Not to mention all the other women my father and his men could potentially hurt.

I head upstairs to my father’s office and find it locked. I curse under my breath, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I take one of my credit cards and shove it between the lock and the door, working the knob until the door pops open.

It’s not like I’m in the habit of lockpicking, but I’d picked up a few things as a teenager hanging around gangsters all the time.

I slowly walk to my father’s desk, a little apprehensive about what I may find.

I know my father is an awful person, but I’m not sure I want to be confronted with all his sins right now.

I take a deep breath and sit behind his desk, opening up every drawer.

There’s nothing incriminating inside–just some pens and paperweights, a few household bills.

There’s a locked drawer at the bottom of the desk that I manage to get into with a paperclip, but I let out a sigh of relief when it opens and there’s just a gun inside, a .45 Magnum.

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