Page 94 of Reckless

“I needed saving because of your family.”

“True,” Kieran said and pulled my phone out of his pocket, then handed it to me.

“I have to talk to your father. Can you arrange that?”

Kieran shook his head. “You can tell me whatever you need to tell him.”

“I want out. And you are not the person to grant me that wish.”

Kieran rubbed his chin, smiling at me.

“Actually I am. My father is dead. That makes me the one in charge. The security that night? The men that beat you up? Those weren’t our men.” The doctor cleared his throat and that served Kieran as a signal, because he stopped talking.

“The police?” I asked scrolling through my unanswered calls.

I should have been more concerned with the fact that Patrick Hayes was dead. Think about what that meant for me. But maybe Hannah found out what happened and tried to call and check up on me. I had a bunch of calls from Chloe and a few texts from Clem. Nothing from Hannah.

“The police know everything. They are waiting to see how this plays out.”

I had no idea whatthiswas, and I didn’t want to know.

“Are they looking for me?” I asked.

“No one is looking for you. At the moment. Also no one knows where you are except for the two of us,” he pointed between himself and the doctor.

“Sorry about your father,” I said even though I knew he wasn’t fond of him. “But I want out. I’m done with that illegal shit.”

“You’re breaking my heart,” Kieran said with a tone that suggested he couldn’t care less about what I wanted and what I didn’t. He also ignored my condolences, just like I expected. “I can’t let you out. I’m dealing with a war of a sort. This is my organization now and you are not leaving it.”

“I was never a part of it.”

Kieran cocked his head sideways. “Are you sure about that?”

“Kieran,” the doctor addressed him. “You need men that are loyal to the family. People that are willing to die for you, or else you will die because of them. He is a liability,” he pointed at me.

“You know I can’t just let him go. This is not a gym membership. People can’t just come and leave whenever they feel like it,” he said with a tone I had never heard him use before. A tone that didn’t suit a twenty-year-old. I couldn’t figure out if he was impersonating his late father or he had been preparing for this to happen eventually and just stepped into Patrick Hayes’s shoes.

“You know what you have to do,” the doctor said and glanced down to Kieran’s waist. That was the moment I saw there was a gun tucked in his dress pants. It wasn’t the first time he had one on him, but it was the first time I felt he might actually use it.

“Kill me if you have to,” I said and meant every word. “But I’m done. So you better get this over with.”

The doctor turned his back on me, waiting for Kieran to act.

“This is not how I expected this to go.” He pulled his gun out, but didn’t point it at me. Not yet at least. “This isn’t personal, you know. It just business. I can’t let people think I am to be manipulated.”

“Sure. It’s not like we were friends anyway. We just drank together in your father’s bar.”

A sly smiled formed on Kieran’s lips. He slowly approached me and stopped just a step away from me.

“I warned you,” he said and held the gun to my head. “There are no partners in this world. No friends. No one to truly count on but yourself.”

I closed my eyes and waited for it. Only silence followed his words. Then the pressure of the metal against my skull disappeared and my eyes flew open. Kieran leaned in.

“You are on your own. I won’t protect you and I will hunt you down if you decide to fuck me over.” The doctor released a disapproving breath and Kieran continued. “Shut up. You know I wasn’t even supposed to be here. I wasn’t supposed to be my father’s heir. Let Tyler leave.” Then he addressed me again. “Don’t make me regret this.”

Without another word he turned around and left. It took me a few moments, but I finally managed to ask.

“Am I really out?”

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