Page 139 of Broken Blood Ties

I did not anticipate him being here tonight, but when Riku came sulking back around and Kieran had been gone for over forty-five minutes, I knew something wasn’t right. So I fired off a message to call in my favor.

I glance at Marco, his nostrils flaring as he offers me a smirk. I hand him the gun. “The Cosa Nostra is yours.”

“That was … something, Miss Buscetta.” Marco extends his hand to me. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

I take it, shaking it with a stammer I can’t let go of. “And Riku?”

“He’ll be running scared, but when word hits him about the Cosa Nostra under new leadership and hunting him …” He squeezes my knuckles tightly. “We’ll get him.”

Will they kill him? I hope so because if Kieran … if Kieran is dead.

Oh god, Kieran …

And—

I killed him.

I killed my father.

I killed …

“Marco, he’s still breathing,” one of Marco’s men says.

I snap my head to the ground where my father is, his chest moving ever so slightly.

“Load him up then. He won’t be for long.”

I stiffen at the words, but shuffle down the hallway, picking up speed until I’m running back toward the training room.

Around the corner of the doorway, Finn strides out, phone to his ear. His suit is askew, a rumpled mess with his shirt untucked and stained with blood. The red tie around his neck is loose and dangling, the knot pulled too far down his chest, and the strands of his dark hair hang over his hollow, weary eyes that widen when he sees me.

“Summer! What—” He glances over my shoulder at the disappearing guards marching my father’s body out of the building.

Sidestepping him, I burst into the empty room. Empty.

Turning, I cry, “Where is he?!”

Finn’s face falls, and I can hardly breathe. I step back, eyeing the tipped over chair and the puddle of blood—hisblood—marring the floor.

Air refuses to fill my lungs and the images of him lying there, pale and lifeless, rip through me like a pointed blade. My hands tremble as I hover over the spot he was. I can’t blink my tears away fast enough.

“Cormac took him to the hospital. He’s … he’s barely breathin’.” Finn’s voice cracks and his face crumples.

The world seems to narrow around me to a single point. Pain. All I feel is pain. Why does it hurt so much? Like I’m dying while the silent ache claws at me, tearing me apart and leaving my heart crushed into a million different pieces.

My knees buckle, and Finn rushes to my side to help me up. I clutch his hand like it’s the one thing keeping me tethered.

I love him. Kieran. I love him.

“Come on. Cormac said he’s in surgery now. We need to meet with security and handle a few things, but I’ll take you to him. Then you can tell me what the bloody hell happened.”

He allows me to bury my head in his chest and cry while he rushes us to see Kieran.

Chapter44

Kieran

Five days later …