Page 115 of Brutal Heir

“So I became Rory Delaney. Found a fake nurse registry through someone Maeve knew, took what little money I had, and ran. I didn’t look back.” She squeezes my hand. “Until you.”

My voice is hoarse when it finally comes. “Dio, Rory, you should have told me sooner.” I’m not sure how many more times I can punish her with the same words.

“I thought if you knew who I was, what I came from, you’d never be able to see me as anything else. At first, I just needed the job and then as I got to know you, I didn’t want to be a burden. I wanted to be… worth something.”

I cup her face gently, my thumb brushing away a stray tear. “You could never be a burden. And damaged doesn’t scare me, you should know that. But losing you would.”

Her breath catches. “Even after all the lies?”

“Especially after the truth.”

And in the silence that follows, I make a promise to myself not just to protect her from Conall Quinlan for the limited amount of time he has left on this earth, but to make damn sure she never has to be Brigid O’Shea again.

CHAPTER 44

A DEATH WARRANT

Rory

“Fuck!” Alessandro’s roar echoes across the penthouse, the howl lifting the tiny hairs at my nape.

I drop my mug of cappuccino and race around the kitchen island to find him pacing in front of the glass doors overlooking Central Park below. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a fucking death warrant hanging over your head, Rory.” He hurls his phone across the great room, and it hits the marble with a thwack. “Your ex-fiancé is offering any scumbag on the street between here and Belfast one million dollars for your head, dead or alive.”

I blink, then swallow hard. I shouldn’t be surprised and still, hearing the words has my entire body tensing.

Did I really think Conall would just let me run away from him without any repercussions? But why now? A whole year later…

“What else did you find out?” The moment I spilled the truth I knew Alessandro wouldn’t just let my past die along with Brigid O’Shea. It’s not in his nature. As much as he’s tried tobury the impulses beneath the web of scars, he’s still every bit the controlling, commanding Gemini heir.

The explosion hid the truth for a while, but the real Alessandro Rossi wouldn’t remain buried for long.

Worse, I relish this side of him.

It’s a reflection of the hard work and effort we’ve put in for the past two months.

The ghost of a man I found is gone, the strong, assertive future CEO and mob king alive in his place.

“Conall has likely been hunting you since you left him at the altar,” he grinds out.

I nod, unable to yank out any words from the back of my throat. My thoughts swirl back in time to that night I fled the Velvet Vault. I’d been so sure I was being followed. What if it had been one of Conall’s men?

“Your father and brothers have joined in on the manhunt,” he continues, drawing me away from my thoughts. “Apparently, they caught whiff of you on American shores when you went to see some guy named Ryan Flanagan.”

“Shite,” I hiss. “The forged documents.”

“Merda, Rory.” He stalks across the room, pure rage pouring from his coiled muscles. Then guilt flashes across the weary lines of his face. “You got those papers for me, damn it. If you’d only told me the truth then…”

“Well, we can’t very well go back in time now, can we?” I snap, harsher than intended. “What’s done is done.”

He almost looks sorry.

My thoughts spin back to that day. Had Flanagan sold me out? It can’t be. Maeve trusted him, and she wouldn’t have sent me to someone unreliable. There had been another man there that day. Those dark beady eyes flash at the forefront of my mind.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, that had been weeks ago…

How close is Conall to finding me now?