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“Absolutely not. We’re going to find her now,” I gritted my teeth, my fingers gripping the steering wheel so hard that my knuckles were white. “I should have been able to protect her, Kieran.”
“You’re not omniscient, Tristan,” he replied gently. “You couldn’t have known this was going to happen.”
“But I should have,” I muttered under my breath. “He said something…so odd. He said that he knew he was taking an Orsini and a Callahan. I can’t figure that out, though. Adriana only told Carmen she was pregnant and, well, you. How could Nick Rossi or any of his underlings know about it?”
Kieran was silent for a moment, his gaze fixed on the retreating tail lights. “You think there’s a mole in our midst?”
I glanced at him, my pulse racing. “I don’t know, Kieran. I just don’t know. What do you think?”
Kieran bit down on his lower lip, something he only did when he was hiding something. My heart pounded, blood flushing my face. “Fuck’s sake! Are you fucking joking?”
Kieran averted his eyes, turning to stare out the passenger window. A long silence hung in the air between us, dense and fraught with tension.
“You told him,” I said, still lagging behind the truck. “Right?”
Kieran rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Don’t tell Dad.”
“Fuck Dad. I’ll kill you myself.”
“Tristan, we didn’t know this would happen.”
I blew out a breath. “You’re always so quick to justify your actions. This isn’t about what he knew or didn’t know. It’s about what you should have done. Did you tell him as soon as you got out of the hotel room? You actually called Nick Rossi, our biggest enemy, to tell him Adriana was pregnant?”
Kieran leaned back in his seat, silent for a prolonged time before he muttered, “Yes, I told him. You don’t understand how bad things are at home. I thought if he knew of an upcoming Callahan and Orsini alliance, he might back off. Not kidnap your girlfriend.”
I clenched my jaw, the simmering rage boiling over at my brother’s betrayal. This was not about our home situation, not about any damn alliance; it was about Adriana and our unborn child. It was about Kieran’s recklessness and disregard for her safety, and that was unacceptable. The betrayal cut deep, slicing through years of trust and brotherhood.
Rain pattered hard on the car, and the visibility got worse. A car cut in front of me, their hazards on. I tried to get around it, but I couldn’t see shit. I thought I was going to be sick.
“You thought wrong,” I spat out, my voice barely above a whisper yet carrying all the weight of my disappointment. A knot formed in my throat as I swallowed down a wave of burning anger. The heated words were on the tip of my tongue, ready to lash out at him, but I held back. I needed to focus on finding Adriana, not on settling scores with Kieran.
“Tristan, I…” Kieran began but I cut him off sharply.
“Why, Kieran?” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them, my voice a strangled whisper. “Why would you jeopardize her safety like that?”
“I thought it would protect her,” he responded quietly. “I thought it would protect us all. We’re losing this war, Tristan. Every day it seems like Rossi is gaining more power, more control.”
“By betraying your family?” The words came out hard and cold, slicing through the tense silence that had descended upon us.
“It wasn’t a betrayal! You were running. I was trying to protect you. All three of you.”
“And look where it got us,” I snapped, my hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles had turned white. I could feel the anger radiating off me in waves, a fierce and blinding rage that threatened to consume every other emotion within me.
Kieran was silent for a moment, his gaze still focused on the dark road ahead of us. When he finally spoke, it was with a quiet resignation that only amplified my fury.
“You bloody idiot!” I snapped, my anger spewing over in unchecked waves. “Her safety was never your decision to make.”
“I didn’t mean…” Kieran began but I cut him off.
“No. You didn’t mean,” I echoed mockingly. “You never mean to but you always end up fucking things up.”
Silence settled in the car after my outburst; a tension-filled silence that thickened with each passing second. Kieran turned his gaze back to the road, his features hardening as he processed my words.
We drove in silence for what felt like an eternity before I finally broke it.
“And now what?” I asked him, my tone flat and emotionless. “What’s your grand plan now?”
“I don’t know. Find Adriana? Get her back?”
