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Ronan hadn’t wanted them to return to the apartment at all. He’d argued that there was plenty of room at the Murphy house, that Julia and Elise would be saferthere.
But Julia had thought it best for Elise to be in familiar surroundings, alone with her sister while she processed everything that had happened to her. In the end, Ronan had forced himself to let Julia go, to have faith in their love the way he’d asked her to have faith in it the night before they’d rescuedElise.
He’d buried himself in work during the time they’d been apart, knowing Julia needed the time with her sister, and just as important, that Elise needed the time to recover. Then Julia had received the photographs of her mother and grandfather, along with the one that had stopped Ronan’s heart, a picture of Julia on the street outside her apartment just two daysbefore.
Her voice had shook when she called to tell him, and he’d brought her and Elise to the house he shared with his brothers that same night. They’d been there ever since, rarely leaving except to go to the beach with Ronan and Chief and to visit their grandfather. Nick and Declan didn’t seem mind, and Ronan had come to enjoy the fact that the house wasfull.
In spite of the circumstances, it felt likehome.
He watched as Julia and Elise paused at the bank of the river. Julia reached into the shallow water and pulled out a rock that she handed to her sister. Elise took it and put it in her pocket without looking atit.
She’d become more morose as time wore on, as if the weight of her experience was finally hitting her. At first, she’d been in shock, alternating between manic euphoria and wordless tears, but she’d grown quieter and more disconnected with each day that passed. The shadows under her eyes hadn’t subsided, and she was still painfullythin.
They’d filed a police report. They’d even talked to the FBI on the record, downplaying MIS’s rescue mission to avoid too manyquestions.
But Ronan wasn’t hopeful. Elise had been taken off the street not by Seth Campbell, but by someone she hadn’t recognized, though no one doubted that Campbell groomed Elise as atarget.
The FBI would look into the Elysium and its ownership, but Manifest hadn’t escaped detection so long for nothing: they were well-versed in remaining above thelaw.
John Taylor had pulled Ronan aside the first time Ronan accompanied Julia and Elise to the little cottage in the woods. The older man had made it clear that in his mind, MIS’s mission wasn’t complete. The job had never been just to rescue Elise — it had been to make the people who took herpay.
Ronan needed no encouragement. The locked doors on board the Elysium remained fresh in his mind, and he couldn’t help wondering if there had been more women behind them, if the women had been drugged to keep themquiet.
If that hadn’t been enough, the photographs left on Julia’s doorstep sealed the fate of the men behind Manifest. They were a clear threat to Julia, and that was something that would neverstand.
Julia shrieked and he looked up, his heart racing, to find that Chief had waded into the river, shaking off her wet fur onto Julia andElise.
She looked at him and waved, then started back toward him withElise.
Chief trotted ahead of them and put her paws on Ronan’s thigh before giving his cheek a sloppylick.
“Good girl, Chief.” He ruffled her fur and stood as Julia and Elise camecloser.
Julia slid her hand into his. “Hey,you.”
He bent to kiss her. “Hey, yourself.” He looked at Elise. “Ready to headback?”
They were still getting used to each other, but he hoped she felt safe with him, hoped she knew Ronan and his brothers would never let anyone hurt heragain.
“Ready.”
He held tight to Julia’s hand as they headed back to the house. He hadn’t known it was possible for someone to so totally occupy his heart and soul. At times their love still felt tenuous, but it always took his breathaway.
Would he ever stop worrying about her? Waiting for another threat? Another shoe todrop?
Not until the men behind Manifested paid. And pay they would. He was going to burn their organization to theground.
Then he was going to spend the rest of his life giving Juliaeverything.
His body. His heart. Hissoul.
Everything.
* * *
