AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His phone rang, but he ignored it, methodically moving down the line of crates and checking each one. Once that was done, he sorted the top crates into piles based on the list Aidan gave him for deliveries.
He’d never questioned this life before. It was family, and family was everything. Now he couldn't help but wonder how much more he would have to sacrifice for the good of the family while everyone moved on with their lives around him.
His phone rang again, and he turned the damn thing off. He needed peace and fucking quiet right now. A minute to screw his head on straight so he didn’t have to think about how he was losing someone he really cared about. Again.
What was it Brogan said? You can’t help who you fall in love with. Even if you could, he wasn’t sure he would have chosen differently. If Delaney was a siren, he’d gladly drown a thousand times over just to spend a few months in her presence.
He checked his watch and, satisfied with the progress he’d made, locked up the warehouse behind him and crossed the parking lot to his SUV. Turning his phone back on, James left for the pub, rolling his eyes at the volley of incoming notifications as it connected to service again.
Hooking the phone up to the car, he called Brogan back rather than listening to his voicemails. His cousin’s voice was tight when he answered.
“Where the hell have you been?”
“I was at the warehouse and didn’t hear my phone,” he lied. “What’s up?”
“He’s here.”
James’s fingers tightened on the wheel, and the car jerked in response. “Who?”
“Devereaux. He flew private into Philly last night.”
“Shit.” Dread settled like a weight in his stomach. “Do you think he—”
“I don’t know. But he’s been paying a private investigator a hefty weekly sum for the last two and a half months. My guess is he’s been looking. And found her.”
“I’m on my way back to the pub now.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
“No. I need to know where he’s staying. His movements. Everything.”
“I already know where he’s staying.” James heard the growl of Brogan’s engine in the background. “I’m on my way. James? I have to loop Declan in on this, just in case. If we have to kill him, it’ll be messy in the press.”
“I know. I don’t care. I only care that she doesn’t die.”
James punched the button to end the call and floored it. The image of him holding Maura’s lifeless and bloody body flashed through his mind. He would not be too late this time. He had to make sure Delaney made it out alive. And if she didn’t, God help the bastard who killed her when James found him.
Her car was still there when he peeled into the parking lot, and he barely missed running into the side of the building when he screeched to a stop. Jumping out, he fumbled his key into the lock at the kitchen door and let himself in to the rage-filled screams of Addy’s music.
He didn’t acknowledge her greeting wave, sprinting up the stairs to the apartment above. The first floor was empty, and he took the stairs up to the loft.
“Delaney!”
Her bedroom was empty. The closet hung open, but nothing looked out of place. The bathroom and his room were also empty, and nothing looked like it had been disturbed. Pushing back the wall in his closet, he removed two extra mags from the safe and shoved them into his pockets. The only way Charles Devereaux was leaving Philadelphia was in a body bag.
Satisfying himself with one last sweep of his apartment, he jogged down the stairs and into the kitchen again. Addy’s music was off now, her brow pinched with worry.
“Everything okay?”
“Where’s Delaney?”
Addy gestured toward the door to the pub. “She was prepping the front of house for opening.”
He pushed through the swinging door into the pub and stopped dead. Chairs that would normally be stacked on tables or neatly tucked under them were overturned. The bucket where they put clean silverware to roll into napkins was upended on the bar, the utensils scattered across the surface and onto the floor.
Stepping further into the chaos, James heard Addy swear under her breath. He didn’t notice the broken glass until he rounded the bar, but someone had busted in the window on the door and let themselves in. He dropped to a crouch and inspected the droplets of blood dotting the floor. Either Delaney’s or the intruder’s. James hoped it was the latter.
“How long was she alone in here?”
