FAZER LOGINMaya
I wake up because Declan moves.
Not much. Barely enough to disturb the mattress, but sometime during the night my body has apparently decided his is the safest place in the world, because the second his arm shifts from around my waist, my eyes open.
For a few confused seconds, I don't know why my heart immediately starts beating faster.
The bedroom is dark except for the thin morning light pushing around the curtains. Declan is behind me, warm and solid, his c
DeclanMy father doesn't ask where we're going. He knows.The second I tell him Liam has the photographs, something changes in his face, and it pisses me off more than if he'd simply admitted the fucking name when Maya asked. He's afraid. My father can hide weakness, exaggerate illness, sit across from a woman he's known for three years and convince her she's a stranger, but I've spent my entire life studying him.I know fear when I see it. I also know better than to confuse it with fear for himself. "Who is he?"My father reaches for his coat. "Declan.""Don't."Maya stands between us, although not intentionally. She's simply closest to him, but the sight of her there makes every protective instinct inside me flare anyway. "We're done with this shit. You know who Liam found.""I suspect.” He says."Same fucking thing.” I let out.&n
Chapter 63MayaDeclan's father is standing when we walk into the penthouse. That is the first thing I notice.Not the overnight bag beside the sofa. Not the dark coat folded neatly over the back of a chair or the glass of water untouched on the table. Not even the fact that a man I last saw thousands of miles away in Ireland is suddenly standing in Declan's living room as if crossing an ocean to drag three-year-old secrets into our lives is perfectly normal.He's standing. Straight. Not perfectly. There is still stiffness in his body, and one hand rests around the handle of the walking stick beside him, but he's nothing like the man I remember.In Ireland, every movement seemed calculated around weakness. Getting out of a chair took time. His hands shook more. His shoulders curved forward. There were moments when Declan watched him with an expression he tried to hide, and I remember feeling sorry for both of them.Now I wonder how much of i
DeclanJax looks better than he did when we dragged him out of that garage, although better is doing a lot of fucking work.He is propped against several pillows when Maya and I walk into the bedroom at the safe house, an IV running into his arm and a blanket pulled over his waist. One side of his face is swollen badly enough that his eye is almost completely closed, bruising spreads from his jaw beneath the collar of the clean shirt someone has put him in, and there is a strip of white dressing near his temple where dried blood covered half his face yesterday. The doctor warned us before letting us upstairs that Jax needs rest more than he needs answers dragged out of him, and Maya agreed immediately.I agreed too. I simply didn't specify how long that agreement would last. Because there are questions I need answered, and every fucking hour that passes gives whoever did this more time to disappear.Maya walks into the room ahead of me. Jax sees her. The
MayaI wake up because Declan moves.Not much. Barely enough to disturb the mattress, but sometime during the night my body has apparently decided his is the safest place in the world, because the second his arm shifts from around my waist, my eyes open.For a few confused seconds, I don't know why my heart immediately starts beating faster.The bedroom is dark except for the thin morning light pushing around the curtains. Declan is behind me, warm and solid, his chest pressed against my back and one heavy leg tangled with mine beneath the sheets. His arm is still around me, only his hand has moved from my stomach to my hip.He's here. The thought comes before anything else. Then yesterday comes back. The garage. Gunshots. Jax tied to a chair. Blood covering Declan when he walked outside. Ronan's face. The cabinet. All of it crashes into me so quickly that I close my eyes again. For one stupid moment, I wish I could go back to sleep.Not bec
DeclanMaya doesn't say anything when we walk back into the garage. That's how I know seeing Jax gets to her.She has spent the last hour arguing with me, Liam, probably herself, and anyone else stupid enough to suggest she shouldn't be allowed somewhere, but the second she sees Jax being carried carefully through the workshop on a stretcher, every bit of fight disappears from her face.The medic walks beside him while another man carries the equipment they've already connected to him. We're not taking him to a hospital. Too many questions, too many records, too many opportunities for whoever took him to discover exactly where we've put him. Cillian has already arranged one of the safe houses, and a doctor we trust is meeting them there with everything necessary to keep Jax stable until we know whether he needs more than they can provide privately.Maya stops beside me. I feel her hand searching for mine before she seems to realize she's doing it. I take
DeclanThe first bullet hits the wall less than a foot from my head.Concrete explodes beside me as I move through the doorway, Cillian immediately breaking right while I go left, and Ronan disappears straight down the fucking middle before either of us can stop him. I knew he would. The bastard probably knew he would too, because there is no hesitation in him now, none of the restless pacing or unfocused staring from outside. The second violence becomes real, every scattered piece of him seems to snap into place."Ronan!"Cillian's shout barely registers over another gunshot. Ronan doesn't look back. Of course he fucking doesn't.The garage is larger inside than it appeared from the street, divided into a main workshop with two vehicle lifts and several smaller rooms running along the back. Cars sit beneath dirty covers, tools hang from the walls, and the smell of oil mixes with dust, sweat, and gunpowder. One of our men moves past me as another s
ElenaI don’t realize how tense my body is until he tells me to walk again.“Come,” Cillian says, his voice calm, controlled, like everything in his world already bends to him, and I hate how my body reacts to it before my brain does. I hesitate for half a second, just enough to remind myself I don
ElenaI stay where I am for a second longer than I should, my back still pressed against the wall, my lungs working too hard as I try to steady my breathing. My heart hasn’t slowed since the auction. Since the car. Since him. Every word he said is still sitting in my head, sharp and suffocating: ma
CillianShe’s shaking. Trying not to show it. Trying to hold herself together like she still has some kind of control over this situation. She doesn’t.The elevator is silent except for the sound of her breathing, too fast, too uneven. I watch her from across the space, my hands in my pockets, taki
ElenaThe necklace is worth more than my entire life. I can feel it. Cold diamonds wrapped tight around my throat like a warning I don’t understand.“Don’t touch it too much,” the event manager snaps as she adjusts it for the third time. “You’re modelling it, not fidgeting with it.”“I’m not…” I st







