“But it might, and I’m betting that’s what they’re banking on. Make Daley a permanent hostage and force an end to hostilities. They killed Aiden as a final, last-ditch show of strength. They killed Aiden to break your father.”
Fergal Halloran steps in through the open door. He looks tired and old and thinner than I’ve ever seen him. “It’s a good thought,” he says. “And they might be right. I’m not sure I can sacrifice two of my children to this conflict. I’m not broken, but I am tired of fighting.”
“Dad,” Callum says in surprise. “You can’t be serious. We’ve got to rip them to pieces. We have to burn them to the fucking ground for what they did to Aiden.”
Fergal nods slowly, sighing. “I want to do that too, son. But I’ve also seen how this goes. We strike back and it only perpetuates the fighting until we’re both so depleted that neither of us can survive for long.”
“This is fucking crazy,” Callum snaps, waving his gun in the air. “You’re really going to let them get away with killing your oldest son?”
“Of course I’m not,” Fergal says sharply. “Put your weapon away and leave. I want to speak with Rian in private.”
Callum glares at his father, but he obeys, the perfect clan heir. I want to empathize with him right now, but I’m finding it hard to give a shit what that spoiled prick thinks. He shoves his gun into the holster under his arm and strides out. Nolan hesitates, but shakes his head and follows.
Leaving me along with Fergal. I watch the old man warily as he shuffles to his desk. He opens a bottom drawer, takes out a glass and a bottle, and pours himself a drink. “Sit,” he says as he lowers himself into his chair.
I seat myself across from him. He sips the whisky and groans, leaning back.
“This is a bad day,” he says. “Two of my children are gone.”
“Daley’s still alive. We can get her back.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Even if we do, the Turks will have won. Emin knows I want an end to this, and he’s willing to push me as far as he can. He’ll force me to make concessions.”
“Why stop, then?” I lean forward, heart pounding. “Why not find them all and kill them, every one of them? The Halloran clan is strong.”
“Not as strong as it used to be.” He smiles ruefully. “I don’t tell you this lightly, so please understand that what I’m about to say doesn’t leave the room.”
“I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
“It’s a pretty lie, Rian. A nice facade. The whole clan is an illusion. We’re still trading on past deeds, but our numbers are smaller than they’ve ever been, and more and more of our people are rotting away in prison. We don’t have the guns or muscle we did ten years ago.” He taps his fingernail against his glass. “We’re weak, Rian. We’re very weak.”
“That’s it, then. Daley’s gone. She’s going to marry some Turkish murderer, probably the same guy that killed your son. That’s how it’ll be?”
His eyes meet mine and hold my stare. “Not unless you do something about it.”
I lean back and digest that. He takes a long sip, nearly draining the glass, and releases a breath. The tension in the room is dense, and I think about all that I’ve done for this clan already, all the violence and pain, the suffering I’ve put myself through for this man. He’s asking a lot of me now, and he knows I’ll do it.
He knows I’ll throw myself into hell for Daley.
The bastard. The wily fucking bastard. He doesn’t have anyone else in this clan willing to do whatever it takes to bring his daughter home. I’m the only one, and I happened to have all the skills necessary.
I could be angry, or I could be thankful.
Because this is my opportunity.
“Let me ask you something first,” I say softly.
His eyebrows rise. “I thought you’d want this. I noticed how you look at my daughter. We all know there’s something happening between the two of you. I ignored it, because it’s harmless, but now I want to know if you care about her the way I think you do.”
“I do,” I say, stomach twisted with pain. Were we that obvious? It doesn’t matter now. “I care about her very much. I’m going to save her, but I need to know something.” I lean toward him, elbows on his desk, heart pounding. “Queenie.”
His face twists and he looks away. He looks like I slapped him in the throat as his hands move up to touch his neck. His lips move silently, and he shakes his head.
“How did you two hear about her?”
“We’ve been looking into what happened to Megan. Daley’s been opening doors for me that’ve been shut for years, and I’ve been digging for a long time.”