Ryan Reign (New York Ruthless #4)(2)

“Unfortunately I am,” he says with a solemn nod of his head. “I suspect Alexei’s death has allowed him to slink out of whatever hole it was he crawled into. But he’s using the same call sign and accounts that he did in the past, even though such methods are now somewhat outdated.”

“Do you have any idea who it could be?”

“None.” He shakes his head and looks at Shane again. “You?”

“No,” he replies with a deep sigh.

Vlad clears his throat and turns back to me. “If there is anything I can do, Jessica,” he says softly.

I smile at him although my insides have turned to jelly, and not in a good way. “Thank you.”

He pushes his chair back and stands. “I’ll leave you to your dinner.”

“Can you show Vlad out, Mikey?” Shane growls as he rubs a hand over his jaw, his eyes narrowed as he appears deep in thought.

“Sure.” Mikey gets up and escorts Vlad out of the dining room.

Once Vlad is gone, Shane stands and walks around the table to me, holding out his hand. “We’ve got a lot to talk about. Let’s go sit in the den?”

I stare up at him blankly, still completely blindsided by Vlad’s revelation. “Okay,” I whisper.

“Con, can you get the good whiskey?” he asks as he pulls me from my chair.

“Will do,” Conor replies. He gives me a soft kiss on the cheek before he leaves the room.



Ten minutes later, I’m sitting on the sofa in the den, sandwiched between the twins with a glass of Midleton Chapter One in my hand, while Shane and Conor sit opposite us.

I take a sip of the expensive whiskey and the warm, rich liquid soothes my throat.

“How are you feeling, Angel?” Conor finally asks.

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “I mean, I always suspected he was still alive, so I suppose this shouldn’t come as a shock. But to find out he is active again…”

“Yeah. It’s fucked up, Red,” Mikey says as he puts an arm around my shoulder.

“Did you find out anything else about him, Shane?” I ask.

He shakes his head and takes a swig of his whiskey. “Nothing at all. If I had, sweetheart, I would have told you. I wouldn’t have kept the Belarus hit from you if I’d known it was him.”

I nod, at a loss for what else to say.

“What about your trip to Ireland?” Conor asks.

Shane looks at me and my heart skips a beat. “I still have to go. But I can put it off for a few days if you need me to, Jessie?” he offers.

“No,” I shake my head. “We can still go tomorrow. Nothing has changed. We knew the Wolf was still out there.”

“We?” Conor narrows his eyes at me. “You’re not going, Angel.”

“Why not?” I frown.

“Are you being serious right now?”

“Yes. I still want to go to Ireland and I don’t see why I shouldn’t. Hasn’t the Wolf already dictated enough of my life?”

“Shane?” Conor turns to his older brother.

“If Jessie wants to come, then it’s up to her,” he says with a shrug as he downs the last of his drink.

Liam and Mikey stay silent and look down at their glasses. They know better than to get in the middle of their older brothers.

“She’s safer here with me and the twins,” Conor snarls.

“She’ll be just as safe with me,” Shane fires back.

“Boys. You must agree with me?” Conor says to the twins.

“It’s up to Jessie what she wants to do, Con,” Mikey says and I place my hand on his thigh and squeeze. I love that he always has my back.

“Liam?” Conor snaps.

“I don’t want her to go either, bro, but…”

“For fuck’s sake!” Conor hisses. “I can’t believe you’re even considering taking her there, Shane!”

“You think I’m not capable of protecting her?” Shane growls at him.

“Not as well as three of us can here,” Conor growls back as he glares at his older brother.

“Hey!” I lean forward and slam my now empty glass down on the coffee table. “I am sitting right here.”

The two of them stop glaring at each other and look at me.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I am perfectly capable of looking after myself.” Conor opens his mouth to speak but I don’t allow him the chance to. “And I hate to break it to you, boys, but if the Wolf wants me, he will find me. He is a patient man. He will wait until the perfect moment and then he will strike, whether that’s in two days, two years or ten. I am not going to spend the rest of my life hiding in here waiting for that to happen.”

“Red!” Mikey snaps as he sits forward, cupping my chin in his hand, he turns my face to his. “You know we would never let him take you. I promise.”

I stare at him. I wish I could believe him. But when I see the look of anguish in his eyes, I don’t have the heart to tell him that I can’t. “I know,” I whisper instead.

“So, you’re still going to Ireland tomorrow then?” Conor scowls.

Shane looks between me and Conor and sighs. “If the reason the Wolf is back is because Alexei is dead, then there is every chance he knows that Jessie is here too. She is safer in Ireland than she is here.”