Ryan Reign (New York Ruthless #4)(47)

“How the fuck did she sneak away from you both?” Conor snaps.

“I don’t know,” Liam shakes his head and leans back against the seat and my heart breaks for him. Jessie Ryan is a law unto herself. She is the most stubborn woman I have ever met in my life. She is fiercely independent and way smarter than any man in this car. She might submit to us in bed, but she makes her own choices in every other aspect of her life.

“Now isn’t the time for finger pointing,” I say to Conor. “We all know Jessie does what Jessie wants to do. Maybe we should have listened to her.”

“You for real?” Conor snaps.

“Well, we wouldn’t be hurtling through Antrim at ninety miles an hour looking for her right now if we had, would we?”

He glares at the road ahead instead of answering me and I know that he is as consumed by his anger and worry as I am.

“Well, just so we’re clear, are we all okay with shooting Uncle Paul in the head?” Mikey asks and I bristle at him calling him that. If I told them the truth now, would it help or hinder the situation?

“A bullet in the head is too good for the cunt!” Liam spits.

Hinder! This is not the right time to be revealing long buried secrets. Maybe we can even get through this whole thing without them discovering the truth, because I’m not sure it’s something they would want to know. There’s a reason they say ignorance is bliss, right?





Chapter 34





Jessie





I stare at the front door waiting for Paul Ryan’s arrival. This has been such a long time coming and I am ready for it. For him.

It’s a sound from the back of the house that startles me. Of course he wouldn’t walk through the front door like a man. Sneaking in where he won’t be seen is entirely fitting for him. I walk through the hallway to the kitchen and see the basement door is ajar and the light is on. It bathes the kitchen in a soft amber glow that makes the old farmhouse look almost homely.

“Are you hiding from me?” I call. “Surely you’re not afraid?”

His laugh echoes up the basement steps and it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Afraid of you, little bird. Never,” he hisses.

I walk closer to the steps and peer into the basement. He stands out of sight but I see his shadow on the wall. “After all these years, you’re still hiding in the dark. Why don’t you come up here and face me?”

“I’m standing in the light, Jessica. Come down here and see for yourself.”

I take a deep breath. I know this must be a trap, but I want answers and he is the only man left to give me any. I can’t go on living half a life.

I walk down the stairs, with my gun pointed straight at his head. He places his hand over his heart as though he is deeply wounded by the fact I’d love nothing more than to shoot him in the face. “Is this what we have come to, Jessica?”

“You must know I want you dead?” I arch an eyebrow at him. “This time I’ll make sure to finish the job.”

He rubs a hand over his throat, his fingers curling through his thick beard as he glares at me. “Hmm. That was a nasty scratch.”

“How did you survive?”

He starts to laugh as he takes a step toward me. “I have survived far worse than that before. You think that you have the power to kill me? I am the Wolf!”

“You are Paul Ryan. A man who pretends to be something more is still just a man.”

I point the gun as he takes another step and he looks above my head. I look up too and see the red spot on the door above me. That’s when I notice the small black box in his hand. “I have them all over this room, Jessica.” He holds up the box and shows me his finger over a silver button. “You’ll be dead before you can squeeze off a round. As soon as your rescuers come for you, they will walk straight in here and meet their deaths. It seems everyone around you meets a similar fate, doesn’t it? Perhaps you are cursed?”

“Fuck you!” I hiss.

“Hmm. We’ll get to that later,” he leers at me and the bile rushes up from my stomach and burns my throat.

“Why did you take me?” I ask as I walk further down the steps. I’d take my chances with dropping him before he has a chance to press that button, but I still want answers before I kill him.

“What?”

“Why? Why didn’t you kill me like you were supposed to?”

He frowns at me. “I saved your life.”

“No. You chose not to kill me but kidnapped and tortured me instead. Risking everything you had built. Why?”

“I risked nothing,” he spits. “Money and houses and things are not everything.”

“I know. But your reputation. Your livelihood. Why did you give all that up?”

“For you, Jessica.”

“No,” I shake my head. “You didn’t even know me. Tell me why.”

“I didn’t have to know you to see that you were special. Alexei didn’t deserve you. Your parents could not protect you. I could. I did.” He beats his own chest with pride as though he actually believes that. “My nephews think they are powerful men, but they couldn’t protect you either.”

At the mention of his nephews my heart breaks a little inside. I wonder if they’ve noticed I’m gone yet.