Page 109 of Bound Lies

“Is that so?”

His voice drops. “Riley doesn’t belong to you. You think putting a ring on her finger makes her yers?”

My hand tightens on the phone. “You don’t get to say her name.”

“She’s mine, Sullivan. And you should know I don’t like to share.”

A cold chill runs down my spine at his tone. “Listen here. If you or your men come near her again, they won’t be driving away. There won’t be a next time, you understand me?”

“End it, Kieran. Walk away. That’s the only chance ye have left.”

“Go to hell.” I hang up.

I stare at the screen for a beat, the silence of the room suddenly heavy. Then I dial Ronan, who picks up on the first ring.

“Yeah?”

“O’Keefe called me.”

“He called you directly?”

“Yeah. He says he knows the marriage is bullshit and told me to end it or he would come for us.”

Ronan exhales sharply. “Shit. I really thought he would buy it.”

I lean back in my chair and rub my jaw. “He’s not just testing the waters anymore. We need to assume he’s coming.”

“Agreed. But until we figure out our next move, don’t let Riley out of your sight.”

I bristle. “You think I need reminding?”

“I think we can’t afford to fuck this up.”

I bite down the retort on my tongue.

Now is not the time to argue with Ronan, not when Sean is out to get Riley.

“We need to regroup. I’ll head over to the house now to pick Riley up, and we can talk then.”

When I arrive at the Sullivan estate an hour later, I’m greeted at the front door by Elena, who gives me a tight smile before stepping aside to let me in.

“Riley is in the living room.” She closes the door behind me.

Just then, I catch the sound of Riley’s laughter filtering through to the foyer, and my shoulders tense.

It’s been too long since I heard that sound, and after the conversation I’m about to have with her, I have a feeling I’m not going to hear it again for a while.

I follow the sound of laughter into the living room and find Riley curled up on the couch beside Ciara, a bowl of popcorn between them and some sappy romance movie playing in the background.

Ciara looks up as I enter and grins. “Well, well. Look who decided to gatecrash.”

Riley looks up at me over the back of the couch and offers me a small smile.

It’s more than she’s given me in days, and I almost drop to my knees at the sight of it.

Even after learning about her sister, I haven’t had the guts to bring it up because I don’t want to ruin the good mood she seems to be in after hanging out with Ciara for the past few days.

“Hey,” she says quietly.