Unchosen Ruler by Maggie Cole

22

Liam

It hasn't even beentwenty-four hours since we saw the baby at the hospital before more threats pop up. It's wishful thinking to believe I could indulge in some family happiness for longer than a brief moment. But I'm an O'Malley, and it isn't reality. My dad and I are on our way to meet Finn when we get a message to meet at Boris's. The Ivanovs quickly fill us in about how Boyra Petrov somehow got into Sergey's house. He assaulted Kora and told him he now owns his brother Zamir's debt on the Ivanovs. He claims Sergey is going to pay it off.

Zamir is dead and missing. The Ivanovs killed him. Boyra showing up from Moscow is a surprise and deadly. After a brief discussion, my father claims the best way to watch Boyra is to focus on the Petrov whorehouses. He isn't like his brother Zamir who could have been a ghost. Boyra likes to show his face and he always spends the majority of his time in the whorehouses.

"I want Boyra to look at me when he takes his last breath," Sergey grits out.

"I said the O'Malleys are handling this," my father insists.

Sergey's face turns angrier. He steps in front of Darragh and growls, "He groped my woman. After he sliced her arm, he threw her on the ground and put his boot on her back while fondling her ass and threatening to put her in his whorehouse."

My father's eyes turn to slits. "And he will pay, but the O'Malleys will handle this."

"No. Let Sergey join us," I blurt out.

My father slowly turns to me. Shock and irritation flood his face. No one ever goes against his wishes. If they question him, they sure as hell don't do it in front of others. But I agree with Sergey. If someone touched Hailee, I wouldn't let anyone else tear them apart. And my father's health is deteriorating fast. He wants to act like he's fine, but he isn't. I need the Ivanovs on my side, along with their trust. Sergey still doesn't have any faith in me, so maybe this will give me some points on his scoreboard.

The tension in the air grows. My father continues to unhappily assess me.

I confidently remind him, "You said I needed to override your decisions when it was beneficial to the O'Malleys. This is a benefit for us."

My father's face changes. He seems appeased by my admission. "Fine. Where can I smoke?"

I cringe inside, wishing I could take his cancer pipe and toss it in the trash. I keep my mouth shut and let Boris lead him to the balcony.

"Always has to be something in it for you, doesn't it, Liam?" Sergey sneers.

My gut drops. "No. I said that to get my father to agree. If anyone did to my woman what you just described, I wouldn't let anyone else kill him."

Sergey's scowl doesn't fade.

"Jesus, Sergey. When are you going to realize we're on the same side? And my father won't be here much longer to guide me. At some point, I might need your help. I hope if that time comes, you do it because you want to help me, not because you feel obligated," I admit.

Shock overrides Sergey's hardened expression. "Darragh's dying?"

I sniff hard and don't reply. My insides shake with emotions I don't want to ever deal with but know at some point, I'm going to have to. There's no getting around it. My father's time is limited.

"Shit. I'm sorry," Sergey blurts out.

I swallow down the acid and bile climbing up my throat. I work hard to keep steady control of my voice. "It is what it is. Can we get on the same side? I don't see an alliance working out if we aren't."

He studies me, saying nothing.

I have no idea what he's thinking, but I'm tired of trying to figure it out. I turn toward Maksim. "I'm going to need help. I can't go back inside. My father doesn't have any advisors still alive. If I take advice from any of the O'Malleys who would be more than willing to give it, I'll destroy our clan. It's not a question of if but when."

Maksim's icy blue gaze assesses me. He finally says, "Besides this war, I don't want Ivanovs pulled into O'Malley business. I will be here for you and guide you if I can, as long as you agree to my terms. And that includes Boris."

I nod. Boris and I already talked extensively. We're on the same page. "I have no intention of doing anything of the sort."

Maksim pats me on the back, which creates a bit of relief in me. "You come to me at any time, then."

Sergey interrupts. "Tell you what, make sure I'm there to destroy Boyra, and you've got my support."

I attempt to withhold my smile. "As long as I get to watch you take the bastard out, consider it done."

Sergey nods, and my father comes inside, coughing. We leave and get in the car. I text my driver to meet me at Killian's and then text him I'm coming over.

My father turns to me and says, "You can't take any chances with the Petrovs. Don't ever show them any mercy or hesitation. They are on the same level as the Baileys."

"I already know that," I blurt out, a bit insulted he even questions my thoughts on the Petrovs. They may be the number-one enemy of the Ivanovs and not our first priority in the past, but we're aligned now. Shannon's blood is half Ivanov. That makes the Petrovs even with the Baileys, even slightly higher than the Rossis.

My father coughs a few times then says, "You can't let your emotions rule your decisions, son."

"I'm not."

"You are. You put yourself in Sergey's shoes and thought about Hailee. Adding additional men into the equation instead of moving swiftly and keeping this within the O'Malleys is a risk."

"I told you why—"

"Yes, but don't make a habit of it. Learn to use your ruthlessness, not your heart. There is no room for sentiment or love when you're dealing with other crime families. Those emotions will get you killed or cause you to make bad decisions for the clan."

"I'm trying to strengthen our alliance," I claim.

My father's face hardens. "We have three prerogatives. At all times, we have to think of the consequences of all three. Every move you make needs to help us stay in control of the war between the Petrovs and Rossis. It can't give any power to the Baileys. The O'Malleys, under your guidance, must destroy them. Each decision needs to keep us moving forward to establish the clan's future income stream without jeopardizing it."

Acid curls in my gut, and I clench my abs, trying to calm it. The spinning in my head creates a throbbing pain in my brain. The daily pressure I feel never seems to weaken or disappear. It's pointless saying anything to my father in my defense. He's right, and I can't deny anything he's saying.

The car stops in front of Killian's house. My driver waits on the curb. I reach for the door, and my father grasps my arm.

His expression hardens, and his tone is cold. Chills run down my spine. "Liam, you don't have the luxury of making mistakes."

"Yes, I'm aware."

"I don't think you are."

I release the door handle. "What does that mean?"

He taps my chest. "You haven't learned to control this yet."

Anger surges through me. All I've done my entire adult life is try to be good enough to step into his shoes. I finally admit, "I'm not you, Dad. I'm doing the best I can and—"

"This isn't about you doing your best. It's about digging down and finding the ability to rule with your gut and not your heart."

I almost laugh. All I feel in my gut is a hole burning bigger each day that passes. I sniff hard and stare at the ceiling.

He softens his tone. "You're smarter than I ever was at your age, Liam." He taps my head and gut. "Use these two things. Keep your heart at home with your woman and nowhere else."

I grunt, tired of all the stress of ruling the clan before I'm even the one in charge. I open the door. "Thanks for the pep talk, Dad. I'll see you later."

"Liam—"

"Lecture me later. We're finished with this conversation right now," I tell him and get out. I shut the door, and Killian steps out of his house.

"Why do you look so pissed?" he asks.

"Shut up," I grumble, not in the mood to dissect any of my conversation with my father. I slide into the car and instruct the driver to go to Declan's.

Killian slams the door. He rolls the divider window up. "Did you tell Maksim yet?"

"About what?"

"Why Obrecht can't touch Jack Christian? Boris just texted me to tell you that time is up."

I groan. "Tell him I'll do it today. Text Maksim and ask if we can meet him after we see Finn."

Killian sends the messages off. He raises his eyebrows.

"What?" I growl.

"You going to fill me in on whatever it is that made you move our meeting to now?"

I sigh. I tell him about Boyra Petrov and what happened to Kora and Sergey.

"Fuck, that's intense," Killian mutters.

"Yeah. My dad's notifying our guys to watch and report when he's at the whorehouses. He's not like Zamir, so he'll show his face. We shouldn't have a problem tracking him," I confidently state.

"Then why do you look so pissed?" he asks.

"Drop it," I instruct.

The phone rings, and I glance at the screen. I answer, "We're almost there."

Finn says, "Declan and I just left. Something came up."

My stomach twists. "Do I need to meet you?"

"Nope. Nothing you need to deal with or worry about. We'll try to catch up later tonight."

"All right." I hang up and call Maksim.

"Liam," he says after one ring.

"Can we meet now?"

"Sure. Swing by my place."

I hang up and instruct the driver to go to Maksim's. Within minutes, we arrive. Killian punches in the penthouse code. When we step off the elevator, Maksim is waiting for us. We go into the living room and sit on the couches.

"What's going on?" he asks.

I lock eyes with his. "I need to tell you how we're going to change the future income stream for the O'Malleys. Obrecht wants to kill Jack Christian. You can't let him touch Jack or Judge Peterson until his company goes public."

A line forms between his eyebrows. "Judge Peterson?"

"Yes."

"Is Finn keeping his distance? If the judge knows he's going after him—"

"He's extra cautious," I insist.

Maksim's eyes turn to slits. "Have you pulled Boris into this?"

I shake my head. "He knows what is going on, but he doesn't have anything to do with it. I swear."

Maksim leans forward. "And you're going to keep it that way, correct?"

"Yes. It involves his daughter's future, so it was only right I told him." I leave out the part about Boris and I having it out one night at the pub when he claimed the O'Malleys put Nora and his unborn child at risk by running drugs and gambling operations. He was hinting about not having O'Malley in Shannon's name, which is something he promised my father he would do, claiming it would be safer for her not to be associated with our crime family. That only made me angry, but we came to an agreement after a long conversation in the back alley. I assured him I would change things and disclosed what we had in the works. He vowed to have O'Malley in Shannon's name as long as I was serious about getting out of the addiction business.

"Fair enough. Now tell me why Obrecht can't kill that bastard right now," Maksim demands.

"Way to not beat around the bush," Killian inserts.

I ignore him. I explain to Maksim our plan to profit off the fall of Jack's company stock.

He stays quiet. When I finish, he sits back and pushes the pads of his fingers together. The feeling I said something wrong fills me until he says, "Where's Finn?"

"He and Declan are taking care of something. Why?"

Maksim tilts his head. "He's been out for over a month now. I've yet to see him. He refused to see me when I went to visit him after he got locked up."

"Why?" I ask. I was unaware of this. Maksim and Finn were tight. I always wondered why Maksim never visited him. I asked Finn once, and he said to drop it.

"That's between Finn and me. Now let me be clear about something else."

"What's that, Daddy M?" Killian teases.

Maksim and I both glare at him.

"Jesus. You two need to lighten up a bit," Killian mutters.

Maksim releases an annoyed breath and turns back to me. "From now on, you don't put my brother in a position to keep things from me. Whatever you tell an Ivanov, I better be aware of."

"Noted," I agree.

"And tell Finn, we're overdue. I want to meet with him this week. Not next week, this week."

"I'll tell him. But you know Finn. I can't make him do anything if he doesn't want to."

"Then you tell me where he's at, and I'll just show up," Maksim replies.

I groan and scrub my face. "Don't put me in that position with Finn."

Maksim points at me. "You had my brother keep important information from me. You owe me this, Liam."

"Listen, I—"

His phone rings, and he motions for me to stay quiet. He answers, "Sergey." Maksim scrunches his face, repeats Sergey, and rises. The color drains from his cheeks, and he motions for us to follow him.

We get in the elevator, and he puts it on speaker. There are several gunshots and Russian screaming. Sergey yells, "Fuck," then things get too muffled to hear anything.

"What just happened?" Killian barks.

Maksim snarls, "Boyra has them."

The elevator doors open, and Maksim calls his driver. "Follow me in your car. We don't know if we need it."

The ride to the outskirts of Chicago is fast and chaotic. Killian and I try to contact my dad, Finn, and his brothers.

When we pull up to the abandoned warehouse, Sergey is naked. His ankle and wrist are bound, and he's screaming, "Kora!"

Maksim rolls a thug off Kora. A pool of blood surrounds her. Boyra is dead on the ground several feet from her.

Without thinking, I pick up Kora and run to my car with her limp, blood-soaked body in my arms. I attempt to find a bullet, but I can't. Sergey jumps in my car naked, clutching his clothes. We take off for the hospital, both of us trying to locate a wound.

He keeps saying, "Wake up, my lapa."

We're close to the hospital when she barely opens her eyes. She whispers, "Sergey."

He does his best to keep it together, trying to comfort her. "Shh."

I stare out the window, trying to give them some privacy, but it's impossible.

We pull up to the hospital. He puts on his pants and carries her in. A team of people takes her from him and puts her on a stretcher. A nurse yells out, "She's going into shock."

My father comes into the waiting room with the police chief. They quietly talk with the Ivanovs and us. Adrian and my father leave to go to the scene of the crime and clean up with the police chief. We all want Kora and Sergey's name to stay out of everything. It's better not to have any crime family news in the press, and the police chief knows it.

After they leave, I get in my car and call Hailee. She's at school, and I've never called her before. She doesn't answer, and I text her.

Me: There's an emergency. I'm at the hospital but coming to get you.

Hailee: What's wrong? Are you okay? Is Gemma okay?

Me: Yes. It's Kora. She should be fine, but I think you should be here.

Hailee: I'll get someone to watch my class and wait for you.

When I pull up to the curb, she comes flying out of the building. I open the door, and her hand flies to her mouth. "Oh my God! Liam, what happened? I thought you said you were okay!"

I glance at my bloody clothes then remove my shirt. "Sorry. It's not mine. I'm not injured."

Her eyes dart between the shirt and me, and she starts to cry.

I pull her into my arms. "Shh. It's okay, little lamb. I'm fine. Kora will fully recover, too."

She pulls back. Her blue eyes overflow with tears, and her lips quiver hard.

I stroke her hair and kiss her forehead. I reiterate, "It's okay."

She shakes her head. "I-I need to tell you something."

My gut sinks. "What?"

"I-I should have told you last night when we got home, but I promised Gemma I wouldn't. But I researched everything today, and it's possible based on the dates."

The hairs on my arms rise. "What are you talking about?"

"I didn't think it could be true. And when you texted, I thought Orla did something to my sisters or my mom. And Gemma just called while I was waiting for you and...and..." She covers her mouth and closes her eyes. The tears never stop flowing.

I remove her hands from her face and cup her cheeks. "Tell me what is going on, Hales."

"Orla didn't say anything to Gemma about the location services. She told her my mom killed her mother, Riona."

I gape at Hailee. Riona Ryan was a mafia princess before her death. The rumor is she was ruthless and one of the most conniving Ryan women to ever exist. It doesn't surprise me how cruel Orla is, knowing who her mother and father are. The Ryans and Baileys have had an alliance for years. And I'm not shocked Riona was Rory's mistress. Dozens of marriages entwine their families.

"I-I think there's something else about my mom."

I wait, my chest tightening.

Hailee swallows hard. "I think my mom and Riona were sisters."

My stomach flips faster. "Your last name is O'Hare. Isn't that your mom's maiden name?"

Hailee shakes her head. "My mom changed it. I don't think it's her real maiden name. I can't find a Jane O'Hare anywhere in North Carolina. But I did find a Jane Ryan who had a sister named Riona. And Jane disappeared right after Riona's death. I don't think she married my father, either."

I choose my words carefully. "Your mom said she was married to your father?"

"Yes. Why?"

My heart pounds harder. I reveal, "She couldn't have been. Rory never married."

Hailee's eyes widen. "Why would she lie to us? What would the purpose be?"

I slide Hailee onto my lap. I attempt to keep my voice calm, but it's hard. "I don't know. But you should have told me what Gemma said last night."

Hailee wipes her face. "I know. But I promised Gemma and wanted to prove her wrong. I-I can't. And when she called, I thought it was about this, but it wasn't."

I'm scared to ask her, but I do. "What did Gemma call you about?"

Hailee's entire body trembles. "My dad is getting released in two weeks."