“Where’s Zeke?” Kade asked from behind me.

“Parking the car.” Ronan continued to hold my gaze. “I wanted to make sure you were all right, so I left him to sort that out.”

My stomach fluttered. Once upon a time, I’d dreamed of having him look at me like this. As though I were something precious. In the face of my conversation with Tom, I didn’t feel conflicted about my attraction to him. Tom had betrayed me. He’d sold part of our company to a man I knew had been a rival of Dad’s. Then he’d tried to sell me off too. Everything else was moot at this point.

“I’m okay,” I told him.

He searched my face. “I want to hear everything.” He slipped his hand into mine. “Come on.”

He led me to the living room, sat, and hauled me onto his lap. I squirmed, unsure what to make of the display of affection in front of Kade.

“Please.” Ronan’s lips caressed my ear. “I need you close.”

I softened. “Okay.” His words started a warm glow inside me. Nobody had ever said that to me before.

I rested my head on his shoulder, and we sat in quiet until Zeke barreled into the room. He came to an abrupt stop at the sight of us and raised a brow.

“What happened with Orlov?” Kade asked, breaking the silence.

“We waited for him outside the church,” Ronan said, his chest vibrating beneath my cheek. “Chased him down a series of alleys, but as soon as we cornered him, someone shot him. He died at the scene. We didn’t see the shooter.”

I stiffened. “He was shot right in front of you? Are you okay?” I inspected him. “Did you get hurt?”

“I’m fine,” he said softly.

“He’s been through worse than that,” Zeke added. “Seeing someone get shot is practically your usual Sunday. Right, King?”

The blood drained from my face. “It had better not be.”

“He’s joking.” Ronan’s eyes snapped to Zeke’s. “Cut it out.”

I glared at Zeke and then turned to Ronan. “What happened next?”

“I tried to save him.” His expression went taut. “I failed. Just before he lost consciousness, he said, ‘it’s not about the m—’ but never finished the sentence.” He looked around at the others. “My best guess is that he meant it’s not about the most obvious thing: money. Thoughts?”

“Sounds like a reasonable assumption to me,” Kade replied. “Money is what everyone’s been saying all along. If that’s not the motivation though, then what is?”

“The company,” I suggested.

“It’s a possibility,” Ronan agreed.

“I think Tom pissed off the wrong person and they want to punish him.” Zeke didn’t look up from studying his fingernails. “I’m sorry, Willow, but your brother has made a lot of enemies, and now a man is dead.”

I heard the accusation in his voice. He thought the death today was on Tom’s hands. I couldn’t fully disagree. Tom hadn’t been the one to hold the gun, but he’d certainly contributed to the situation.