Ryan Renewed: New York Ruthless: Book 5

“Jessie?” Hayden says, clearing his throat. “Are you Jessica?”

“I knew her. A long time ago.”

He frowns at me and I’m not sure he understands. I mean, he’s a smart kid from what I found about him, but I suppose book-smart and regular-smart aren’t always entirely compatible.

“You can relax, Hayden. I just want to talk to you,” I say with a reassuring smile.

“Okay,” he eventually replies and settles back against the seat. “What was she like?”

“Do you know anything at all about her?”

“Only that her family were murdered when she was young and then she went missing after.”

“But you thought she was still alive? Why is that?”

He clears his throat. “Well, she was never found, so I thought maybe she had survived, but it wasn’t until I started looking for my father that I found out she had.”

Conor fidgets in the front seat as he drives, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel and the tension in the car suddenly grows thicker.

“Who told you that?”

“Like I said the other day, some guy in a bar.”

“A guy in a bar?” I arch an eyebrow at him but I keep my voice calm and steady, trying to put him at ease and to prevent either Mikey or Conor reaching back and throttling the truth from him. “I’m going to need a little more than that from you.”

His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. “I don’t have any more. I was asking around about Alexei and, well,” he pulls at the collar of his t-shirt, “as you can imagine people weren’t too happy about me doing that. I was about to get thrown out when this huge guy came over to me and stopped them. I thought he was going to fucking kill me. Then he told me that Alexei was dead but that his daughter was still alive. He said her name was Jessica and I’d find her at Emerald Shamrock. When I found out it was a nightclub, I thought maybe she worked there. That’s all I know.”

“What was the name of the bar?” Conor barks.

“The Black Bear. Like I said,” he says.

I stare at him. A bead of sweat runs down his brow and he wipes it away.

“What did the guy look like?” I ask.

“Terrifying,” he replies with a shudder. “Huge. Greasy. He had really dark hair and it was slicked back with like oil or something. He had a beard. I honestly don’t remember that much. He told me to get out and I did. I swear, I was just happy not to have been shot at. This,” he looks around the car and then his voice drops to a whisper, “is not my world.”

I lean back against my seat and stare at him. I can’t get a good read on him and that worries me.

“You want to come for dinner?” I ask.

His eyes widen and he looks between me and my two bodyguards.

“They’ll behave. I promise.” I wink at him.

“Are you…?” he asks again.

“Look, kid, she told you Jessica Ivanov was dead,” Mikey barks.

I put my hand on Mikey’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I got this.”

Hayden stares at me, his face pale and his eyes wide with terror. This really isn’t his world. That much I believe. “I’m Jessie Ryan,” I tell him. “Jessica Ivanov is dead. She died along with her parents and her brothers and we won’t speak of her again, okay?”

“Okay,” he says but he blinks in confusion.

“But that doesn’t mean you don’t have a half-sister.”

Hayden keeps blinking at me.

“He’s not getting this, Jessie,” Conor snaps.

“He is,” I say with a reassuring smile. “It’s just taking a while, right?”

Hayden swallows. “Right.”

“You want to come for dinner at our place then?” I ask again.

“Yeah,” he says with a nod of his head.

“Good,” I smile at him and I squeeze Mikey’s shoulder. “Mikey here is a great cook.”

“I make a great chili, kid. You like chili?”

“Love it,” Hayden says.

“You’d better call Shane and let him know we’re bringing a guest home,” Conor says to his brother.

“Good idea.” Mikey takes his cell from his pocket. “He can make sure Liam is all calmed down by the time he gets home. We don’t want him getting all stabby.”

“Stabby?” Hayden almost chokes on the word.

“He’s joking,” I lie.

Hayden stands at the large window in our kitchen with a bottle of Bud in his hand. I walk to stand beside him. Mikey is cooking in the background and Conor sits at the kitchen table watching me and Hayden so intently that I feel his eyes burning into me. Hayden has been here for two hours now and both Mikey and Conor have been perfect hosts. They haven’t let either of us out of their sight, but they also gave us a little space to talk privately. Not so private that they wouldn’t have heard every single thing that we said, but they have kept their distance and I know how hard it must be for them not to interrogate him because I know they want to.

I have asked questions mostly and Hayden has seemed happy to talk. I know he’s only ever lived in New Jersey but he wants to move to New York. He’s smart with numbers and was going to major in business before he had to drop out of college to help look after his mom. She was sick for three years before she died. He has no other family. He doesn’t have a girlfriend or a boyfriend, and he has worked waiting tables since he was eighteen.

I like him.

“This is some view,” Hayden says with a low whistle.

“It sure is,” I agree as we look out over the city skyline. “You should see it from the roof terrace.”

“You have a roof terrace?” he asks as his eyes widen in excitement.

“Yep, with a pool.”

“Wow!” He takes a swig of his beer. “How long have you lived in New York?”

“A few years.”

“And before that?”

“All over really,” I say with a shrug.

“You’re so lucky. I’ve always wanted to travel,” he says with a sigh and I can’t help but smile that he thinks my running from a psychopath was traveling.

“No reason why you can’t one day,” I tell him and he shrugs.

He looks like he’s about to say something when the kitchen is filled with the unmistakable sounds of all four Ryan brothers being in the same room. A chorus of ‘hey, bro’s’ ripples around the kitchen.

I spin around and smile at Liam as he stands beside the kitchen island. He smiles back at me but he scowls at Hayden.

“That’s Liam,” I whisper and Hayden gives him an awkward wave.

Shane walks toward us and as soon as he reaches us, he wraps me in his arms and kisses me. Not a soft peck on the lips, but a full on, passionate Shane Ryan kiss. I gasp for breath when he lets me up for air. That was a blatant display of his possessiveness, but I love that about him so I let it go. “This is Hayden,” I say to him and then I turn to Hayden. “And this is Shane.”

Shane extends his hand and Hayden takes it gingerly in his.

Oh please, don’t crush his fingers, Shane!

But he doesn’t. He shakes it gently as he forces a smile. “I hear you’re joining us for dinner?”

“Yeah. It smells delicious,” Hayden says breathing in the aroma of Mikey’s delicious chili.

“It is. You’re in for a treat,” Shane replies, his hand coasting over my back until he rests it just above my ass. “Shall we sit?” He motions toward the table and the tone of his voice makes it clear this is not a request.

Mikey and Conor have dished out dinner and we are all sitting with a plateful of chili, and we’re about to dig in when Shane speaks.

“So, how much debt are you in, Hayden?” he asks matter-of-factly, like he’s asking what his favorite soda is.

“U-um,” Hayden stammers as he holds his fork halfway between his plate and his mouth.

“Shane!” I frown at him.

“What? Let’s not waste time with small talk and discuss the things that are on all of our minds.”

“I…” Hayden starts to speak but he is flustered.

“You haven’t told him that you already know about his mom’s huge medical bills?” Shane arches an eyebrow at me.

“Well, it wasn’t part of our opening conversation, Shane,” I hiss through gritted teeth.

Shane puts his fork down and rests his huge forearms on the table. “I think it’s best that we lay all cards on the table,” he glares at Hayden. “Jessie here has a gift. She can find out pretty much anything about anyone. So we already know that you’re in debt that you have no hope of repaying. You see the building we’re sitting in?” He looks around the room. “The building we own. You can see why my brothers and I might be concerned that you’re not looking for a sister at all?”

Hayden nods. “I can see why you might think that, but it’s not true. I don’t want Jessie’s money.”

“It’s not my money,” I say, earning me a withering look from Shane.

“So, how do you intend to pay?” Conor asks.

“I honestly don’t know. I pay off what I can, but I don’t earn that much,” Hayden says quietly. “But that’s not why I came looking for Jessic – Jessie,” he quickly corrects himself.

“What if I were to offer to pay of all your debts right now?” Shane arches an eyebrow at him and I close my eyes and suck in a breath. I should have known this was coming. This is Shane’s test.

“What’s the catch?” Hayden whispers.

“You leave here now and never come back. You never mention Jessie or Jessica’s name again and you forget that either of them existed. I’ll even throw in an extra fifty thousand bucks so you can get back on your feet. What do you say?”

Hayden doesn’t speak for a few seconds as he considers Shane’s proposal. “I’m not gonna lie and say that’s not a tempting offer… But I’m not here for money.”

I flash Shane a sarcastic smile and refrain from calling him an asshole in front of our guest, hoping that he knows that’s what I’m thinking anyway.

“Then let’s eat,” Shane says as he picks up his fork again.

Hayden is hesitant at first, no doubt wondering if he is about to be blindsided again. I give him a gentle nudge on the arm. “You’ll have to excuse my husbands, they are very overprotective.”

“With good reason,” Liam snaps before he shovels a forkful of chili into his mouth.

“Well, yeah,” I admit with a laugh.

“I don’t think I want to know,” he says with a shake of his head and a soft smile. “But I guess it’s kind of nice to have people looking out for you.”

I swallow the ball of emotion that rushes up from my chest and gets lodged in my throat. I remember how it felt to be all alone in the world like he is right now. My possessive, overprotective husbands might be a bit much sometimes, but I wouldn’t have them any other way. “It is,” I whisper.

After the strained start to our meal, we end up enjoying the remainder of it and once Hayden has relaxed, he is surprisingly good company. He even makes Mikey laugh when he tells him a story about the chef at the bar where he works getting fired for stealing the owner’s spare panties from her purse.

“That would make you laugh, being a fellow panty-fiend.” I arch an eyebrow at Mikey and he winks at me.

Liam has been quiet throughout the evening and I make a note to speak to him about it later.

Hayden checks his watch as Shane and Liam start clearing the dishes. “I should be going if I’m going to catch the last train.”

“We’ll have a driver take you home,” Shane says.

“If that’s not a problem that would be great. I hate taking the train late at night,” he says.

“You do?” I squeal. “I love the train at night. Not that I ever take it any more.”

Hayden shudders, making me laugh. “It’s full of scary people.”

“No wonder you like it, Red,” Mikey says, pressing a soft kiss on my forehead. “You’re a magnet for scary people.”

“Like you?” I narrow my eyes at him.

“Oh, definitely me,” he whispers in my ear.

“This has been great though. Thank you so much,” Hayden says as he pushes back his chair. “I’d love to see you again, Jessie.”

Neither of us miss the exchange of looks, grins and arched eyebrows that bounce across the room between the brothers.

“I mean, like…” Hayden stammers again, his cheeks turning bright red as he thinks of the right words. Then he throws his hands up in the air. “She’s my damn sister, guys. I didn’t mean…” He shakes his head and everyone except Liam laughs.

“Is she?” Shane asks as he comes up beside me and wraps an arm around my waist. “Because this has been nice, but we don’t really know that you two are even related.”

“So how do we find out?” Hayden asks. “A DNA test?”

“No,” Liam snaps and Shane shoots him a warning look.

“That seems the quickest and easiest way to prove it one way or another,” I say with a shrug.

“Then it’s fine by me,” Hayden replies. “So what do we do? Get one online or something?”

“No,” Shane says with a shake of his head. “You don’t need to do anything. We’ll be in touch.”

“Okay,” Hayden replies with a frown and I give him a reassuring smile. “I’ll wait for you to call me then?”

“Yeah,” I say.

“I’ll walk you downstairs,” Shane says.

Hayden stands awkwardly for a second until I break the tension and give him a hug. He seems reluctant to hug me back at first and I have no doubt he has four pairs of eyes burning into his skin. But then he wraps his arms around me. “It was great to meet you, Jessie,” he whispers.