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“You got that right. I’m gonna do whatever I can to make sure neither of my kids ever follow their father.” She squeezes my hand. “I hope you get out.”
“You don’t need to worry about me,” I say with a small smile. “I know how to take care of myself.”
As I walk back down the path and get into the car beside Sean, I wonder whether it was Finn, his father, or Lorcan who decimated half my family. My heart wants it to be Finn or his father, but my head heard what she said about Finn convincing people to do terrible things. Lorcan killed once for his brother; who’s to say he didn’t do it two other times as well.
When the car glides to a stop outside the front door, Sean nods for me to get out. “I’ll go repark it.”
“Thanks.” My thoughts are lingering with Antonio’s kids. They’re so young.
“I think you did the right thing. Going there.”
“I know I did.” I open the door and pause with one foot on the ground. “But thanks for saying that.” Climbing out, I wander in the front entrance and nod to Ian on my way past. My mind is still mulling over everything she said, everything I learned about the organization, and I’m not paying attention to where I’m going. On instinct, I turn down my old wing.
“Kim?”
His voice, tinged with anger and disbelief, stops me in my tracks. Something in his lilt undoes me. I push my hands deeper into my pockets and straighten my shoulders. Going this way was a mistake. My heart races in anticipation.
“Lorcan.”
“What are you still doing here? I fired you. It might be a new concept to you, but it means you’re no longer welcome.” Anger spews out of him, but he’s using my favorite version of his accent, as though he knows how to seduce me even at this distance.
“It’s true. You fired me. When I told Finn, he declared me a free agent.” I take my hands out of my pockets and spread them wide before shrugging. “He rehired me for himself.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Lorcan chuckles, but there’s bitterness in the sound. “Of course, he did. And you, you couldn’t resist?”
I search his tense frame, contemplating which buttons will get me what I want. “Couldn’t resist him or the job?” I tilt my head at the end.
“I don’t want you here.”
“He does.”
“He can go fuck himself.”
“You better tell him that. ’Cause I’m staying.” I stare at him. “He wants me.” I flaunt the words. “I’ve already moved my stuff into his rooms.”
His jaw clenches, and his hands flex at his sides. “Why do you want to be here? We’re done. The job is done. Working for Finn is a death sentence.”
“I’ve beaten death before. I don’t like loose ends.” My words are a deliberate nudge.
Lorcan comes so close I feel surrounded by him. If he was anyone else, I’d be uncomfortable. He won’t hurt me though.
Rage spills out of him, straining against his control to say, “You cannot stay.”
“You fired me,” I say evenly. “That’s your choice. Finn asked me to work for him. That’s my choice.”
There’s anguish in his eyes when they connect with mine. His hands frame my face with a mixture of tenderness and frustration. “He’ll kill you, Kim.” He touches our foreheads together. “You can’t stay.”
“He won’t kill me.” Unless he remembers, and then I’m one breath away from a bullet in the head.
“There are things going on. Things you don’t understand. That he doesn’t know about. I—you can’t stay.”
“Tell me.”
“I can’t.” He swallows and closes his eyes. “I won’t stand by and let him do as he pleases, putting you in danger because it amuses him.”
“Maybe you were right,” I whisper. “Maybe if he comes to care about me…”