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Chapter Three

Finn

I hold the buzzer again. Eve pokes her head in the door and doesn’t quite suppress her sigh.

“Come fluff my pillows.”

She raises her eyebrows.

“Please.”

As she walks toward the bed, I lean forward, and she bunches the pillows, making them bigger. I just wanted to see if she’d do it. I’ve been coming up with shitty jobs for her since Carys left. No phone. No internet. No TV. No books. I’m not sure what Carys thought I would do with my time, but annoying the nurse seems to be it. And digging for whatever she doesn’t want me to find out.

“That ring.” I gesture to her left hand. “What’s your boyfriend’s name again?”

“Uhh.” She bunches her hands into the sides of the pillows with more determination. “Peter.”

I smirk. She said Paul earlier.

“It’s funny. Looks a lot like something Carys would wear.”

“Oh? You think she’d like this?” She eyes her handiwork and steps away from the bed.

Stifling a groan, I ease onto the pillow. There’s nothing about Carys I don’t notice. Nothing in this room is to her taste, which is surprising. The yellow and brown tones aren’t colors she’d choose.

“Peter-Paul live around here?”

“In Zur—” Her eyes grow wide, and she blinks.

Zur-Zur-Zurich? She smuggled me to fucking Switzerland. “Ah, the Alps.” I wink at her. “I won’t tell her you spilled the beans.”

Eve’s accent makes a lot more sense now.

“When do you have to return her ring?”

She stares at me, turns on her heel, and hauls ass out the door. Right now, I guess.

I sink further under the covers and wonder whether I can get the nurse into the room again. Perhaps I went a bit too far. Amuses the shit out of me that Carys gave her a fake engagement ring to wear but didn’t coach her on the backstory. After having my ass handed to me by Kimi, my very own undercover FBI agent, Eve’s ineptitude is laughable.

“I’m glad you find this whole thing funny.” In the doorway, Carys has her arms crossed.

Gone are the skirt and tight white shirt, and in its place are dark jeans and a flowing, girly shirt. The other outfit was better.

“You gotta admit,” I say, “giving her a ring and not helping her build a backstory is careless.”

She shrugs and then wanders into the room. “I wanted you deterred, not deceived.”

“We’re in Switzerland, huh? You woulda had to break a shit-ton of laws to get me here.”

“You won’t be able to go back.” She stops near my bed, out of reach.

She must be able to sense what will happen if she gets too close.

“What information do the feds have?” I say.

“You’re missing. That’s the news story.”

“Kimi will make sure they suspect you.”

She squares her shoulders and stands taller. “There’s nothing they can do if you’re here. I paid everyone involved very well. I had to string the extraction together last minute, so I didn’t use my best, most trusted people, but it’ll be fine.”

“Christ, Carys. I don’t want you going to prison trying to save my ass.”

“It’s done. You were unconscious, so you didn’t get a say.” Her lips rise at the corners, not quite a smile.

“How’d you find out? Lorcan?”

He didn’t kill me. Maybe he made sure I’d come out alive too.

She shakes her head and bites her lip. “Sean.”

“Sean.”

The truth drops like a piece of lead. Pisses me off that she could buy information from a key man in my organization. But without Sean caving, I’d be in custody. Death woulda been preferable to jail.

“I need to transport you out of here tonight. Can you walk?”

“I’ve made it to the bathroom and back a few times.” My gaze rakes over her, taking in the no-nonsense flats she’s wearing, as opposed to her heels. “I had to lean heavily on Eve.”

Without missing a beat or breaking eye contact, she calls out to someone named Jay. A burly, olive-skinned man appears in the doorway.

“Finn needs to lean on you on the way to the car.” She tilts her head at me, a challenge.

“I need some fucking privacy to get dressed. I’ll be fine.”

She holds out a hand to the man beside her, and he places a shopping bag across her fingers. She swings it forward and lets it go so it lands beside my bed. She’s done that maneuver before.

“We’ll be out of here when you’re ready.” She closes the door behind her.

Easing myself to the edge of the bed, I wince as I grab the bag from the floor. Designer jeans in my size and a black T-shirt. I dress so slowly that at one point, Eve knocks to ask if I need help. It’s not her hands I want trailing across my body, even if it was fun to pretend for a while.

With a sigh, I tug the shirt down and straighten. My stitches stretch with every movement, serving as a constant reminder my little brother chose a woman he’d only known a few months over me. An FBI agent. I didn’t think Lorcan had a clue about Kimi until we were face-to-face in our warehouse, and then it was pretty fucking clear he understood who Kimi was and what she’d been doing.

When I open my bedroom door, there’s a waiting room directly outside and an office to the left. Eve leans against the office entry. Jay and Carys are sitting in the recliners, and she flips through a fashion magazine with one hand, her phone clutched in the other. She notices me as her phone buzzes.

“Ready?” She peeks at the incoming message and sighs. She drops the magazine on the table beside her, and stands.

“Eric?” Jay hoists himself out of the chair.

“He landed.” She eyes me for a second, indecision written across her face.

“Who’s Eric?”

The ring on Eve’s finger. The way she sighed at his text. Adds up to something I don’t like. Was she engaged when we had sex months ago? Is she still engaged? The vice around my chest tightens.

She glances at Jay. “A business associate.”

My instinct is to demand more information. Instead I grunt and start toward the door. None of my business. She doesn’t belong in this shitstorm I’ve created. We had a single night a few months ago and nothing more. Just because she saved my life doesn’t change our reality. I gotta keep the head on my shoulders in charge, instead of the one in my pants.

“Finn.” Her voice is soft, almost sad beside me.

I raise by eyebrows in silent response.

“You’re moving pretty slow. Do you want help?”

I grit my teeth and shake my head. “I’m fine.”

The words, are you sure, hang between us, but she doesn’t dare vocalize them.

“Thanks, Eve.” I smirk and give her a wink on the way past. “You understand how to look after a guy. Your fiancé, Peter-Paul, is a lucky man.”

A blush rushes to Eve’s cheeks, and she turns away. Carys makes an exasperated noise, and I run a hand down my face to hide my grin. There’s something very satisfying in besting her.

We file out into the cool, dark night. When we get to the car, I maneuver into the back seat with care. Carys sits in the front with Jay. Determined to avoid being close to me, I guess. Fine by me. I don’t need more complications. Easier to think when she isn’t within arm’s reach. As soon as she is, burying myself deep inside her is all I want. Years ago, being with her ran through me like a wildfire. Took her almost dying to snuff it out.

As the vehicle accelerates through the city streets, I try to focus on what the hell I’ll do now. Getting revenge on Kimi is a happy thought, and I linger there, but it’s out of the question. There’s no way to go after her without dragging Carys, and possibly Lorcan, down. I’m not doing that. Lorcan might have shot me, but he’s still my brother, my last piece of family. Should I have looped him in when I allowed the Volkovs to murder our father? Probably. Can’t go back.

From the front seat, Carys says, “Are you going to tell anyone else about Lorcan and Kim? The FBI connection? The truth is being covered over, but we could blow the whole thing wide open.”

“Who would I call?”

“Byrne brothers. Volkovs. Zhangs. Any of them?”

“Fuck ’em.” I grab my neck and wince at the straining skin and stitches.

I can’t even remember the last time I felt good. Apparently getting stabbed and then shot is a bad combination.

“If they’re too dumb to figure out the truth, fuck ’em.” If they figure it out, they’ll go after Lorcan. We’ve got our problems, but nobody else better touch him.

“You worried about the fallout for him?” Carys says.

“He didn’t kill me.”

“You make the gunfight sound like a fistfight in your parents’ basement.”

“That’s the code.” I turn my gaze from the window to see streetlights dancing across her half-turned face. “Same rules apply. He’s my brother. I’m not giving anyone anything that’ll get him killed.”

“Are you going after him?”

I chuckle. “You worried you saved my ass just to have me put it on the line again?”

A hint of a smile touches her face. “Wouldn’t be unheard of.”

“Surprise. I’m finally growing up.” I smirk and spread my hands wide.

Her laughter echoes through the car, warming my chest. I press the heel of my hand into the warmth and focus on the scenery outside as the city recedes and countryside takes over. In the distance, a chalet is lit up like a landing strip. That’s gotta be hers. Charles Van de Berg has always been a big fan of extravagance in every aspect of his life.

“Small and quaint,” I say.

“You know my father.”

I used to until I almost got his daughter murdered. Standing toe-to-toe with him outside her hospital room, covered in the blood of the men who put her there, is my most vivid memory. That and her expression when she realized she was stabbed. Christ .

“You all right back there?”

Her voice draws me out of my dark thoughts. Jesus . The number of people I’ve killed in my life, and the thing guaranteed to undo me every time is that expression on her face, startled, scared, full of disbelief. There was nothing I could do.

The tightness in my chest eases at the realization she didn’t die. Close, but the doctors at the hospital worked their magic. Letting her go was the best decision I ever made. Might be the only choice in my life I’m proud of. “Fine. Thinking about how the hell to get out of Switzerland and on with my life.”

From my profile view, her smile fades. “Yeah,” she says. “The sooner you’re on your feet, the better.”

As we start up the long drive, Carys and Jay talk in low voices up front. I can’t quite hear what they’re saying, but when another vehicle is in the driveway, she lets loose a stream of curses.

“Eric?” I try to catch a glimpse of his car.

“When we go in, can you please keep out of it, Finn? Or else stay in the car until I get rid of him.”

I sit forward while the car glides to a stop. Eric and I will not get along if she’s already warning me. The pretentious Alfa Romeo in the driveway doesn’t help.

“I’m not staying in the car,” I say. “And if he’s a dick to you, I’m gonna shut him up.”

Carys sighs. “Just remember you’ve already been stabbed and shot in the last few weeks.”

I chuckle. “Don’t worry. I’m sure I could still throw a mean right hook if I had to. Somebody can repair my stitches.”

From her seat, she holds up a finger. “Promise me. Promise me you won’t touch Eric, no matter what.”

With the door open, I ease myself out. “Has it been that long, Carys?”

Straightening in the cool night air, almost every part of my body aches. More drugs . I hope to hell she’s got good painkillers in there.

“I never make a promise I can’t keep.”