Page 87 of The Apprentice

What about me?I wanted to scream. Sloan treated Lor more like a son than he did me lately. I’d worked my ass off for this company,for Sloan, yet as soon as he discovered who Lor was, he took him under his wing.

Pain sliced through my heart, and I breathed through the agony that tore me to shreds on the inside. I nodded sharply. “Understood, Uncle.”

“Fionn—”

“Excuse me, sir.” I raced out of the office before Sloan ordered me to stay. Until he gave me direct instructions, I could escape, and I couldn’t stay in there for a minute longer.

I nearly knocked Daire down on my way through the hall. I had to get out of here. Sloan said nothing had changed, but that was bullshit. Everything had changed. I would lose everything. It didn’t matter if I was still his apprentice. He liked Lor better than me.

Everyone did.

Lor laughed along with our men and cozied up to Conall and Vail. He might look like some brooding goth, but he had them all wrapped around his finger. They loved him.Fuck!And Uncle Sloan was keeping him here in the house.Why?If anyone found out he was a Killough, too, they’d all want him to be the boss.

Talk about keepingusefulpeople close.

I took the grand staircase two steps at a time and raced down the hallway until I crashed into my room. I slammed the door shut before I broke down in the hall. I tried to take a deep breath but choked on the panic rising in my throat. Terror and anger assailed me, and I didn’t know if I wanted to scream or cry.

Both. I wanted to do both.

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t push the air through my lungs. Why couldn’t my body do what it was supposed to?

Tears burned in my eyes, and I clenched them shut, trying to hold the tsunami at bay.

Is this how my entire world crashed and burned? All because of a bastard and his son?

I tried to stumble to my bed, but my legs gave out, and I collapsed to the floor. I punched the hardwood until my fists bled and finally let myself scream.

Pushing to my feet, I forced my legs to work so I could get to the window and stare out.

I wouldnevergive up my hard work for that...asshole! Never!

17

DAIRE

I hesitated at Fionn’s door, hand floating in the air ready to knock. I didn’t know what Sloan had said to him, but it couldn’t be good with the way Fionn had rushed out of the office. Following Fionn wasn’t a choice. I had to make everything better for my boy. If that meant defying Sloan, then so be it.

Sighing, I rapped my knuckles on his door before walking in.

He was standing beside the window, his shoulders stiff and posture rigid. Everything about him right now reminded me of the boy I’d tried hard to ignore over the years. This wasn’t Fifi ormy boy, this was Fionn, the overworked and stressed nephew of Sloan Killough.

“Fionn?” I rushed to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. I pulled him back against my chest and held him as tight as I could. “What did he say?”

From this angle, I caught the tightness of his jaw and the moisture in his eyes as he stared out toward the massive lawn and the greenhouse Conall liked to visit. The remnants of tear tracks stained his cheeks. “Did you know?”

“Know what?” I grasped his shoulders gently and turned him toward me, and he kept his hardened stance, as though he wasn’t sure if he could trust me or not, and that hurt the most. His knuckles were bloody and I brushed my thumb over them gently. My heart gave a painful tug.

“Lorcan O’Guinn is my cousin. Sloan’s nephew.”

“What?” I gaped. “Cousin? Nephew? How?”

He searched my gaze, and while he was, the realization hit me. There’d been reports but nothing concrete.

“Lorcan Lee?”

He grunted. “Apparently, he’s Grandfather’s son.”

“Fuck. I’ve heard the rumors, but I didn’t think they were true.” I held him tighter.