“I should’ve expected it,” I snap. “I should’ve known he’d twist it. But saying I wanted you dead—”
He tips my chin up, forcing my eyes to meet his. “A stór,breathe.”
I suck in air. It doesn’t help.
“He’s meeting me tomorrow,” Cillian says quietly.
“I heard.”
“It’ll be after your fourth performance. Rouge will come with me. You’ll go straight back to the flat when you’re done.”
“Absolutely not.”
Both men freeze.
I cross my arms. “I’m going.”
Cillian’s voice drops. “No, you’re not.”
“I need to be there.”
“That’s exactly why you’re not.”
“Cillian, I am not sitting in some hidden penthouse like a porcelain doll while your father spins stories that could get us all killed—”
Rouge stands, wipes his hands on a towel, and cuts in gently, “He’s right, duchess. It’s not safe for you.”
I turn on him. “Since when do you agree with him over me?”
“Since forever,” Cillian mutters.
Rouge shrugs. “He’s bigger.”
I glare daggers. “You two are insufferable.”
Cillian steps closer, voice low and firm. “Siobhán. My father wants you gone. Dead. Buried. Tonight was proof. I won’t have you in his crosshairs.”
“I’velivedin his crosshairs,” I snap back. “Since I was achild, Cillian. Since he made me his sweet little prodigy for the spotlight. Since he told you I wasn’t worth trusting. Since he decided I was useful for the family name and nothing else.”
Cillian flinches. A small one, but real.
“I will not be left behind,” I say, breath sharp. “Not for this.”
The room goes still.
Rouge sighs and rubs the back of his neck. “Cap… she’s not wrong.”
Cillian turns slowly. “You just agreed with me.”
“I’m reconsiderin’,” Rouge says. “Woman’s got fire. And she’s right — she knows his games better than either of us.”
Cillian pinches the bridge of his nose like he’s negotiating with two lunatics.
I step closer, voice softer. “I won’t speak. I won’t get in the way. I just… I need to see him lie to my face. I need to see you confront him. I need to know I’m not hiding.”
His jaw tics. His eyes drag over my face, reading every crack, every bruise, every piece of my soul. Finally, he exhales.
“Fine,” he murmurs. “You can be there.”
