But watching him now, with his hands splayed against the glass. His shoulders shook with fury. He balled up his fist and punched the window. When he turned around, he ignored me and said to Liam, “Not a soul knows she’s here. Not even Sal.”
Liam nodded and left.
Cian paced his penthouse, mumbling about stupid women getting involved in things that didn’t include them, and the more he mumbled, the angrier I got.
“Fuck you, Ci!”
He spun around and glared at me. He walked to the island in the kitchen, and that was when I saw the files. My gasp was louder than I’d expected. “Where did you get those?”
“Where do you think I got them?”
I dropped my purse on the floor as I rushed over and started piling up the papers; I could sort them out later. Cian grabbed my hands and pulled me away.
“What the fuck is this, Caity?”
“It doesn’t concern you.” I struggled to get out of his grasp, but he pulled me against his chest and banded his arms around me.
“The fuck it doesn’t.”
“Please let me go.”
“Not a fuckin’ chance.” He held me tighter, and when his hands rubbed my back, I instantly felt the anger and fear melt away. I wanted to burrow inside him and stay there. Safe, protected. But I couldn’t. This didn’t involve him. It didn’t involve me either, except that I was Eamon O’Malley’s daughter.
“How did you know?” I asked, my resolve softening.
When Cian didn’t answer, I looked up at him and saw the guilty look in his eyes. “What did you do?”
“Caity—”
“What the fuck did you do, Ci?”
“I promised I wouldn’t search your phone.”
I took a step back. He rubbed the back of his neck, and I knew it was bad. Whatever he’d done to violate my privacy, he was afraid to tell me. Afraid of admitting he’d overstepped.
“I want you to listen to me before you lose your mind.”
“What. Did. You. Do?”
“I love you, Caity. I’ve loved you since we were kids. I’d finally worked up the courage to talk to Sal about you when your father announced you were to marry Kelley.”
I stared at him. He’d finally said the words I’d waited a lifetime to hear. Words I’d never heard from Nolan. Words I’d only ever wanted to hear from him, and he said them in defense of a line he’d knowingly crossed.
“I promised you I wouldn’t look into your calls, but I knew you were involved in something, and I wanted to protect you.”
I took another step back, shaking my head. “Tell me you didn’t.”
“Caity,” he pleaded.
“Tell me you didn’t invade my privacy, Cian.” He took a step toward me, and I held my hand up, stopping him. “Tell me you didn’t,” I begged. My heart was breaking. The one person I thought I could always trust. The one person I thought I could believe in.
“I put cameras throughout the house.”
I rolled my lips between my teeth trying to fight back tears that threatened to fall. The betrayal of what he just said hit me harder than all the times Nolan cheated on me.
“You spied on me?” I whispered.
“I was worried about you, Caity. I wanted to protect you, but you wouldn’t let me in.”
