“And wasn’t it?” I hold his gaze. “A twenty-four-year-old who takes fucking photographs for a living has no idea she’s working with the Irish Mafia, and her apartment suddenly burns to the ground?”
I laugh, but it’s hollow. A bitter sound, the rage radiates off me like heat as I take a step back.
“We don’t know how it started yet,” Declan says calmly. “The fire chief said it began on the floor above hers.”
Kian and Connor stayed behind to get every scrap of information. We need to know if this was a warning or just a tragic accident.
“You heard the reports. It moved too fast. It had to be arson.” I start pacing, the cold forgotten.
Did someone see us that night?
Did someone watch me fuck her and mark her as leverage?
Did someone see her as a crack in my armour?
Fuck.
“Let’s wait. We can’t take action until we know what really happened,” Declan says, steady, watching me too closely. “Flynn.”
I don’t stop. Don’t look at him. If I do, he’ll see it.
He’ll see exactly what I’m feeling.
Exactly what I want.
“She’ll stay with you, right?” I ask, dragging the conversation back to logistics. To war, not weakness.
“Yeah. We’ll keep an eye on her. The mansion’s secure. If this was a move against the Irish Consortium, she’ll be safe there.”
His tone changes to ice cold. That voice he uses when he’s already planning the first death, even while telling me to wait.
“I’m going to meet up with Kian and Connor,” I say, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll leave Kaden here.”
Declan nods. “I’ll keep an eye on her, brother. Like you did with Viviana.”
If I find out who did this, if it turns out to be a fucking candle, I’ll still kill the person who lit it and the manufacturer who made it.
I head toward the car and see Kaden lighting a cigarette outside.
“You’re staying here,” I tell him flatly.
He glances at me, unimpressed. “So you think we’re being targeted, and your plan is to leave me here while you walk around out in the open alone?”
He shakes his head, smoke curling from his lips. “No fucking way, Flynn.”
Before I can answer, movement catches my eye. Two men in dark suits approach. Ours.
Of course they’re already here. I nod at them. Kaden trusts them. I trust Kaden.
She’ll be safe with them, with Declan. Still, my chest feels tight as I force myself to leave. I want to stay. Fuck, Ineedto, but if I do, I’ll never be able to keep the distance I promised myself I would.
I got to the hospital before Declan and Viviana. I was in the penthouse when the call came in. Kaden and I got in the car the second I heard her name.
I walked into the emergency room and nearly hit the doctor who said they’d sedated her.
I needed her eyes open.
I needed toseeher.
