I follow her over. Bury myself deep and come so hard my arms shake with the effort of holding myself up. Her name on my lips. Her body holding mine.
I stay inside her.
I don't want to move. Don't want to break whatever this is. Her fingers trace lazy patterns on my back, over the scratchesshe left. My face is against her neck. I can feel her pulse under my lips. Fast. Slowing.
"Sunday," she says eventually.
"Sunday."
"We're going to survive it."
I don't tell her she can't know that. I don't give her the pragmatic answer, the honest answer, the one that says the odds aren't as good as I'd like them to be.
"Yeah," I say. "We are."
She threads her fingers through my hair. Holds me there. Against her. In this borrowed room in a borrowed house on borrowed time.
I pull out of her slowly. Roll onto my back. She tucks herself against my side, her head on my chest, her hand over my heart.
"Your heart is fast," she says.
"You do that."
The quiet settles. Not empty. Full. Full of things I can't say and don't need to because she already knows them.
My phone vibrates on the bedside table. Matty's name on the screen.
I reach for it. Read the message.
All three confirmed. Men and arms committed. Meeting point confirmed for 0400 Sunday.
I show Aoife the screen. She reads it. Nods.
"They're in," she says.
"All of them."
"Better odds than we've had."
I set the phone down. Pull her closer.
Every man they send is my responsibility now. Every family that agreed is betting their people on whether I've read this right. Add that to the list. Reilan. Frank. My father. The weight of this family and every family tied to it pressing down on my shoulders until I can barely stand.
But I'm standing.
Aoife's hand tightens on my chest. Her breathing slows. She's falling asleep. Trusting me enough to close her eyes, to let go, to be unguarded.
I stare at the ceiling, and I think about Sunday. About Viktor. About the warehouse and the men and the plan Matty built and the lives hanging on whether I've read this right.
Then I think about Reilan. About the M6 west of Ballinasloe. About the thing Aoife can never know.
I'll carry that. Along with everything else.
My phone vibrates again. I pick it up.
Matty.
Viktor is bringing in more men. Dublin port. Confirmed by Reilly contact.
