Ten minutes later, the surgeon returns. He looks at me, his lips twisted and his forehead creased.
“She said to tell you the debt is paid. Whatever that means.”
The debt is paid.
She saved my life, and now she thinks we’re even. No more obligation. No more living in the same space. No more gym sessions together or rolling over in bed every morning to watch her sleeping beside me.
Fuck.
“Doctor,” I say, clearing my throat. “When she’s discharged, will she be able to travel?”
“Locally, yes. I wouldn’t recommend long flights for at least a week.”
But I know Tierney. A stab wound isn’t going to stop her from getting as far away from me as possible.
“Thanks.”
The surgeon gives me a swift nod and walks in the opposite direction. With a deep sigh, I collapse against the wall, pressing my hands to my temples.
The double doors leading from the waiting room open and Connor runs through, his eyes wide with panic.
“Where is she? Is she okay?” he says, skidding to a stop once he sees me.
“She’s alive. Stable.”
“What happened? Your man on the phone just said she’d been hurt.”
I look at Connor. The kid whose lies helped destroy my marriage, whose father’s debts put Tierney in danger, whose manipulation made her feel like everyone she loved was betraying her.
“She took a knife that was meant for me.”
“Jesus. Tier…” Connor’s face crumples. “Can I see her?”
“She’s not seeing visitors. At least, that’s what the surgeon told me. I’m hanging around, hoping she’ll change her mind.”
“But I’m her brother?—“
“You’re the reason she was in that apartment in the first place.” My voice is ice-cold. “You and your lying sack of shit father.”
“Bronx—”
“She found out, Connor. About the mission, about the marriage arrangement her father wanted from the beginning, about all of it. Everything you told me. She overheard me talking to my brothers about all of it. She knows I was supposed to manipulate her feelings to get the intel she stole from the Blood Vault.”
Connor goes white. “How thefuck?—?”
“Doesn’t matter how. What matters is that she thinks her husband seduced her for his own gain. She knows her brother lied to her for months, and her father orchestrated the entire situation to save his own ass from the Murphys.”
Connor shakes his head wildly. “But I never wanted?—”
“I don’t give a shit what you wanted, Connor. Your sister could have been killed today and she’s lying in a hospital bed right now, convinced everyone she loves has been using her.” I rake a hand through my hair. “And she’s not wrong. We all had a part to play in destroying her.”
Connor sinks into one of the plastic chairs lining the hallway. “What do we do?”
“We?” I let out a snort. “There is nowe.You’re going back to Dublin, to your father and your lies. Tierney’s going to try and leave with you. And I’ll have to live with the fact Ihurt the only woman I’ve ever loved because I was too much of a pussy to tell her the truth.”
“You’re in love with her?” Connor looks at me.
“Yeah, Connor, I fucking love her.”
