“How can you promise that? Those men, they're notgoing to stop. They think I killed one of their own, and they want blood.”
“But you didn’t.”
Connor meets my stare without flinching. “No. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But try explaining that to men who've already made up their minds.”
The fear in his voice, the way he keeps looking at Tierney like she might disappear – the kid’s a goddamn wreck right now.
“We'll handle it,” I tell him.
“How? By hiding me forever? By putting Tierney at risk every time she leaves the building?” He goes back to pacing and peering out the windows. “All these damn windows, we’re exposed to the entire fucking world,” he mutters.
“Look, panicking isn’t gonna help you,” I say, putting a hand on his shoulder. “We’re gonna find them before they find you. That’s how we’ll handle things, okay? But you’ve gotta trust me to deliver.”
Connor nods, but he still looks shattered. “I just...I won’t be able to live with myself if she gets hurt because of me. Please promise…no, swear, you won’t let anything happen to her.”
“I will die for her,” I say, my eyes tangling with Tierney’s. “And that’s a promise.”
Her cheeks turn pink and she gives my arm a squeeze before walking over to Connor. She whispers something to him and he pulls her close for a long minute. Then he looks at me and gives me a nod.
We understand each other. And now he knows I’ll protect his sister with my life.
After we leave Connor's apartment, Tierney's quiet as we head back upstairs.
“He's really scared,” she says finally, heaving a deep sigh.
“Yeah.”
“I've never seen him like that. Even when everything went to shit in Dublin, he never looked so...”
“Broken?”
“Guilty. Like he thinks this is all his fault.” She lets out a huff. “And he didn’t even do anything. That’s what makes me so crazy. He’s always stayed away from the family business and kept his nose clean. Then this happens. It’s just not fair.”
We get back to the penthouse, and the adrenaline from earlier finally starts to fade. Tierney sinks onto the couch.
“Today was fucked up,” she says.
“Yeah, it was.” I sit beside her, and she leans into me without thinking about it. It’s comfortable and natural and easy. How fucking ironic under the circumstances.
“Thank you,” she says in a quiet voice. “For coming for me. For protecting Connor. For... all of it.”
“You don't need to thank me.” I tilt her head toward me, brushing my thumb across her lower lip.
“Yes, I do.” She places her hand over mine. “I know this isn't what you signed up for when you married me.”
If only she knew.
“Maybe not. But it's what we have.”
Her brows furrow. “Is it? Really?”
“What do you mean?”
She shrugs. “Sometimes I think this is real. What's happening between us. And sometimes I think I'm justfooling myself.”
The honesty in her voice makes my chest tight. “What does it feel like to you?”
“Real,” she admits. “Too real.”
