I hold up a hand to silence her. “No. It’s my turn to talk.”
“Okay…” she whispers, shifting on the bed to face me head-on.
I don’t stray from the door, needing to keep some distance between us while we do this.
I’ve proven to myself time and time again that I lose all ability for rational thought when I’m around Fiona, and now is not the time to not be thinking straight.
“I spent the last twenty-four hours thinking my son was dead,” I start, my voice dangerously calm. “I held his shakingbody in my arms and wondered if I had ruined his life beyond repair. And every time I replay it, every time I think about how it happened, my thoughts always come back to you.”
Her face instantly crumples. “I didn’t mean?—”
“I told you, it’s my turn to talk. I don’t want to hear about how you didn’t mean to lie to my face, or that you didn’t mean to sneak into my brother’s office and tamper with evidence.”
“I was trying to help you!” She climbs to her feet and crosses over to me. But she stops short when she sees the look on my face. “I was going to tell you everything?—”
“Only after you got caught! Onlythendid you decide to come clean.”
Fiona opens her mouth, then closes it.
Her silence tells me everything.
“You don’t get the benefit of the doubt anymore. Not after what I know. Not after what you did,” I say quietly as I step closer, but to my surprise, she doesn’t back away.
She lifts her chin, refusing to wipe away the tears that are spilling down her flushed cheeks. Her voice shakes. “Then what are you going to do with me?”
The question hangs between us, and for a moment, I stare into her blue eyes, trying to see if I can look past the betrayal to find the woman beneath, the one I was starting to fall for.
But I can’t.
Maybe she was never there to begin with.
“For now, you’re going to stay right here where I can see you. You are not to leave this house without my say-so. You don’t touch another computer or another phone unless I’m standing right there. Understand?”
“You’re locking me up.”
It’s not a question.
“I’m containing a threat,” I correct. “Until you can prove you’re not one.”
“I told you the truth about Lorcan and the files. I wanted you to know what he was planning.”
“And how do I know you’re not still lying? How do I know this isn’t another angle that the two of you are playing?”
“Because I love you, Cormac,” she whispers as she reaches for me.
I grab her wrists instinctively, hard enough to remind her that I’m still the one in control here, but not so hard that it will leave a bruise. “You don’t get to say that. Not after everything.”
Her eyes shine with tears, but she doesn’t fight against my grip.
She lowers her gaze. “It’s true. I love you.”
For a moment, I almost believe her, and that’s what terrifies me.
I keep hold of her wrist as I take another step closer so that if she were to take a deep breath, her breasts would brush against my chest.
My free hand slides to her jaw, tilting her face up until she has no choice but to look at me.
“You have broken my trust. And right now, I’m not sure if you’ll ever be able to earn it back. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re mine, Fiona Callahan.”
