Page 195 of Deceived Wrath

“I was trying to fix it. I—I never would have hurt him.”

“You already did. You just haven't seen it yet.”

“Is that it, then? After everything I showed you? After what Lorcan did to your father? I’m the villain here?”

I turn to her fully now, letting her see the rage in my eyes.

“My father being murdered doesn’t erase what you did. And it doesn’t make you innocent. You lied to me forweeks. I brought you into my house, into mylife, because I thought you were worth it. I thought that we could…”

I cut myself off before I say anything more.

“I never meant for it to go this far,” Fiona whispers.

“And yet, it did. You got the best of both worlds. You would have paid off your debt to Lorcan and got to live out your days in my penthouse apartment while I pay you a salary you could retire on in a year.”

“You think I care about the money?” she explodes. “Take it all back, I don’t want it!”

“You seemed pretty eager to take it when I offered you the job at my company.”

“I had no choice. Lorcan forced my hand because if I didn’t deliver what he wants, Amber is going to pay the price.”

“What’s Amber got to do with this?”

“He has her doctor on his payroll.”

I curse under my breath. “He’s using her as collateral.”

“Now do you see why I had no choice? I couldn’t risk Amber not getting the treatment she needs. Believe me, I’ve been trying to find a way for all of us to get out of this alive.”

“Even after everything Lorcan has done, he still finds a way to become even more of an evil bastard,” I say through gritted teeth.

Even I know not to call his bluff. If he’s threatened to cut Amber’s access to treatment, he’ll do it. To him, a human life means nothing unless it brings value to him, even if that life belongs to an innocent child.

“I’ll make sure nothing happens to Amber.”

“What?” Fiona asks, startled.

“I’m not as much of a monster as Lorcan. So, regardless of everything between us, I’ll make sure nothing happens to your niece."

“You would do that?”

“You have my word. And unlike yours, it means something.”

Fiona’s lower lip trembles, and she bows her head so that her hair falls in front of her face.

For a beat, neither of us speaks, but I can see from the way her shoulders shake that she’s crying.

I have to force myself not to reach out and comfort her.

At this point, it’s an instinct, but one that I need to kill because it’s got me in enough trouble as it is.

I have no idea how I’m going to tell my brothers that Fiona has been spying on us all this time.

Any progress I’ve made with my brothers over the past couple of years, particularly with Kieran, is about to be shattered. It will be a miracle if he doesn’t immediately try to put a bullet in her, considering she’s been living under the same roof as his wife and newborn daughter, all while having contact with the one man who wants us all dead.

A dull ache is starting to build at my temples.

Right now, I need to make sure Fiona is contained, and then call a meeting with my brothers to discuss the file that proves Lorcan orchestrated our father’s death.