Page 149 of Deceived Wrath

“Sweetheart, are you crying?”

I hastily wipe at my cheeks and find them wet with tears. I hadn’t even realized I had been crying, but I can’t seem to stop.

“Fi, talk to me.”

The word is soft, almost a whisper, and I freeze.

“What?”

“You called me Fi.”

“Oh, yeah, I guess I did…”

“Only Zoe and Carly call me that. Or rather, she did…”

“You don’t want me to call you Fi?”

I shake my head, a shaky laugh breaking through my tears. “I’ve wanted you to call me that since the night you took me out to dinner.” I look up into Cormac’s eyes.

I watch his throat bob as he gazes down at me.

“Then I’m calling you that, always.”

Always.

The word hangs in the air like a quiet promise, one that I know neither of us will be able to keep.

“Can I tell you something?” he asks.

I try to stay relaxed even though my heart feels like it’s being cracked open.

“You can tell me anything.”

“Being with you… I haven’t felt anything like this in a long time…” His eyes are on me. So deep and intense. Like he is seeing all the way to my soul. “What I’m trying to say is, I’m falling hard for you, Fiona Callahan. I don’t expect you to say anything?—”

“I’m falling for you too,” I force a smile so he doesn’t see the agony on my face that his words bring me.

“Really?”

“Really,” I sigh before leaning in to kiss him.

Even if what we have blows up in our faces, I need him to know how I feel. I need him to know that among all the lies and the secrets, my feelings for him have been nothing but the truth.

Chapter Thirty-Two

CORMAC

By Saturday morning,the entire Sullivan empire is on lockdown.

I spent half the night going over the intel Ronan’s guys brought in, everything from encrypted messages traced back to Lorcan’s people to movement around our warehouses.

We’re not taking any chances, so we’re locking everything down.

Kieran and Ronan handle the security rotations while Brennan works on tracking down the unknown man from the call with Lorcan.

While we wait, I update the security protocols atSullivan Investmentsmyself, as I don’t trust anyone else to do it. Not when my son’s safety is on the line.

When I finish, I track Fiona down in the living room, where she and Scout are out on the floor with an array of pens and coloring books.