Page 79 of Override

No threat. No danger. Everything fine.

And somehow my nervous system still feels seconds away from detonating.

Which is irrational. Completely irrational.

Declan never moved toward her aggressively. Never raised his voice. Never touched her.

So why was I ready to put my fist through a monitor?

The answer rises immediately. Because I thought she looked scared.

The realization lands ugly and sharp in the center of my chest.

I stop pacing.

No. Absolutely not.

This is exactly what I warned myself about.

Attachment compromises judgment. Emotion compromises logic.

And somewhere between surveillance cameras and French vanilla coffee, I crossed a line I can’t seem to uncross now.

I stare hard at the monitors. Maeve’s upstairs feed shows her disappearing down the hallway toward the main bedroom.

Safe.

That should be enough.

Instead I reach forward abruptly and shut the entire system down.

The office plunges into silence.

No cameras. No feeds. No Maeve.

My chest tightens.

“That’s healthy,” I mutter.

I need distance. Perspective.

I need this to become the mission again instead of…whatever the hell this has turned into. I stare at the dark monitors for another long second before blowing out a slow breath.

Enough.

If I can't stop thinking about her, I can at least do my damn job. I drop back into the chair and wake the system with a tap of the keyboard. The cameras stay dark.

Instead, Ronan Gallagher's financial records fill the center monitor. Property acquisitions. Investment portfolios. Shell corporations.

Anything except Maeve.

My fingers move automatically across the keyboard, pulling transactions apart one layer at a time until a reimbursement catches my attention.

Urgent Care. Three hours west of Chicago. I frown. The date sits six weeks after the wedding.

Why the fuck would Ronan drive his wife three hours for urgent care?

I open the charge. Cash payment. No insurance. No follow-up appointment. Weird. I run another search. Nothing. My fingers move automatically across the keyboard.