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The hard certainty in his voice sends another rush of heat through me, but I shake my head.

“I’m not bailing on my family.”

His jaw tightens. “You’re my priority.”

The words stop me.

All week, he kept me at a distance and made me believe that whatever had happened between us was dead. Now he’s standing in Tallon territory with a gun in his hand, ordering me to leave with him.

“They’re my family,” I say. “Right now, helping them is my priority.”

“I won’t leave you here.”

For a moment, I can only stare at him.

Another burst of gunfire snaps through the building, reminding us of the danger.

I sidestep him and bend to take the gun from the dead man, then check the magazine. “You need to go. If Saint sees ya here, he’ll think you came with the Crowes.”

Fionn pulls the balaclava over his face. “I don’t give a fuck what Saint thinks.”

“Fionn.”

His eyes return to mine through the mask. “I pick you, Sera. I’m not hiding it again.”

My grip tightens around the gun.

He turns toward the gunfire, then looks back at me.

“The next time you see me, I won’t be wearing a mask.”

“Sera!” Saint’s voice carries through the corridor. “We’ve got to get Rafe to the hospital. Are ya in there?”

Everything inside me drops.

“I’m coming now!” I shout back.

I push past Fionn and run toward Saint’s voice, but the warmth of his mouth and the promise in his words linger.

Nothing between us is resolved. He’s got a hell of a lot to answer for after the charity event, and I don’t know how I’m supposed to trust him again.

But whatever’s happened to Rafe, that comes first.

Fionn and I will have to wait.

Chapter 32

Fionn

My father doesn’t ask how many people died at the docks.

A pulse of disgust moves through me, but I shut it down, so my expression is as empty as his. I’ve mirrored the bastard my whole life.

He sits behind the desk in his study with one hand cradling a crystal tumbler, his suit jacket unbuttoned, and a fresh cigar waiting beside the ashtray.

Rain pelts the windows harder here than it did in Cork, and the fire burns in the grate without warming any part of the room.

I sit opposite him.