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Conor’s weakness was the underdog.
I’d seen that time and time again, especially in regard to Shay.
Finn said Brennan was teaching Shay self-defense because Conor had encouraged him to—before he’d stolen the trust funds of some of Shay’s bullies as punishment. If that didn’t speak louder than words, I didn’t know what did.
“The most pressing reason is she doesn’t trust Da.” He pursed his lips. “I also think she’s scared he’ll lose the plot.”
“He lost that years ago,” Finn grumbled.
Conor’s smile turned darker. “Well, that’s certainly true. But mostly it’s because Finn and Aidan told them that I was raped as a child—”
Finn tensed. “Con—”
Conor’s gaze never left mine. “Why the family insists on treating me as if I’m a kid I don’t know. Da puts me in charge of monitoring everyone then doesn’t seem to think I have the synaptic ability to put two and two together?”
Unable to hold back, I reached over and touched his chin.
Was he doing this because of Callum? Were the shadows in his eyes there because his friend had betrayed him?
Hurting for myself, hurting for him, I whispered, “They don’t treat you like you’re a child. They love you. They want to protect you.”
“I don’t need protecting.” He tilted his face into my hand. “But thank you for saying that anyway. I understand that this can’t be easy for you, Aoife. I’m so sorry.” His gaze dropped to my stomach, and that was when I knew he knew.
Somehow, he knew that our baby wasn’t…right.
My body turned to ice as I stared at him, stared into those beautiful eyes that could see the world for what it was, all while hiding the secrets of the universe.
“Thank you, Conor.” As I drowned in his eyes, I found that was preferable to the waves of grief that kept hitting me like a sledgehammer to the heart. “If I wanted to torture your mom for actually killing mine, I guess you wouldn’t help me then, though?”
He stared at me. “You have many reasons to hate her,” he agreed.
“I do,” I snapped.
With his spare hand, he booped my chin gently with a finger. “Do you blame the bullet or do you blame the gun or do you blame the man pulling the trigger?”
I swallowed. “Your mom’s the bullet?”
“Yes.” He cast a look at Finn. “Finn would probably like me to discourage you from coming in here, and maybe I should, but you have to know a few things before I let you see Michael.”
I licked my lips. “What?”
“He has major burns. Some bones can be seen through the flesh. He stinks. He’s pissed and crapped himself multiple times.
“The Geneva Convention doesn’t exist within these walls, Aoife. There’s no such thing as Amnesty International.”
“You didn’t beat him?” I asked gruffly.
“No. I don’t work that way. That’s for Brennan.”
That was why I’d wanted him on the job.
For a second, my gaze darted to the open doorway where that stench emanated from. “What did you do to him?”
“I just made him talk. That’s all.”
“Cheilesdon’t just talk to anyone, Aoife. Don’t underestimate what you’re about to see,” Finn warned.
“That man is the reason my mom is dead,” I retorted.
