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“It is,” he says, sitting in the row of seats across from us. He buckles himself in, angry eyes settled on his fiancé. “But I’m the one who should be upset.”
Haley squirms under his glare. She clears her throat, but doesn’t give him a verbal response.
“I told you to make sure Saoirse stayed put,” Callum continues. “Clearly you disobeyed.”
Haley shrugs, pretending to be unphased by the cruel tone of his voice. “We were bored. Decided to go for a little spin in the jet.” She glances down at her nails, pretending to pick at them. “Finn is a boring babysitter. Maybe get Cillian to do it next time.”
“Or maybe just fucking listen,” I offer, my voice low and controlled, despite the heat that’s creeping up my neck, and the disappointment that I can’t trust Saoirse settling in my chest.
“Jaime—“ Saoirse starts.
I raise my hand to silence her, my fist clenching around the empty glass in my hand. Her lips purse, and she turns away, folding her arms. Callum watches us, his body leaning closer with curiosity. He’s never seen me be anything but the loyal soldier, ready to jump when told. Me silencing his sister must intrigue him.
Meanwhile, Corbin is sitting, amusement dancing in his eyes as he watches the scene unfold.
Tension fills the air, everyone waiting for me to respond, to acknowledge her, or tell them it’s okay that she dodged security and rushed toward the gunfire. Her job is to remain unharmed. I won’t embarrass her by yelling in front of her brother.
“He’s not wrong,” Callum says. “You both need to fucking listen.”
Haley opens her mouth for a rebuttal, but snaps it closed quickly, when she hears the growl leaving my chest. My gaze settles on her, the heaviness of this situation constricting my airflow. “I trusted you with her,” I whisper. “And you led her right into the lion’s den.”
“We were fine,” Saoirse protests.
My wrist snaps, tossing the whiskey glass against the wall of the plane. It hits, then shatters to the ground.
“You were fine because we won!” I shout with such force that she flinches away from me. “You were safe because we succeeded. Had we failed? Had Vladimir killed us all? You’d have walked right into his fucking hands, Saoirse!” I turn to Haley, pointing a finger in her direction. “And you! You’re fucking pregnant. What were you thinking?”
Haley stands, blocking the path so I can’t pace the cabin anymore. “Sit down and stop screaming at her.” Her hand presses against my chest. “I’ll let the way you just spoke to me slide since emotions are at a high right now. But you willneverraise your voice at me again.”
My teeth crack.
“I’m sorry, Jaime,” Saoirse whispers behind her. Her voice is shaking, and the sound of her tears hit me like a ton of bricks. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to be here when it was over. I needed to see you in person, to touch you. I couldn’t bear staying locked up for six hours while I waited, unable to doanything.”
She stands, pushing past Haley. Her hands cup either side of my face, and with her firm grip, she forces me to make eye contact with her. “I needed you and you left me.”
I nuzzle my cheek against her touch, allowing her warmth to spread through me. This woman. No one can infuriate me better than her, but she’s always the only person who can calm the raging storm inside of me. My eyes flutter close, and I focus on steadying my breaths and lowering my heart rate.
“Eight,” I whisper so only she can hear. “Six for lying to Finn. Seven for stepping off that plane. Eight for putting yourself in danger.”
I connect our foreheads, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.
“I think seven and eight are the same thing,” she whispers, the heat of her breath brushing against my wet lips.
“They’re not,” I say.
She lets out a breathy laugh that hits straight to my chest. “How?”
“Because I say so.” I bite her bottom lip, my hands wrapping around her ass and bringing her flush against my chest. I dig into the soft tissue, pinching and pulling. It elicits a soft whimper from her.
“No sex for two weeks,” Haley murmurs, making her way to sit beside Callum.
“Not to mention there’s an audience,” Corbin chimes in, while Callum grumbles.
“Get seated so we can take off,” Haley says. She snaps her seatbelt in, resting her head on Callum’s shoulder.
I drop onto the couch, sinking against the back. My hand grips Saoirse’s elbow, bringing her to sit beside me. “Yeah,” I say, my voice hoarse from yelling. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
