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Dad nods his head, and a look of what can only be pride flashes in his eyes. “I’m proud of all my kids, even though I don’t tell you all enough. But with you, Finn, I’m so proud of the man you’ve become, despite all the obstacles I put in your way.
“Out of everyone, you’re the one I failed the most, and I’m sorry for that. I can’t make up for the past, but I can tell you that I love you, and ask for the chance to make this right in the future.”
The hope in his voice hurts my heart. I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment, for Dad to be proud of me, and now that it’s here…it’s a little underwhelming. It finally dawns on me that I don’t need his approval. I may have been searching for it, but I’ve never really needed it.
The moment I decided to put McKenna before the job, that’s when I stopped needing his approval. Instead, I put all my effort into making amends with her, apologising for the past. I put my father before her all those years ago, but not anymore. So even though I don’t need his praise, I will take it anyway.
“Thanks. I think we need to sit down and have a proper conversation in the future. But for now, thank you for telling me all that. McKenna is the most important person in myworld, and I don’t intend to fail her,” I reply, more certain of my feelings for her than ever.
“Good, then go in there with your head only. If you let your heart rule, you’ll get everyone killed. Understand?”
Inodded to him, but I don’t think I really understood what he was telling me until this moment. Being distracted by my thoughts of McKenna took my head out of the game, and had anyone been around, it could have got me killed. Maybe even Bree, too. So I shut my thoughts away, like I promised Dad, and I focus on the plan, advancing behind Bree and Kian as we continue clearing the rooms on our side of the building.
We get halfway down the corridor when we meet our first obstacle. There’s a few security guards, but we take them out quickly using the silencers on our guns. We don’t want to alert more people to our position, if we can help it.
From that moment, things get a little more hectic. There are a few more security guards than we were expecting, and when they fire back at us, the gunshots alert everyone in the building to the situation. After that, security floods us from all angles, and we have to fight a battle from all sides.
We don’t have time to capture anyone, choosing just to shoot them and take them out of the picture. If they’re stupid enough to raise a weapon at us, they have to know we will shoot back.
Just as I’m taking out the final guard in my eyeline, a flash of pink flicks in the corner of my eyes. I look up in time to see two security guards pull Mel into the room at the end. I mentally pull up the blueprints to the house, and recall that unless there’sa secret passage we don’t know about, there’s no way out of that room. Presumably, the guards have taken her there because it’s easier to keep her safe if there’s only one entry point to monitor.
It’s a good plan, but there’s one big downfall. Once Kian and Bree have finished with the last of their targets, that leaves all three of us free to enter the room. Two security guards and Mel versus the three of us. The odds are not in their favour, and the second we step into the room, we’re blocking their exit.
Game over, bitch, I think, as we all enter, guns drawn.
I aim at Mel, and she seems very confused and pissed to see me here. “Finn, what the hell are you doing here? Why do you have a gun?”
I want to laugh at her stupidity, but there’s no time for that right now. “I’m here for McKenna,” I reply, not bothering to hide my accent any longer.
I’ve been using a fake British accent around Mel, but I see no reason to keep up the facade. She’s about to find out who I really am, anyway.
It’s an obvious statement, yet still her eyes widen in surprise as she glares at me. “Do you really think that little slut is worth getting mixed up in all of this? I don’t know what you see in her, but I do know I’m worth a million of her. You’re making a big mistake getting involved in all this.” She gestures wildly with her hands, as though I’m not aware of the situation around us, before adding, almost as an afterthought, “And what the hell happened to your accent?”
I laugh harshly, with no humour, as I try to keep my hand steady. I’m a ball of anxious energy, fuelled by the anger I feel for this woman, and the pain of being away from McKenna. The walls around my heart help me retain a bit of stability.
“You have no fucking clue what’s going on here. But you are fucking delusional if you think you’re better than McKenna. You aren’t even in her league,” I spit, making sure to look into hersilver eyes as I tell her everything. “And since we’re sharing, now is probably a good time to mention that I haven’t just got involved in this to free McKenna. This is my family, and this Irish accent is my real one.”
Mel’s eyes widen as she looks from me over to Kian and Bree, her mouth flopping open and closed, almost comically. “What do you mean?”
“I’m assuming you know who Bree is?” I ask, pointing to Red.
Mel’s face twists into a combination of disgust and anger, while Bree just continues to smile at her. “Of course I know her. She’s the little bitch that turned my daughter against me. My husband told me all about you, Brianna,” she says, her eyes locked with Red, who doesn’t seem to give a shit. “He told me you whored yourself out to some Doughty, all because you say you want to rule. I’m sure your parents are so ashamed of you, as I know they raised you better than this.”
Bree’s smile grows as her eyes sparkle in a way that makes her look terrifying. “I’m sure my parents probably are ashamed of me, but you won’t be able to ask them. My mum is in exile, and I murdered my dad. So I will have to take your word for that. And…for the record…I didn’t take Mia away from you. You did that all on your own.”
She looks like she’s about to argue with Bree, but then she turns to me, her brow furrowed. “Wait, so how do you know Brianna? You said family?”
“I’ve been undercover the whole time. My real name is Finn Doughty, and Bree’s married to my brother, Liam. We needed to get information about your husband, and the only way to do that was to get someone on the inside.
“McKenna took the job so she had free access to the house, but I faked a relationship with you, so that I could find out what you know,” I explain, and Mel’s face falls, her shoulders dropping with each word.
“It was all a lie?”
“Every minute,” I sneer, taking pleasure in every word.
“And now Mia knows everything, too,” Bree adds. “She’s so disgusted with you, she’s agreed that you need to die.”
As soon as she hears that, she pulls her shoulders back and glares at Bree. “I don’t believe you,” she snaps, her chin held in the air defiantly. “My daughter would never say that. Besides, this is all my husband, not me.”
