Page 80 of Bound Lies

“But—”

“Do you trust me to protect you?”

She hesitates only a beat as she looks up at me before nodding. “Yes.”

“Then let me do that. I’ll call Ronan and have him move up our flight. If we leave first thing in the morning, we’ll be gone before anyone has time to act on anything.”

Her shoulders sag as she exhales slowly, but I can still see the worry on her face from the crease that appears between her eyebrows.

“I just need a shower. To think.”

“Take your time.” I drop my hands from her shoulders.

She disappears into the bedroom without another word, and the sound of water running fills the room a moment later.

I take the opportunity to add another layer of protection for Riley, so I grab her phone off the nightstand and bring it over to my open carry-on that lies at the foot of the bed. I rifle through my things until I find a case containing a few audio bugs and GPS trackers.

Slipping off the phone case, I hide one of the trackers inside before popping it back on. I don’t plan on having Riley go anywhere without me, but I can’t be too careful.

Once I’ve checked that the tracker is linked to my own phone, I call Ronan to discuss what we’re going to do about Sean’s watchdogs.

“I was just about to call,” he says the second he answers.

I take a seat on the edge of the bed, wanting to keep Riley in my line of sight just in case.

“Do you recognize the men in the picture?”

“Yeah. Sean’s guys, but they’re low-level errand boys. If Sean was planning something serious, he wouldn’t have sent them.”

“That’s not comforting.” My eyes flick to the bathroom door.

“I’ll book you an earlier flight, but you’re going to have to make your own way to the airport. Do you think you can manage that?”

I bristle at the condescension in his voice. “I’m sure I can figure something out.”

“What the hell were you doing in the pool at midnight anyway?”

I rub a hand down my face. “Does it matter?”

“You’re sleeping with her, aren’t you?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“For fuck’s sake, Kieran. Do you go out of your way to complicate things, or does it just come naturally?”

“Spare me the lecture, brother. Riley and I are just having some fun, that’s all.”

“That ‘fun’ could have gotten you both killed tonight.”

“Stop being so dramatic; it’s annoying. Besides, you’re the one who forced me to marry Riley in the first place, so forgive me for trying to find some sort of way to make it tolerable.”

The lie flies easily off my tongue.

I end the call before Ronan can give me another lecture on how I’m letting the family down, which seems to be a regular occurrence these days. It’s old news at this point, and quite frankly, I’m past caring.

What I can’t seem to get past is Riley.

The truth is, I’m in deep. Maybe too deep.