Page 185 of Deceived Wrath

He studies me for a second longer, his head tilted slightly, like he’s deciding whether to push. The silence stretches between us, heavy and uncomfortable.

“You look pale,” he says finally.

I swallow as I refuse to meet his gaze. “I…didn’t sleep much.”

“None of us did.”

For a moment, I think he’s going to say more. That he’s going to ask why I was coming from the opposite direction of the bathroom. That he’s going to step past me and check Kieran’s office.

Thankfully, Scout’s voice carries in from the kitchen, shifting his attention away from me.

“Uncle Brennan! I’m hungry!”

Brennan looks back at me for a beat before he finally steps aside.

“You should get some air.” His tone isn’t unkind, but it’s not casual either.

“I will,” I promise, even though my legs feel like they might give out.

As I walk past him, I’m painfully aware of how close I came to being caught.

The line I’m walking is becoming thinner by the second. At any point, my world is going to come crashing down.

By the time I step outside onto the snow-covered patio, the cool air hits my face, and my lungs finally draw in a full breath.

I’ve crossed a line I can’t uncross. There’s no deleting this from my memory. No feigning ignorance if Cormac and his brothers start asking questions.

If I don’t tell Cormac everything right now, this ends in blood. And this time, it won’t just be on his hands.

It will be on mine.

Chapter Forty

CORMAC

The Blackthornis packedto bursting when I arrive and reeks of stale beer and cigarettes. Somewhere in a corner, someone is playing an out-of-tune piano that grates on my nerves.

I find Aiden in a booth toward the back of the pub, nursing a half-empty Guinness. My eyes flick from the strained look on his face to the hefty envelope in front of him, and my stomach sinks.

I slide into the booth across from him without saying a word. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Sure you don’t want to order a drink first? You might need it.”

I shake my head. “I need to keep a clear head.”

“It’s your funeral.” Aiden pushes the envelope toward me. “I didn’t want to send this digitally. It would be too easy to misinterpret.”

I stare down at the envelope, but I make no move to touch it. Once I open it, the Fiona I thought I knew, the one I was falling for, will become nothing but a stranger. And despite everythingI’ve learned about her in the past twenty-four hours, I’m not sure I’m ready to let the fantasy of her go.

Aiden picks up his beer and drains it. “I reran all the footage multiple times from every angle. Let’s just say I was hoping to prove myself wrong, but the timelines add up.”

“And?”

“I’m not wrong, Cormac.”

My jaw tightens. “You don’t know that.”

“I do, because if therewasanother explanation, I would have found it. You know that. You just don’t want to admit it.”