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Sera’s gaze drops to the blood running over my hand, then jumps to the man against the wall. Her fingers curl, and her weight shifts toward him. “That bastard cut ya!”
The concern is there before she can swap it with an insult, and when my eyes come to hers, she lifts her chin as if that might erase all traces of it.
“Keep moving.”
“But he made you bleed.” She stops, fists clenched, ready to fight for me.
“Door.”
Kane forces the exit open, and rain and cold air hit us. Graves is positioned to one side of the doorway, handgun held low, with two cars already idling at the curb. His gaze checks Eilish and Sera, drops to the blood on my hand, then fixes on the bar behind us.
He steps aside to let us through before filling the opening, raising his weapon past my shoulder to cover our retreat.
Eilish is bundled out first, swearing at him with enough venom to prove she’s fine. Kane gets her across the pavement and into the back seat of a Harrington car, one hand braced over her head as she ducks inside.
“Sera,” Eilish calls through the open door. “Stay with me tonight.”
Sera jerks against my hold. “I’m going with her.”
I let her take one step, then drag her into me. “She’s not going in the same direction as you.”
Kane slams the door before Eilish can argue again, then taps the roof. The car pulls away from the curb, tires hissing through puddles.
Sera watches it go before she angles into me, her gaze tracking the blood on my hand still clamped around her wrist.
“You’re bleeding on me, Harrington.” She yanks herself free and peels off her cardigan.
Taking my hand in hers, she wraps the thin material around the slash under my wrist, then catches my eye.
“It might need stitches.”
“Can you do it?”
She shrugs. “If ya don’t cry for your ma.”
“My mother chose booze over emotional support.”
Across the street, Graves heads for my Range Rover, expecting to drive me home, his expression tight while his eyes take in every threat bursting out of the pub.
When I bring her over, he straightens and folds his arms across his broad chest.
“Ride with Kane.” I nod at him. “I’m taking her home.”
His gaze slides to Sera. “You want to think about that.”
“I have.”
“No,” he says. “You’ve decided. That’s a different thing, Fionn.”
“He’s right. I can’t get in your car.” Sera reaches into the pocket of her jeans and digs out her phone. “Rafe will come get me.”
“In the space of an hour, you’ve become a quitter and a liar,” I say. “You’re doing wonders for the Tallon reputation.”
Her brows snap together. “How the hell am I a liar?”
I lift my hand, her cardigan wrapped around it and blood already darkening the wool. “I’m not going to the hospital, and you said you’d stitch it.”
Graves exhales loudly. “I’ll do it.”
