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Chapter 28

Sera

By noon, I have three ledgers open, two shipping payments pretending to be feed costs, and twenty-three thousand euros in cash that needs cleaned.

The Tallons aren’t short of money.

We simply need legitimate places to put it.

The kitchen table is covered in accounts, receipts, a laptop that keeps freezing, and invoices from the stud that would pass through the tax man.

I tap the end of the pen against the calculator and glare at the figures, trying my best to concentrate.

For every row of numbers I’ve digested, I’ve replayed my night with Fionn and the impossible situation I’ve fallen into.

The back door opens and boots scuff as Rafe comes in first, shrugging off his jacket.

“Morning, gobshite.”

Dane follows with a packet of cookies already half-open in his hand.

“I’m busy, lads,” I say without looking up.

Dane crunches as he chews. “I haven’t even said anything.”

“You’re eating too loud.”

“Hostile work environment,” he mutters, pulling out a chair.

Rafe leans against the counter and folds his arms. “I heard there was trouble at the bar the other night.”

My pen stills.

“Some scum started a fight,” I say, writing a number in the margin. “Very tragic. Men embarrassed themselves. Glass broke. Everyone survived.”

Dane offers me a cookie. “Heard Fionn Harrington was there.”

I ignore the packet he’s waving at me and jerk my gaze to a receipt. “He’s marrying Eilish, isn’t he? She was there. So was I. He showed up later.”

Rafe lights up a cigarette, and Dane chews, both of them watching me.

“You three seem to be together a lot lately,” Rafe says.

I sit back and sigh. “What d’ya want me to do? The man is everywhere she is. I tolerate him because I love her.”

“That's what we’re calling it these days?” Dane asks.

My eyes cut to his. “Calling what?”

He lifts both hands, a half-eaten cookie between his fingers. “Tolerating a Harrington.”

“I do my best to ignore him,” I say. “Doesn’t help when my brother is in love with his sister.”

Rafe pushes away from the counter. “Are ya friends with him now?”

The laugh that comes out of me is almost convincing. “With Fionn Harrington?”

“Aye,” Dane wipes crumbs from the corner of his mouth. “The man who kidnapped you and left bruises.”