“I told you you’d regret it if you dipped your dick in this one.”
“Don’t tell me you’re mad at me when youandCian were doing the exact same thing with your soon-to-be wives, once upon a time.”
Fire sparks in Finn’s menacing dark brown eyes. “Leave Riley and Harper out of this.”
My rage from earlier reignites, stronger now. “Talk about double fucking standards.”
For a moment, he glares at me. Then his shoulders slump a little, and his voice goes quiet. “Rory, if there’s anything…anything at all…you want to tell me, now’s the time.”
What the hell is that supposed to mean?What kind of response—and then it hits me. What he’s getting at.
And it’s so absurd, I actually laugh.
“Wow. You…you’re actually serious.” A humorless smile spreads across my face, the sting of betrayal blossoming inside me. “You think I have something to do with our mole problem?”
“I think you’re not paying attention where you ought to be paying attention. And I don’t know why.”
“It’s like you’ve never heard of sex before.”
Finn eyes me, leaning forward as if he’s hunched over a microscope. “I think it’s more than sex.”
An involuntary scoff climbs out of my throat. One totally meant to hide the bolt of electricity that cracks through me at the notion of Kiara being anything more than a soft, warm, luscious body.
“Remember how many times I had to pull both your and Cian’s asses out of trouble with the twins before Shane found out?”
Finn grips the armrests of his chair. “That was different.”
“It’s really not.”
“Of course it is!” Finn roars. Actually roars. What is he, a damn lion? “We weren’t at war then!”
“What is it with you lately?” I probably shouldn’t needle him, but I can’t help myself. “Not that long ago, you were fantasizing about running off with your girl, and now you’re all wartime general, mister policy and procedure?”
“And you?” Finn sharpens his gaze to a point, like he’s trying to burn a hole in my face. “Are you in some kind of crisis I don’t know about? Gambling? You owe someone something? Do I need to send you away on a tropical vacation somewhere and let you sip margaritas until your head comes back down to planet Earth?” Finn leaps up from his seat. “Focus where you need to focus, Rory.”
I stand up, too, facing him head-on. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means Kiara is not the solution here.” Finn folds his arms. “In fact, I think she might be your fucking problem.”
I recoil as the thick tension in the air between us vibrates. The room is silent save for the whir of computer fans.
“You think I’m not doing my job?”
Finn’s hooded gaze doesn’t inspire any confidence in me. “I don’t know what you’re doing. But it might get someone killed. Maybe even you.”
Kiara’s exquisite face flashes behind my eyes. I grit my teeth.
“That’s what worries me—” Finn’s voice is cut off by the shrill ring of his phone. He picks up immediately. “Da?”
The expression on Finn’s face goes from bad to worse. Without a word, he hangs up his phone like a man staring death in the eye. “Come on. We’ve been summoned.”
“What is it this time?”
“Dad received a message from Leo.” Finn’s eyes meet mine, heavy with gloom. “He knows we have Kiara.”
Chapter 23
Rory
