Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32

FIONN

“No! Come back!” Her low cries wrestle me out of a deep sleep.

I’m not sure if I dreamed it until she cries out again, begging someone for help. When I flip the bedside lamp on, I find her still asleep. Her face is twisted in pain, her mouth open in horror.

“Baby, wake up.” My knuckles stroke her face, but she remains asleep, trembling as I continue to touch her, not wanting to scare her. “Amara, wake up.”

“No, stay! Please, stay.”

Who the hell is she talking to?

I know it’s just a nightmare, but fuck, I wanna help her.

“Amara.” I gently shake her, hating to witness her going through any kind of pain. “Am?—”

“What?” She instantly pops her eyes open, her labored inhales growing shallower.

When she finally concentrates on me, she whooshes a quick exhale.

“Did you have a nightmare?” I prop myself on my elbow and look down at her, my fingers grazing her arm, hoping to relax her.

“Yeah.” She drops her forearm over her face.

“Want to talk about it?”

“I…um…I’ve had the same stupid dream since I was younger.” She sighs. “It comes and goes, but I don’t know what it means.”

“Tell me about it.”

Lowering back down, I pull her over my chest, my palm clasped to her back.

“I’m in a hospital, around Fia’s age, and in my arms, there’s a baby. My mother is there, but I can’t see her face. It’s fuzzy. The baby cries, and I calm her down, but then my mother starts flickering and so does the baby.” Her breaths tremble out of her as she goes on. “Then they’re gone and I’m alone in a pitch-black room with nothing there. Until I’m swallowed up by the darkness too.”

Jesus .

“I kept thinking that maybe it’s a sign of some kind that I have to find my father. That I have to know why he left me.”

That’s right; she told me he left when she was two.

“I wonder if my subconscious is telling me I need to close that chapter of my life,” she continues. “That I need some kind of closure from the sense of abandonment, you know?”

“Of course.”

“But I don’t know his name or anything about him. My mother won’t give me my birth certificate or his information.”

My fingers feather up and down her spine. “She will to me.”

“What?”

“I’ll go pay her a nice visit. Maybe bring a plant. Does she like plants?”

“If she can smoke it.” She snickers.

“I’m gonna find out everything you need to know, and then you can have your answers.”

She bites her bottom lip. “Sometimes I wonder if some things are better left in the past, but I just can’t seem to move on from knowing why he left. Every time I look at Fia, I ask myself how he could’ve just walked out on me like that.”

“I don’t know either.” I cup her jaw and kiss her, my body filling with adrenaline. “But I swear if he tries to hurt you again once we find him, I’m not gonna be able to stop myself from killing him.”

Her eyes pop. I drop my lips to her forehead, leaving them there for a few seconds. She can’t hide the shock, her face disappearing in my chest.

Once she’s asleep, I stay awake, wondering if I should’ve said any of that.

AMARA

“You okay?” he asks, tightening his grasp on my hand while he shows me around the estate.

But my mind is still on what he said last night. He’ll kill my father if he has to. Kill him. For merely hurting me.

What does that even mean? What is considered hurt for men like him? Is there a criteria Mafia guys use before they decide to off people? Maybe a checklist?

Ran over wife’s beloved flowers. Check.

Said he hated her cooking. Check.

Looked at her the wrong way. Check.

No matter the reasons my father left, I don’t want anyone’s life on my conscience.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lie, but from his tight expression, I know he doesn’t buy it.

Forcing myself not to think about this, I look out at the mountains up ahead, large and scenic, the smell of freshly cut grass filling my nostrils. I will never get over this view.

When we pass a looming mansion with other smaller ones on each side, I stare at it curiously. “What’s that?”

The large construction is bigger than anything I’ve seen yet, even his home.

“That’s Caellach Academy. It’s our school.”

“Like a real school?” My brows squint in question.

“Not exactly.” His mouth twitches. “Want me to show you inside?”

“Okay.”

But a wave of apprehension hits me. I don’t know if it’s because I’m just nervous about what’s behind those walls. I guess we’ll find out.

Swallowing past the hesitation, I draw in some courage. If Fia and I are going to live here, it’s my job to be well-informed about everything that happens here.

He takes me up the steps, pushing a set of brown doors open. The place is mostly quiet, some voices in the distance. Together, we head to the left, down a narrow corridor until we’re beside an elevator.

As soon as he presses the button, it arrives, and he takes us inside, holding my hand firmly with his while my heart beats louder.

I didn’t have a moment to check anything out. No clue at all what this place even is. Goose bumps thread my skin as the elevator drops, stopping seconds later.

“You ready?” His eyes turn stoic.

“Maybe?”

No. Not at all.

I have no idea what I’ve just walked into.

He chuckles, and there’s a hint of danger within it as he takes me down another long corridor until we appear in front of a solid white door. Nothing to indicate what’s beyond it.

Removing his keys, he scans one of them and the door opens.

“Wait, how did you do that?” I stare in wonderment.

It was just a key. A normal-looking key.

He laughs. “The key has a small chip that’s scannable.”

“Wow. That’s crazy.”

“We have some of the best minds working here, developing tech for us and our fighters.”

“Fighters?” I whisper.

“That’s right. You know what we do.” He takes me down another narrow path, scanning the same key when we happen in front of another white door. “This is the place we train our next generation.”

“As in kids?” I freeze in place.

Are they really making fighters out of children? If that’s the case, I can’t be here. I can’t accept that.

“They’re not that young. Sixteen to eighteen, usually.”

Okay, not as bad as I imagined, but still. This is madness.

“And what do they do here?”

“I’ll show you.” He takes my hand, while I do a crap job of hiding my absolute shock.

The further we go, the more voices I start to hear. When we turn left, multiple rooms appear on each side. Within each are different classes. And not the kind that you’d find in a normal school.

To my right, there is a weapons combat class. Two young kids fight one another, guns in their hands, while the instructor criticizes their technique. In the other, a bunch of kids are sitting in front of laptops, typing quickly.

“What are they doing?”

He stands behind me, his hands on my hips, his body so close to mine I shiver. “They’re cracking a code, trying to intercept some surveillance.”

“Surveillance for what?”

He laughs. “It doesn’t matter.”

“I can’t believe any of this. Is that what Fia will have to do?”

He spins me around, his brows knitted. “Absolutely not. Unless she wants to.” His mouth twitches. “Iseult made sure this was a sexist-free environment.”

“Well, that’s good, I guess, but I still don’t want our daughter to be like them.” The very thought makes me ill.

“Then she won’t.” He clasps his palm around my face, his other hand rounding my hip and pulling me flush against him. “I just wanted to be honest with you about all of it. I didn’t want you to find out on your own somehow and then hate me for it.”

“I appreciate that,” I whisper, my pulse speeding as his mouth softly brushes mine.

“Yeah? How much do you appreciate it?” His tone grows husky and deep, making me forget where we are for a moment as he pushes me up against the wall, voices coming from the training room we’re beside.

“Stop. We can’t do this here.” My vision goes hazy, a gasp swimming out of me as his fingers climb up my bare leg, inching up my thigh past my skater dress. “Someone could see us.”

He groans, shoving my panties to the side and running a finger through my hot and achy slit. A whispery moan feathers out of me when he strokes my clit, my eyes wide as someone approaches.

“Fionn, someone’s coming.”

“Good. So will you in about a minute.” His smooth, dark chuckle caresses my nape just as a tall man passes, giving us a brief glance before marching away.

My core tightens the more he touches me, and soon I’m lost to the feeling, lost to the anticipation of someone catching us. My body grows taut, craving release like I’ve gone mad.

“That’s it, baby. Come for me.” His hushed, gravelly voice makes me dizzy with desire.

“Oh God,” I breathe.

“Better keep quiet, little rabbit, or you’ll put on a show.” He thrusts his fingers inside me with one quick move, a gasp dying off in my throat. “Unless that’s what you want.”

“I’m so close. Please!” My nails sink into his shoulders, throbbing and needing this so much, I don’t care if this whole damn place hears me.

“You wanna be caught, don’t you? Look how tight your cunt sucks me in.”

“I—”

“Fionn?”

I choke on my reply when I hear a woman’s voice. But his towering body covers most of me, so I can’t see who she is.

His fingers piston faster, my eyes rolling as the wave hits, pounding through me. A scream dies in my throat as an intense orgasm blasts through my limbs, my teeth sinking into his shoulder to stop myself from crying out.

When my body stills, only then does he lower my dress, kissing the spot below my ear. “I love making you come.”

My face heats up, because he definitely said that loud enough for anyone to hear.

When he backs away, both of us come face-to-face with a blonde woman. Her jaw grits when her gaze wanders to me, and I instantly know she wants him. It’d be obvious to anyone.

“Madison.” His tone is sharp. “What can I do for you?”

She clears her throat, nervously pushing away a loose strand of hair, the rest in a messy, yet classy bun.

“Well, you asked me for footage of…”

When she glimpses at me, he says, “Whatever you need to say, you can say in front of my wife.”

“W-w-wife?” It physically hurt for her to say that.

He runs the fingers that were inside me over his lips, smirking as he sucks them into his mouth. “So fucking delicious.”

Her expression turns frostier, and I fight a smile.

“When, uh, did you get married?” Her tone shrinks, like she wants to get swallowed up by a hole.

Fionn is clearly rubbing me in her face, and I don’t understand why.

“A few days ago. Remember Emily?” He brings our joined hands to his mouth and kisses the top of mine.

“Her?” Her lips tremble, more with anger than nerves. “But you said…”

“I know what I said, but it wasn’t like that with you.”

Her heavy panting wrestles out of her, pain evident on her features until it melts away. And in its place is indignation.

She raises up her chin. “Congratulations to you both. I’ll leave the surveillance report on your desk.”

Without saying goodbye, she hurries off.

“What was that about?” I turn to him, hiking a brow. “And don’t lie to me.”

He palms my hips and tugs me closer, a sly smirk forming. “I have no reason to lie, baby. Madison was someone I had a night with a year before we met. It didn’t mean anything to me, but she wanted more, and I told her I wasn’t looking for that. When I asked her to help me find you, she told me to stop looking. I never quite forgave her for that.”

That brings a pang to my chest. He really did fight like hell to find me.

“Well, it’s obvious she never got over you.” My stomach turns with intense jealousy.

“Mmm.” He pushes me back up against the wall, his mouth grazing my lips. “Must’ve left a big impact.” He arches his hips into mine, and I can hear the smile in his voice.

“Are you trying to make me jealous?”

“Is it working?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” His eyes turn dark, a muscle in his jaw popping. He cups my jaw, gaze sinking into mine. “I’m yours, Amara. Always. No one will ever come between us.”

And when he slams his lips to mine, I believe him. Every word, it’s as though he seals it with this kiss. To have and to hold. In sickness and in health.

A vow that only ends…when one of us is dead.