Destroy Me - Ella Sheridan Page 0,44

signaled a change just before Fionn caught a glimpse of a set of headlights on the computer screen. “Looks like they’re back.”

His mam was out of his arms and down the stairs in a rush. Heart in his throat, Fionn beat her to the door just as she reached to open it. “Not yet.”

“But—” She resisted his attempt to draw her away until his stern gaze connected with hers.

“Don’t risk them too, Mam. Let’s be getting ’em inside first, yeah?”

Siobhan’s eyes widened, then darted fearfully toward the door. It swung open.

Lyse was favoring her side as she came through first. A curse echoed in Fionn’s mind as he watched her shuffling into the living room, her face white as a sheet, dark circles lining her tired eyes.

“You forgot your pain meds, love,” Siobhan said, but waited until Mack had entered and secured the door behind him before hurrying forward.

“I took some this morning,” Lyse said tightly, but she didn’t fight as Siobhan led her straight down the hall toward the kitchen.

Fionn followed more slowly, battling the need to pick Lyse up and stop the excruciating hobble that was barely getting her down the hall. Mack fell in beside him.

“What’s the story?” Fionn asked. Anything for a distraction.

“Everything went fine. Kyla is safe and healthy. We placed her with relatives for now, while Aileen’s mess is situated.”

The young woman would likely be in the hospital for a bit. After that…well, that was up to the garda.

A cut-off groan escaped between Lyse’s clenched teeth as Siobhan helped her into a chair. It’d been a good four hours or so since she’d been scheduled for a dose of medicine. If she hadn’t been moving, if the wound was anywhere but along the muscles she used to get up and down, it might not be so bad, but as it was, he winced in sympathy. Siobhan had the pill bottle in hand, so he moved to the fridge to pour some juice to help buffer Lyse’s stomach.

“I’m fine,” she was saying. “Really.”

“Don’t listen to her.” Mack settled into a chair across the table from Lyse. “It’s been a tough couple of hours.”

“No, it hasn’t.”

Based on the tightness around her eyes, Fionn had no doubt she was lying.

“You’ve been after having a five-year-old climb over ya all afternoon.” Mack jerked his chin toward the full glass Fionn set on the table. “Drink up and hush.”

The relief filling Lyse’s eyes as she palmed the pills Siobhan gave her spoke the truth. She might want to be tough, but his little computer nerd hadn’t been built for combat.

Shock jolted down his spine. His?

Lyse set the half-empty glass back on the table and breathed a sigh of relief. Her searching gaze found him across the room, sending a second jolt through his body.

His.

He leaned against the wall at his back, praying he didn’t look as white as he felt. Work was where he needed to focus, and yet Mack’s report on the afternoon was no more than a buzz in the back of his brain. All he could hear, all he could think about was Lyse and the deep sense of possession that had settled in his chest and refused to leave.

No, that wasn’t it either. Not settled, not really—it had been there all along, but now there was no fighting it. He didn’t want to. Seeing her like this, vulnerable, unprotected…he needed to be the one to step in and care for her, past or no past. He didn’t even know if he gave a feck about the past anymore. All he knew was Lyse.

He was so focused on her that when she bent forward and settled her forehead in her hand, he was the first one at her side.

“I think it’s time for you to be lyin’ down a bit, yeah?” Sliding an arm under her knees and behind her back, he waited for her to grab on before lifting her carefully against his chest. “How ’bout a nap?”

“I have work to do,” she murmured against his neck. The wash of her breath sent goose bumps along his skin.

“I don’t think so, young lady,” Siobhan said behind them. “Sleep first.”

“You heard the woman.” Fionn chuckled. “Besides, you’ve been after an excuse to get in my arms for how long?” He brought his lips to her forehead, pitching his voice so it stayed between the two of them in the darkness of the hall. “Now’s your chance, love. Don’t be blowing it.”

Her head tilted back. A frown