Destroy Me - Ella Sheridan Page 0,70

with hers, “I know you were trying to keep everyone, including me, safe. You made sure there was no one in that wing of the hospital. And there was no way you could have known Deacon and I would show up at the last minute.”

“I should have found another way to handle it, maybe told someone.”

Fionn’s thumb stroked across the sensitive flesh between her thumb and forefinger. “Why didn’t you?”

That was the stupidest thing of all. She didn’t realize she’d turned her head to stare blindly out the window until Fionn tugged on her hand. “Why, Lyse?”

The words were soft, full of the tenderness he’d used to coax her body under his control. Only now he was coaxing her secrets out into the open.

“You know,” she finally managed, “being young, excelling in technology and having my eyes on a computer screen twenty hours a day isn’t easy. People don’t accept you as readily, especially men.” Deacon had always been decent, but a lot of men couldn’t decide if they should harass her because she was a genius and they weren’t, or because she didn’t dress like a femme fatale and try to get them into bed the first time they met. “I’m an awkward fit; I know that. Even with my parents…”

“What about your parents?”

She shifted on the seat. “They took care of me, but they didn’t really know what to do with me. First I was sick”—she gestured toward her chest, ignoring the urge to rub at the phantom ache that suddenly appeared—“then I was difficult, at least for a while. My mind was speeding too fast for my age. I didn’t really thrive until they put me in an accelerated school program.”

Fionn hummed in understanding. “Because you weren’t bored then.”

“Right.” She shook her head. “It wasn’t that my parents didn’t try, and when my brother was adopted, things were great. But after he died…we just kind of…lost touch.” The sun flashed in her eyes as they rounded a hill, causing her to squint. “GF appreciated my talent, but individually, most people didn’t know what to do with me other than tease.”

“And they teased you about me.”

Because everyone had known about Awkward Lyse’s crush on the sex god of Global First. “Yes.” She flicked a glance his way, but Fionn seemed calm, relaxed…accepting. “It all became jumbled in my head. I knew I had to take care of everyone. Especially you.” And in the end, though she regretted her actions, it had been good in a way. Forced her to grow up. To appreciate what she’d had. She sure as heck wasn’t going to regret the fact that it had ultimately given her what she’d dreamed of for far too long—time as Fionn’s lover.

A hard squeeze on her hand pulled her attention back to the man beside her. Fionn glanced her way, expression serious, before returning his gaze to the road ahead. “I forgive you, Lyse.”

Her heart shattered into a million pieces. “Do you?” she choked out.

Fionn didn’t argue; instead he brought her hand to his mouth and rubbed his soft lips against the back. “I do,” he said, the words like a kiss.

And just like that, the million pieces of her heart flew back together.

The silence this time felt light, easy, as if a burden she’d carried for months had suddenly been lifted. It had. She let herself drift, the hum of the tires mesmerizing her, until Fionn spoke out of the blue.

“So…without the work at Global First, how have you been taking care of yourself?”

There was a hint of worry in the words, which warmed her heart. “GF always paid me well.”

Fionn snorted. “That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one.”

He wasn’t wrong. Computer geniuses—and yes, she had a genius-level IQ—could pretty much name their salary anywhere in the world. Her only limit had been the desire to work for a legit company and not some criminal mastermind. “True. Seventy-five percent of that salary went into investments. Six years of that…I don’t think I’ll ever have to worry about working again.” It was a blessing, enabling her to do the work that truly touched her. “Since moving here I’ve actually been using my skills to trace some of the women like Elliot’s mom. Women who disappeared into Mansa’s trafficking ring and never resurfaced.”

Elliot, Deacon’s fiancée, had been the product of rape. Her mother had been kidnapped by Mansa, an African pirate overlord, and used to breed babies to sell on the open market as slaves. Her pale,