Christ. He stood up before the traitor part of his anatomy did too much rememberin’. “Let’s head on.”
The four of them were mostly silent on the return trip into town. Fionn could sense Mack’s caution as much as his own, and he was guessing the women felt it as well. The air felt different when you knew there was a threat. Mack pulled up to the gate at Lyse’s apartment and rolled down his window, but his cell interrupted before he could enter the code Lyse gave him. “Yeah?”
Fionn could barely hear a male voice on the other end of the line. After a minute Mack swore. “All right. I’m here now; I’ll be taking care of it. No worries. Yeah. I’ll be in to the office after. Yeah.” He thumbed off the call. “We got trouble.”
Alarm jerked through Fionn as Mack opened the gate. “Ferrina?”
But Mack shook his head. “Not that kind of trouble.”
The trouble was waiting outside the open door of Lyse’s apartment, a worn-thin T-shirt and flannel pants on his tall frame, pacing back and forth on the tiny patio. Fionn took in Sean’s frazzled appearance and swore, mimicking Mack’s earlier reaction.
“Yeah,” was all Mack said.
Lyse was out of the car the second it pulled to a stop. “Sean!”
“God, Lyse.”
Fionn heard the relief in the man’s voice as he gathered Lyse’s petite frame against him. Call him a dick, but Fionn hated seeing them embrace. Hated seeing anyone’s arms around Lyse but his.
He was in a feck-ton of shit, wasn’t he?
“I was checkin’ in,” Sean was saying. “The soup was spilled everywhere. What the hell happened?”
“I’m okay.”
“You’re sure as feck not!”
Fionn felt the fear in the big man as their eyes met over Lyse’s head, felt the moment that fear turned to suspicion. “Who’s the man, Mack?”
Mack threw an amused glance over his shoulder at Fionn. “Just a friend, Sean. Let’s head inside, yeah?”
Sean herded Lyse ahead of him, still eyeing Fionn. “I’m wanting to know what happened, Lyse. And don’t be telling me nothing, because I know better.”
If Fionn hadn’t already observed Sean last night, seen him with the man that was undoubtedly his lover, he’d have been suspicious of Sean’s motives. The part of him that wanted Lyse, that refused to let go of her, wanted to rip the man’s hands off her anyway, but he refused to let the bastard side of him shred his control anymore. There’d been too much of that lately. Instead he shoved his fists into the pockets of his fatigues and followed everyone into the apartment.
“I had to leave unexpectedly,” Lyse explained as they crowded into the living area. Siobhan went farther, into the kitchen, where she began tackling cleanup of the mess they’d left behind last night. Seeing the food splashed over the counter, guilt churned in his stomach and his gaze went to Lyse’s hand, to the reddened skin he’d caused.
As if she sensed his scrutiny, Lyse covered the area with her other palm, rubbing lightly. She never used to do that; she’d always had this thing with her hands, this little dance they did when she was flustered or excited. Now she was so much more subdued, clasping her hands together as if she could lock down whatever emotion was playing inside her. He missed the old Lyse suddenly, missed the easy, open way she had with everyone she met. Was that Lyse gone forever, or was she a lie like he’d thought for the past two months?
Glancing around the room, he saw concern and affection in every pair of eyes staring at Lyse. How did he reconcile that with what she’d done?
“Are you al’right?” Sean asked.
“I am.” Lyse’s gaze met Fionn’s, a question in them. How much could they tell him?
The less, the better. Not just for their safety, but for his. “I’m Fionn McCullough, Sean.” He stepped forward, offering the man his hand. Anything to get Neighbor Boy to quit touching Lyse. “I’m a friend of Lyse’s from the States. I came in last night, needing help on a job.”
Sean’s grip was firm, his eyes probing. “Lyse is sick. She should be in bed, not gallivantin’ around.”
“I told you, I’m fine, Sean.” Lyse pushed the hair off her forehead, the thick fall seeming too heavy for her delicate hand. “I need to get some things together real quick.”
“I’ll help,” Siobhan offered.
An uneasy silence descended as the two women left the room. Sean ran a thumb over his lips, his stare moving from Fionn to Mack and back again. “What’s the story, Mack?”
Mack sighed. “Nothing you need to be worrying about, Sean. I promise.”
“But I—”
Mack’s hand went up, cutting Sean off. “I know you’re wanting to look out for Lyse, but I’ve got her, yeah? I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“So it’s garda business, then?” Sean asked.
“It is.”
Sean eyed Fionn once more. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Lyse and Siobhan returned.
“Lyse, you’ll need to be getting anything in your computer room that could help us out,” Fionn said. In the few minutes that took, Fionn could feel Sean’s frustration rising, but they didn’t need anyone else at risk. If Sean’d had training, yeah, but Fionn could tell by the way he moved that the man was a civilian. Probably handy enough in a pub fight, but they weren’t after facing the everyday drunken punch, now were they?
Mack gave the place a careful once-over as they moved to the door. “You be keeping an eye on this place, Sean, and I’ll be keeping an eye on Lyse, yeah? She’ll be back in a couple of days. You can reach me at the station anytime.”
“I’m not liking it, Mack,” Sean said, following Lyse down the front steps.
Lyse looked over her shoulder. “I know, Sean. It’s okay, really.”
Sean settled a hand on her back. “It’s not okay”—he twisted the word into a weird facsimile of Lyse’s American accent that made her smile—“but it’s not like I’m having a choice,
