Page 242 of Override

He exhales. "If..." His fingers tighten around mine. "...if you stayed here today..." Another pause. "...it would make it significantly easier for me to focus on what I have to do."

The honesty in his voice steals my breath. Not because he's asking me to stay. Because he's trusting me enough to admit why.

I smile. "Would it help?"

He nods once. "Yes."

I lift onto my toes and kiss him softly. "Then I'll stay."

His forehead rests against mine for just a second. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For understanding the difference."

"The difference between what?"

He smiles—small, almost shy. "Protecting you..." His thumb brushes across my knuckles. "...and trying to control you."

My heart squeezes. "I know the difference now, Taibhse."

For a moment, neither of us moves.

Then he kisses me once more, grabs his keys, and walks out the door.

Chapter 56

Keaton (Skee)

The elevator doors haven't even finished closing before I unlock my phone. The notification expands across the screen.

Cormac O'Donnell

Alert triggered. Warehouse confirmed.

I don't stop walking.

The tracking program I installed on his system to alert us to anything related to Ronan opens automatically, pulling the coordinates from the alert before I even touch the screen.

A satellite image fills the display. South side of Chicago. An abandoned warehouse tucked between two vacant manufacturing buildings. One thermal signature entered three minutes ago. None have exited.

The system highlights the source that triggered the alert. Exactly where I designed it to. Exactly what I've been waiting for. For months, every camera, license plate reader, financial flag, and facial recognition alert I'd quietly tied together has run in the background, searching for one man.

Ronan Gallagher.

He'd vanished after Maeve left him. No credit cards. No phone. No digital footprint. Until now. My fingers move across the screen.

Fifteen minutes.

The reply comes back almost immediately.

Understood.

Nothing else. Nothing needs to be said. Cormac knows I'll come. I know he'll already be there.

The rest... We'll handle in person.

I smile despite myself. Not because the situation is funny. Because 3 months ago...Cormac O'Donnell would've put a bullet in me before letting me within fifty feet of his daughter.