Page 27 of Exile and Embrace

“I wouldn’t have to check for them if you didn’t feel the need to spy on me.” I cross the room and pull the flowers down. Another camera hides within their petals. “I will not be spied on.”

“You will do as I say.” I can only imagine the disapproving look on his face. “You have a history of not being trustworthy, Finnigan. You have yet to prove yourself to me. You’ve spent a lot of years locked away.”

“You’re spying on the wrong fucking son.” I drop the tiny camera to the ground and crush it beneath my boot.

Dad scoffs. “You’re the one who betrayed this family.”

His words are a sharp knife driven through my heart. After all these years, the reminder of Cormac’s death is as jagged edged as ever.

I shake my head and look around the room for more cameras. Another one is inside the closet, pointing straight at the racks. I find yet another in the ensuite bathroom.

There is no way these fuckers are going to see Ava naked.

Dad laughs as I rip the camera down. “Now, Finnigan, don’t go getting so upset. You know that this is for your own good. How could you be trusted to get the job done when you’ve been away for three years? I have no clue what kind of things you might have picked up in that prison.”

“I’m going to find all your fucking cameras, and they’re coming down immediately. I will not be spied on. Not if you want me to get the job done.”

I stab my finger against the red icon to end the call. My chest heaves, and my blood boils.

It’s going to take hours to search for every hidden camera my father has. They’re all going to come down today, though.

“Is everything alright?” Ava appears in the doorway with her hair piled into a messy bun. She holds our suitcases, the bag of weapons slung over her shoulder. “You sounded like you were on the edge of killing someone.”

“Guess you heard about the cameras, then.”

She sets the bags on the burgundy duvet and shrugs. “I never liked your father much.”

The way she says it feels too casual—like she didn’t just find out that we were being spied on in our own home.

Not our home. Our fake home. The fake place we live in while we get through this fake fucking engagement.

I comb my fingers through my hair. “That makes two of us.”

“What now?” She unzips the first suitcase and pulls out piles of clothes. “Now that we’ve established we both don’t like your father, what’s the next step in the plan?”

“I’m going to find the rest of the cameras if you don’t mind unpacking. There’s only one bedroom here—the other is an office to keep up with the cover story.”

“Which is what?”

I lean against the dresser, crossing one leg over the other at the ankle. “We’re a young couple just starting out. I work from home as an accountant. You’re planning on being a housewife.”

Ava wrinkles her nose. “That doesn’t sound like me at all.”

“Yeah. Me neither. It is what it is. The sooner I can get this job over with and you have your answers, the sooner we can get back to our normal lives.”

I push off the dresser and head for the door. “You can take the bedroom. I’ll take the couch.”

“Not going to happen.” The stubborn set of her jaw makes it clear that she’s not going down without a fight. “I can take the couch. It looks comfy, and I’m small. You have muscles that turn you into a man the size of a house. Sleeping on a couch is only going to fuck up your back.”

She brushes past me to the linen closet in the hallway. As she piles blankets and spare pillows into her arms, I roll my eyes.

I snatch the bedding from her. “Thank you for pulling out my sheets.” I smirk and spin away from her, heading to the living room.

She follows me, her gaze boring into my back. “Finn, this is ridiculous. I can sleep on the couch and be perfectly fine. You take the bed. I take the couch. It’s better this way anyway. The last thing we need is a repeat of the other night.”

“Take the bedroom, Ava.” I toss the bedding onto the couch and sit down on top of it. “This isn’t a fight that you’re going to win.”

“Back pain. You are going to be in constant back pain from sleeping on a couch that is too small to accommodate you. Do you think that you are going to be able to fool anyone into doing whatever it is that you need to do if you’re a cranky asshole?”

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