Page 54 of Home Free

“Do you need men?” Nico asked. “I can spare a few.”

Ronan shook his head. “Not our style.”

Six months ago, Finn wouldn’t have known what it meant. Now he did.

They weren’t the Syndicate, and they weren’t Achilles. When they took out Aldrich Cromwell, it would just be them.

Finn. Ronan. Declan. Nick.

His brothers. Taking care of business. Taking care of each other.

Finn had forgotten that while he’d been away all those years, but now, watching Ronan risk involvement with the Syndicate, he knew he’d never forget it again.

30

Elise stepped out of the Ferrari on the tarmac, glad she’d gotten one last ride, this time with Finn at the wheel.

He got out, grabbed her bag, and set it at the base of the stairs to the waiting plane. Then he walked slowly toward her, like it would delay the moment when they would have to say goodbye.

She didn’t want to say goodbye either, but her sister needed her, whether Julia was willing to admit it or not, and Finn had business to take care of, business that had to be finished in order for them to begin again together.

Her looked down at her, then tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Not goodbye,” he said.

She smiled and shook her head. “No.”

She wasn’t privy to the details of their plan to take out Aldrich Cromwell, but she knew it was dangerous. Still, she refused to believe in any other outcome except the one where Finn returned to her, one where all the Murphy brothers returned home.

“Thanks for coming with us today,” Finn said.

“No problem.” Spending the afternoon hanging out with Angel Vitale and her daughter wasn’t the way Elise would have chosen to spend her last day with Finn, but it had certainly been interesting. “I got to ride in a helicopter.”

He laughed. “And don’t forget the limeade.”

She’d waxed poetic about the limeade when they’d gotten back to the penthouse, already wishing she’d asked Angel for the recipe.

Elise grinned. “It was great limeade.”

She knew Finn and Ronan’s meeting with Nico hadn’t been as carefree as the one she’d had with Angel, had been able to tell by their stony silence when they’d returned to the chopper, the way Ronan had disappeared into his room as soon as they returned to the apartment.

But she hadn’t asked about the details. Nico had given them permission to go after Cromwell. Anything else was none of her business, and none of Finn’s either. She could already feel MIS and its business moving away from them, could already feel their connection morphing into something new and distant.

Finn stroked her cheek with his thumb and bent to kiss her, lingering over her mouth like he wanted to remember it. She wanted to remember it too, and she slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, wanting him to know how much she loved him.

When they pulled apart, Finn rested his forehead against hers.

She looked into his eyes. “Come back to me, Finn Murphy.”

“Pack your bags, Elise Berenger.”

She took his hands in hers and stepped away, their arms stretching between them as she started walking backwards. The jet engine roared to life, idling on the blacktop, the wind blowing her hair around her face.

“See you soon,” she said.

“You can count on it.”

She let go of his hands and started for the plane.

That was always the hard part: letting go. The hard part and the most important part. You couldn’t grab hold of something new when you were holding onto something old.

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