Page 119 of Fix You

“I’ll try.”

I rose out of the booth. “Got to nip to the loo. I’ll be right back.”

“Do I need to come with you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, Quinn? I think I can go to a random restaurant’s loo alone without you or my bodyguard.”

“Fine,” Quinn muttered.

“Be right back.”

Chapter Twenty-Three: Maeve

Once I finished in the loo, I made my way back to our booth. At first, I thought Quinn was on his phone. Worry niggled at me from the venomous expression on his face. I hoped it wasn’t bad news from Boston. But at the realization he had my phone to his ear, my worry turned over to panic.

There was only one person on the other end of my phone that could illicit such a response in him.

Rafe.

An anxious flush blanketed my cheeks as Quinn shoved the phone at me. “I have to take this call from Callum. But when I’m finished, we’re going to have a little chat about Raphael Neretti.”

A shudder rocketed through me so harsh that I staggered back. Fighting for my breath, I watched him stalk out of the pub into the street.

Once my breathing regulated, I jerked the phone to my ear. “What just happened?”

Rafe’s ragged sigh echoed through the line. “Fuck, Maeve, when I didn’t hear anything from you, I got worried. I should’ve texted, but I needed to hear your voice to know that everything was okay. And I wanted to tell you that I was going to sneak to the hotel in case you wanted to bring him home for a bit.”

“But why did he answer it?”

“Because you have me saved asRunsearc.”

“Oh shit,” I muttered as I jerked a hand through my hair. Never in a million years did I imagine my brothers seeing my cheeky Irish nickname for Rafe, which meant “secret lover”.

I pinched my eyes shut. “Fuck! This is bad. Very, very bad.”

“I told him what was going on between us was none of his business.”

With a groan, I countered, “That’s how you chose to handle him finding out we’ve been sleeping together?”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but it wasn’t the right thing to say at that moment.”

“It was better than me saying that his little sister was a sex goddess who I’d put into multiple positions while giving numerous orgasms.”

“Rafe!” I gasped.

“It was right to lie, wasn’t I?”

“Do you even care that we’ve gotten caught?”

“I’m tired of hiding and sneaking around.”

My heartbeat thrummed wildly in my chest. “You are?”

“I am. I’m ready to–”

The unmistakable pop of a gun going off sent a shudder through me. Shrieks and screams of panic rang through my ears.My gaze snapped to the windows where people sprinted by with horror-filled expressions. Rushing out the door, I craned my neck down the street. Fear rocketed through me.

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