“Mr. Everly, what exactly is going on?”

Amara pressed him again the moment they both settled into the backseat.

Finnian looked at her, entirely ignoring her question. Instead, he asked, “You called me by my first name earlier. Why did you switch back?”

Amara was speechless.

Seriously? He almost died, and he was obsessing over formalities? Was this really the time for that?

Finnian knew it was the wrong time to bring it up, but hearing her say his name had sparked a brief moment of joy. Hearing her revert to ‘Mr. Everly’ felt like an icy wall had suddenly slammed down between them again. It just bothered him.

He exhaled and explained, “It was my mother. She contacted Antonia today and had her plant a GPS tracker on you so they could monitor your route. Then, she hired a hitman to run you off the road. She wanted to kill you and the baby.”

A cold sweat broke across Finnian’s back as he spoke the words out loud.

The mere thought of what would have happened if he had been a minute too late paralyzed him with absolute terror.

Unable to stop himself, he gripped her hand tightly. “Thank God you’re safe. Otherwise, I…” His voice cracked with a heavy edge of remorse, his eyes shadowed with guilt.

Visualizing the gruesome alternative sent a hard shiver down Amara’s spine as well. Her heart swelled with an overwhelming mix of gratitude and deep emotion.

When Finnian chose to crash his car into the attacker, did he know he could have died? Of course he did.

Yet, he hadn’t hesitated for a single second to sacrifice himself for her.

A tender ache tightened Amara’s chest, and she dug her fingernails into her palms.

She didn’t voice a simple ‘thank you.’ Words felt painfully inadequate for something like this.

Finnian had saved her life too many times for a basic expression of gratitude. She would find a tangible way to repay him down the line.

She steered the conversation back to the crisis. “Mr. Everly, how did you know Emma was trying to hurt me?”

Finnian replied, “I planted two bodyguards near her. What she doesn’t know is that they aren’t just watching her they’re bugging b her conversations. When she called Antonia to orchestrate the hit my men intercepted it and immediately tipped me off.”

His expression darkened with renewed guilt.

“I dragged you into this mess again. If it weren’t for me, Emma wouldn’t hate you, and she wouldn’t keep trying to hurt you.” His disdain for his mother was so intense now that he referred to her coldly by her first

name. ne

FindNovel.net

Amara shook her head. “This isn’t your fault.”

It was true that Emma’s hatred for her stemmed from Finnian, but modern society didn’t operate on the sins of the family. Emma’s viciousness was entirely her own doing. Amara knew better than to blame him for his mother’s insanity.

Seeing the profound guilt still carved into his features, she looked away.

The truth was, she felt a sudden lump in her throat, dangerously close to crying.

Whenever she remembered how often he had put his own life on the line to save hers, a bittersweet sorrow gripped her. Why was he so fiercely devoted to her?

A heavy silence settled in the car. One was drowning in self-blame, the other quietly heartbroken. Neither spoke.

In that quiet stillness, her senses sharpened, and a harsh, metallic scent suddenly hit Amara.

She snapped her head up and saw blood seeping through Finnian’s clothes. Acting on instinct, she pulled back his suit jacket, exposing a deep, jagged laceration right across his collarbone.