Pursued by the Rogue (The Fairy Tales of New York Book 1) by Kelly Hunter Page B

side, both of us teaching and making a difference to children’s lives. It was fulfilling work and they were bright blue days packed with laughter and a daughter with sunshine in her smile. I was so blessed.”
    Finn waited and said nothing. Prayed for Dawn’s aunt to hurry up.
    “And then my husband got sick, and we sent Dawn away hoping to spare her and instead we turned her into a woman who trusts no one for fear of being sent away or left behind. Abandoned, by those she loves. These days, Dawn makes sure to leave first. She hurt you for a reason, Finbar. She gave you a way out.”
    Finn felt his lips tighten.
    “You don’t know what you might be in for. She knows. Better than you do. If I were your mother I’d tell you to run.”
    “My mother’s dead,” he offered flatly. “You see I do know something about love and loss. And that’s not the advice she would have given.”
    Kathleen Sullivan had known better than anyone that when Finn’s mind was made up, it was made up.
    “My daughter’s going to try and push you away. She pushes everyone away.”
    “I know that, Mrs. Turner.”
    “Don’t let her.”
    He was never not going to be helpless against grey-eyed women with eyes that saw straight through to the heart of things. “I won’t.”
    Dawn’s aunt returned and he took the piece of paper she handed to him with a gruff, “Thank you.”
    “You should leave now if you want to catch her at the doctor’s office. If you miss her, we’ll tell her you called.”
    “Thank you,” he said again.
    It was way past time to leave.
    It wasn’t until he was back outside the apartment block that he stopped memorizing the address long enough to turn the paper over.
    In small, neat handwriting Dawn’s aunt had written: We like you already, Mr. Finbar Sullivan, otherwise you wouldn’t have got through the door. My niece cares deeply for you. Good luck.
    *
    Dawn sat in the waiting room at the clinic on the grounds of Columbia University and tried not to stare at the clock. Over the past week she’d answered surveys and had a physical examination, gone through her family medical history and taken more than one psych test. She hadn’t had any brain imaging tests yet but that was only because they’d skipped straight to predictive genetic testing.
    There were perks to being the head of a leading research company focused on genetic testing. Aaron – Doctor Aaron Chen – had waived a lot of the pre-counseling given that Dawn was already well-versed when it came to ethical, economic and emotional intricacies surrounding such testing. He’d fast tracked the DNA test.
    She took a deep breath and stopped watching the clock in favor of counting how many tulips were in the fishbowl vase on the receptionist’s desk instead.
    Twenty.
    She drummed her fingers on her leg, caught the receptionist’s sympathetic smile and smacked one hand down over her wayward fingers to make them stop.
    Her mother had wanted to come to the appointment but Dawn had refused. She was hanging onto her control by the merest of threads and if the news was bad she would need time to collect herself. A counselling session had been pre-booked. She would move from one specialist’s room to the next.
    Fifty-fifty, Dawn. Breathe.
    The door to the clinic opened and a man walked in, bringing with him an air of controlled energy that had every head in the room swiveling towards him.
    Finn.
    He sat down beside her and slid her a glance. Hard to believe that green eyes could burn so hot, but they did.
    He was everything she’d ever wanted, and didn’t think she could afford to have.
    “Why are you here?” she asked quietly, well aware of the others in the room and the almost invariable listening in.
    “Same reason you’re here. To see what our future holds.”
    “ My future, not yours,” she corrected. “Walk away, Finn. You’re not part of my world.”
    “Do you realize,” he said almost conversationally. “That you’re doing to me