“I’m here, too,” Shannon said from just as far away. “We’ve got you, sis.”
Yet it was a strong pair of arms that lifted her and took her away from the tree.
“Cian?” she whispered but knew it wasn’t him.
“Nay, lassie,” Liam rumbled. “But I’ve got you.”
She instinctively curled into his warmth, if for no other reason than he was Cian’s brother. His blood. And then she just kept crying. Kept holding on to him. She hated herself for it, hated how weak she must appear, but couldn’t stop if she wanted to.
So many lives had been lost.
Too many.
“Sis?” Riona asked tentatively, placing a gentle hand on her back when her tears eventually subsided. “We’re here for you. Just tell us what you need.”
She inhaled a choppy breath and opened her eyes to find the blurriness gone.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered hoarsely when she saw that she’d soaked Liam’s shirt with tears. “I didn’t mean to....” She flinched when she realized she was curled up on his lap on the couch in the living room. “I just...”
She tried to move out of embarrassment, but he held tight.
“’Tis fine, lass.” He looked at her with concern, clearly sensing her mortification. “You need not remove yourself yet or be embarrassed.”
She was relieved to see he meant it. More than that, there wasn’t an ounce of flirtation in his eyes. Only worry.
Even so.
“No, I’m okay.”
Though she wasn’t anywhere near all right, she managed to slide off his lap and sit beside him.
“Here.” Riona set a steaming hot cup of tea on the table beside her. “I made your favorite. Chamomile.”
“She doesn’t want tea,” Shannon muttered, heading for the kitchen. “Why am I not surprised, considering she’s been in Ireland?”
Shannon had always possessed an uncanny understanding of what people needed and when they needed it.
When Madison frowned because that sounded kind of offensive, Liam offered a lopsided grin. “Forgive your sister. She’s been in a snit since she met me.”
Not surprising.
She might be drowning in grief and feel like she was down half a soul, but she was still Shannon’s big sister. And she knew Liam was ruthlessly flirtatious. “Have you given her a reason to be?”
“No, he’s been a perfect gentleman,” Riona defended. “She’s just been in a mood since the moment she arrived.”
Liam, a perfect gentleman? Despite the kindness he had just shown her, she found that a little hard to believe.
“You’ve been in a mood because I was gone?” Madison asked Shannon when she returned in record time. “Or because of everything I shared with Riona when we connected beneath King’s Heart?”
Because Riona had undoubtedly shared everything with their sisters. Better have, anyway.
“Both,” Shannon said. “It’s been a lot to take in.”
She noticed Shannon avoided looking at Liam as she set down a glass with ice and a bottle of whiskey.
Madison nodded thanks when Liam poured for her because her hands shook so badly, yet frowned in renewed mortification when he held the glass up to her mouth and urged her to drink.
“’Tis all right, my friend.” His eyes were gentle. Coaxing. “’Tis clear you’re traumatized.” He glanced from Riona and Shannon, then back to her. “So I imagine your sisters won’t mind if I help you out a wee bit more?”
