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“Not for a while, but I have.” He glances at me briefly before looking back down at the street. “Usually being with you is enough, but right now, I could use something else to relax me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” He turns and wraps his arms around me. “I’m grateful you put up with me when I’m like that. I don’t mean to take my frustration out on you, but you take it anyway even when I’m a little too rough.”
“I don’t mind.” I smile up at him. “I kinda like it, really.”
“Do you now?” Deklan raises an eyebrow.
“Yes.” I can feel myself blushing. I look away and off to the buildings in the distance.
“I owe you a nice, long bath,” he says. “I’ll even throw in bubbles.”
“I’d like that, too.”
“It will be all about you,” he says as he places his hand on my cheek and turns my head to face him. “Warm water, massage, and at least three orgasms.”
“You’ll have to warm up the water a few times if you are going to keep me in there that long.” I giggle.
“Done.” He kisses me softly and strokes his finger across my cheek. “I really don’t know if I could cope with all of this if you weren’t here.”
“It probably wouldn’t be happening if it weren’t for me.”
“Not true.” Deklan shakes his head. “I’m finally seeing that. You are the excuse, but not the reason. Sean’s crazy, and he would have made this happen with or without you. He would have found a reason to kill his father and take over the business early even if you were never part of the equation. I don’t know if he’s hungry for the power, the money, or if he’s just plain nuts, but do
n’t ever blame yourself.”
I nod and try to believe his words. It’s difficult not to feel responsible, but I also agree with him. Sean is crazy. He will always find a reason to justify whatever he does.
“Are you really going to take over the Foley business?” I ask.
“It’s what Teagan wants,” Deklan says with a shrug. “I never had any plans to do this, but if this is what she wants, I’ll do it. If she ever changes her mind, I’ll give it back. I want to do what Fergus would have wanted, and I think he’d want it to go to her.”
“It sounds like he thought of you as a son as well.”
“I don’t know. Teagan might think of me as a brother, but I only worked for her father.”
“You were important to him.”
“I got the job done.”
“From what Teagan said, it seems like it was more than that.”
Deklan licks his lips and stares up at the sky. It’s a clear night, and though there is a lot of light pollution, a few stars can be seen, and the moon is full and bright. Deklan focuses on the moon for a moment before he speaks.
“I barely remember my own father,” he says quietly. “The only picture I have is the one used in the article about the break-in and murders. Sometimes, when I can’t remember my dad’s face, I have to look at that article.”
“Can I see it?”
Deklan looks at me for a long moment before nodding. We go back inside, and Deklan pulls a small box from the top of the bedroom closet. Inside the box is the faded newsprint article about the Kearney family deaths.
I swallow hard as I look at the picture under the headline. It must have been taken for a Christmas card—everyone is dressed up. Four-year-old Deklan is in a tiny suit and bowtie, and he smiles up at the camera like the world is full of puppies and rainbows.
“Don’t cry,” Deklan says softly.
“I can’t help it.” I wipe the tears from my eyes and sniff as I hand the article back to him. “You look so happy.”
“I remember being happy.” Dek places the article back in the box and the box back on the shelf in the closet. “All those memories are pretty vague now though. I think the next time I felt happy was when Fergus asked me to work for him.”
