“No, but?—”
“But nothing.”
Kieran’s knuckles whiten as he clutches his mug. But after a few seconds, he lets out a long exhale. “I just hope this is all worth the fallout.”
I cross over to the island and reach out to gently squeeze his arm, though I’m not sure who needs the contact more, me or him.
“It will. You always think things through, and I know you’ve made the right choice because your family is your number one priority. You wouldn’t do anything that could hurt them.”
He looks at me for a moment, and I can see the flicker of gratitude behind his eyes.
“What did I do to deserve you?” He sighs, taking my hand and lifting it to his lips.
The kiss is brief, but it’s enough to make my breath catch and for a rush of warmth to spread throughout my body.
“I have a long list in my phone of all the things you’ve done.”
Kieran huffs a laugh as he looks down at our joined hands and slowly rubs his thumb back and forth over my knuckles.
I hate seeing him like this, but what I hate even more is that Ronan is the one who has made him secondguess himself.
But I know what I can do to help.
“I’ll be right back.” I pull my hand free from his and head back upstairs.
Back in my old room, I retrieve the document I’ve been holding onto for weeks.
I only ever planned to give it to Kieran when I felt confident that he and Ronan would protect me if anything went wrong.
Well, Kieran has more than held up his end of the bargain.
My hands tremble slightly as I hold the folder, realizing that if I don’t trust him enough to give it to him now, I never will.
Despite everything, Kieran, Ronan, and Ciara have felt more like my family in the past month than Oscar and Rion ever have.Just because you share blood with someone does not mean you owe them your loyalty.
The Sullivans have proved that to me, and as I carry the evidence back downstairs, I know in my gut that I have made the right choice.
My blood might tell me that I’m a Walsh, but I’m carrying a Sullivan inside me, and that is where my loyalty now lies.
Kieran looks up as I approach, and his eyebrows shoot up when he notices the folder in my hands. “Is that what I think it is?”
I nod, biting my lip. “I think it can help. I… I trust you with it.”
His eyes soften as he reaches for the folder. But when I hand it to him, he immediately sets it on the island and reaches out again, only this time for me.
I step between his thighs as his hands move to rest on my waist, and I relax beneath his touch.
He grounds me in a way nothing has before, and I let my hands snake around his neck as I move to rest my forehead against his.
“Riley…” The way he whispers my name sends a shiver down my spine. “It means a lot that you trust me with this. But I want you to know that regardless of what’s in that folder, what I feel for you is real, and it always has been.”
I don’t say anything right away because I want to savor the raw honesty of his words.
As his eyes flick up to meet mine, there’s a vulnerability in them that I rarely see, and I want to wrap myself up in it.
“I feel the same way.”
Before I can add anything more, Kieran leans forward and presses a soft kiss to my lips that is so tender it makes my knees weak.
