Page 134 of The Endless Want

Liam’s office is lit only by a desk lamp when I push the door open. He’s standing behind the desk, going through a thick stack of intel reports. Nadia sits on the couch near the window, one leg tucked under her, watching him with a mixture of affection and exhaustion.

Both of them look up when I enter. Liam’s eyes narrow a fraction. “She’s safe,” I answer. “Resting. Midwife coming tonight.”

Nadia exhales, hand rising to her throat. “Thank God.”

Liam nods once. “Good work getting her out.”

The praise lands strangely. Heavy. Weighted with something unspoken. I step forward. “I need to speak with both of you.”

Liam raises a brow. “Sounds serious.”

“It is.”

Nadia sits forward on the couch, curiosity bright in her eyes. Liam folds his arms and studies me the way he used to when I was younger—measuring not my words but my resolve.

I take out the ring box. Nadia gasps softly. Liam stills.

“I want to formally request Ailish’s hand,” I say. My voice comes out steady despite the storm in my chest. “And I know what that means. I know the expectations. I know the cost.”

The room goes utterly silent.

Liam’s eyes drop to the box, then rise slowly to mine. “Declan,” he says quietly, “this life doesn’t get easier. You know that.”

“I do.”

“You’ll still have enemies. She’ll have them too.”

“I know.”

“If you lose control with her again, if you let pride or rage rule you, you won’t just break her—you’ll break the family holding this entire operation together.”

Nadia’s gaze flicks sharply to him. “Liam⁠—”

“No,” he says gently. “He needs to hear it.”

I nod. “I’m listening.”

Liam steps around the desk and comes to stand in front of me. Taller than me. Broader. But for the first time in months, he doesn’t feel like an opponent. He feels like my brother again.

“You don’t get to swear half loyalty,” he says. “Not to the Irish. Not to her. Not to the child she’s carrying. If you want her—if you want to make her family—then you bleed for her. Every day. Every way.”

“I already do,” I say.

“Then say it.”

I meet his eyes. “I’ll bleed for her.”

The words come out like a vow carved in stone. Something new settles inside me—a clarity I didn’t have before. A sense of direction.

Nadia stands and walks toward us. “Ailish deserves someone who will love her with discipline. Not chaos.”

My throat tightens. “I know.”

“She’ll forgive you,” Nadia says softly. “But she won’t survive being hurt again.”

“I won’t hurt her,” I whisper back. “Not ever again.”

Liam studies me for one long moment more, then nods once—the smallest gesture, but the one that means everything. “All right,” he says. “You have my blessing.”