Page 111 of Declan

I closed my eyes thinking she was right. My daughter was beautiful and I never should’ve kept her away from her aunt.

“Something else I need to tell you. I’m sorry—”

“You don’t.”

“Sister, I do.”

Violet rocked back and I wondered if I’d ever called her that to her face.

Damn, I was a dick.

“I love you. I should’ve told you a long time ago. I should’ve walked across that street and pulled you into my arms and told you who I was. I’ve made a million mistakes and I’m sorry. What you have to know is, from now on, no matter where I am, I’m not hiding. I’m not freezing anyone out. I’m not running.”

“But you’re leaving,” she whispered.

“I need you to trust me, Vi. I’m doing what I need to do to heal, to move on, to let go of the grief and find happiness.”

“Autumn,” she said gently.

“Autumn,” I confirmed.

I looked to Jaxon and gave him a lift of my chin and he stepped closer to his wife.

“Would it be alright if I gave you—”

I didn’t let her finish, I tagged her hand and pulled her tight against me, and for the first time since as long as I could remember, I hugged my sister.

Fuck, Jaxon had been right, years he’d been telling me my sister had magical powers.

He was not wrong, but they weren’t magical, they were full of love. And the fuck of it was, I could have had this all along but I’d been too chickenshit to walk across the street.

“I love you, Dec.”

“I love you, too, sis.”

“Promise you’ll keep in touch.”

Violet, like her husband, was smart.

“Yeah, sweetheart, I promise I’ll be in touch soon.”

“I don’t want to let you go,” she said, and wrapped her arms around me tighter.

Fucking, fucking, hell, that felt great.

* * *

“When?” That was Zane’s greeting when I walked into his office.

He’d just gotten back to headquarters after dealing with the Maloof situation and hadn’t even settled into his chair when I’d barged in.

“Now.”

“Fuck,” he hissed. “You need anything?”

“Nope. Got everything I need.”

Zane held my gaze a beat, his blue eyes flared, he dipped his chin, turned his back to me, and faced his floor-to-ceiling windows.