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He smoothed the hair back from her face. She had no need to worry. “I’m all in, Indy. No more half measures. I’m in this all or nothing. Whatever it takes to make this work, I’ll do it,” he added, not bothering to keep the possessive note out of his voice.
“Are you sure? I mean, I’m sure I want to be with you. I want to see where this takes us.”
“Yes, I’m sure. I signed the divorce papers yesterday. Soon it’ll be official.” He wondered why he’d been so hesitant to do it before. He and Chloe were never getting back together. But Indy had been the true solid reason he’d needed to put pen to paper. He wanted no impediments to them being together.
“Really?” she breathed. “That’s good.” She nodded, then bit her bottom lip. “But…what about Kayleigh?”
He had an answer for that question, too. In the little spare time he’d had over the past few days, it was practically all he’d thought about. “Kayleigh and Chloe have built a life in Ireland. They won’t be coming back to Australia,” he admitted. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but it was the simple truth.
“Have you considered moving to Ireland to be near them?” she asked.
Yes, he had. It was true, at one stage he’d considered doing that for Kayleigh. But it would never work. He knew that now. “Kayleigh is my daughter, and I miss her every day. But as much as it leaves a hole in my heart, I can’t move back to Ireland. My life is here. This is where I want to live. I would resent it if I moved, resent them for making me do it, and I would hate to feel any kind of resentment toward my daughter.”
“Are you sure?” she asked again, not unkindly. But there was a core of strength in her tone, as if she needed to be one-hundred percent sure he wasn’t going to change his mind.
“Yes. I’ll go and visit her, and when she’s older, I’m hoping she might come and stay during school holidays and the like. You can come with me, if you like.”
“To Ireland?”
“Yes, I’d love to show you around. And I’d love you to meet Kayleigh, she’s a little pocket rocket, so full of energy and sunshine.”
“I’d like that,” Indy agreed, turning trusting, dark eyes up to his. “And I’m sure I’ll like her, too.”
“We’ll find a way to make this work. I’m ready. As long as you’re ready, we can do this together. You and me against the world.” He fist pumped the air in mock celebration, and she giggled at his comical enthusiasm.
Then she sobered and said, “I love you, too, Finn.” And his heart nearly exploded at hearing those words.
Much later, they lay tangled together in the sheets. Lying face to face, Indy’s soft exhalation of air every time she breathed out tickling his face with a featherlight touch. It was late, they’d heard first Bindi and Mack come in to the staff quarters; they had a master suite at the end of the building, and Finn had recognized Mack’s deep voice. And then the front door had banged again, and Indy told him it must be Sasha and Alex also turning in for the night.
“I haven’t even asked you how your brother is,” Indy said softly into his ear. He could tell by the slight hitch in her voice she was almost afraid to ask. He hadn’t been sure she was even awake, her breathing had slowed and her eyes had been closed for a while now.
He drew in a deep breath as guilt stabbed him in the gut. “He woke up yesterday,” Finn replied. “I talked to Mum on the phone, she’s been by his side in hospital the whole time. She’s absolutely shattered by this whole thing. Not only finding out that one of her precious sons is a criminal, but that he’s going tobe spending the rest of his life behind bars.”And that he tried to kill his brother,Finn thought. His mother still didn’t know all the details of that night, and he didn’t want to be the one to tell her. But someone had to.
Finn hadn’t been to see Garrett in the hospital, yet, and wasn’t likely to, either. He still hadn’t worked through all his conflicting emotions, and he was scared he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from punching his brother in the face the second he saw him. His conflicting emotions stretched to his poor mother, as well. He had no idea where to start with her, either. He knew he owed her the truth, that he’d known about Garrett’s criminal occupation, and he’d kept it from her. He was sorry now that he hadn’t told her sooner, as her grief and pain almost bordered on mania, and she was partially blaming Finn for everything that’d happened in her attempt to understand why one of her cherished boys was under police guard in the hospital. Which was unfair, but not totally unreasonable, given she only knew parts of the story. But he couldn’t go to her yet. Not while she was still so protective of Garrett.
And not while he still wanted to tear Garrett limb from limb.
At least his younger sister, Caroline, was helping to support their mother. Caro was as shocked by all this as his mother, but she seemed to accept it with a lot more composure, as if she somehow suspected what Garrett was capable of.
In Finn’s mind, Garrett was irredeemable. He’d done the unthinkable and tried to kill Finn. The only small saving grace was that he’d taken Indy out of the house before it blew up. But that act had been more to save his own hide than out of any compassion for his twin brother. To use Indy as a human shield, if necessary. And Garrett was also a murderer, if Finn’s suspicions were proven correct. Finn had confessed to the sarge about the lighter, and how he’d withheld vital evidence. Mike had been mad enough to chew nails, and for a few moments,Finn thought his job was on the line. But Mike had finally accepted it as the possible breakthrough they needed to help solve Ronaldo’s murder, and had calmed down. A case against Garrett for Ronaldo’s death still needed to be put together, so there was no mention of the charges. Yet. But how his mother was going to take this additional development, was anybody’s guess. Not well, he decided.
“Oh, your poor mum,” Indy said, bringing up a hand to stroke his face.
“Yeah. I need to talk to her.”
“You do. And Caroline. And Garrett,” Indy prompted hesitantly.
“Not sure I’m ready for Garrett, yet. Maybe not ever,” he growled. He knew she was only trying to help. Knew that by not facing his brother, he was leaving things to fester, but he needed to get his emotions back under control before he did that. And seeing Indy, holding her close and satisfying his desperate need to know she was safe and well again, it went a long way to helping him do that. Knowing that his brother’s treachery hadn’t had any lasting ill effects on her.
Indy stared at him for a long time, not saying anything, merely stroking his hair softly. At last, as if she realized that pushing him on the subject of Garrett wasn’t going to help, she changed the subject by asking, “And what about the drug bust?”
That was a much more agreeable topic, because he had good news on that front. “You’ll probably hear about it on the news tomorrow.” Mike was due to give a media interview in the morning, where the huge undercover bust would be revealed.
Finn rolled onto his back to ease his right shoulder, which’d taken the brunt of the shards of glass when he’d smashed through that window. Now that the high from their erotic pursuits had settled, he was beginning to feel his injuries again, and he was stiffening up. But it’d been worth it. And he’d becomegood at hiding his pain, otherwise Mike probably wouldn’t have let him take part in the raids, either. But again, that’d been worth every ache and small agony, to be able to capture the head mastermind behind the whole drug gang.
“But yeah, we got them. Remember when I rolled beneath that truck and you had to act like a dumb bimbo to stop the truckie driving over the top of me?”
“Yes, I remember it well.” Indy raised an eyebrow at him.
