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Chapter 30
ANNA
Today was overcast and dreary. The storm clouds had rolled in by early afternoon. I took Luna for a walk along the lake. As I was sitting on the shoreline and throwing a stick for Luna. I thought about what my parents would think about Wilder. They’d want someone hardworking and kind. Someone I could trust to take care of me and be honest.
I was put in danger because of Wilder. My father would also say, a man deserves a chance to do what’s right. Wilder came for me. I wanted to give him a chance to be honest. I had texted him earlier asking to meet. If anything, I wanted to know what would happen with him now, what had happened to Quinn that night.
I thought about what I wanted in my future as I walked Luna toward Wilder’s apartment. My life had changed so drastically in the months since Wilder saved me at the club. I experienced being in love and being hurt both emotionally and physically. I experienced fear, but the fear that I might let true love slip through my fingers still clung to my heart. Could I look past the hurt that Wilder had caused to others, was he still going to leave his family? The doorman greeted me and used his card to allow me access to Wilder’s floor.
I took a deep breath before I stepped off of the elevator. Wilder stood in front of the big windows overlooking the Chicago skyline. I was reminded of the first time I saw him at the club, it was the first time that I got to really see him. He held his broad shoulders back, and I could see the strong jaw and arms that imposed power upon people. But this time there was concern and love etched on his face.
Rain streaked down the window as I go to stand beside him. I watched as the Centennial Wheel slowly spun around on the Navy pier.
“I’m glad you texted, I was worried about you,” he said, still looking out the window. “I didn’t know if you would want to see me again.”
“I didn’t know either. What happened, Wilder? What made everything go so bad?” I turned to him, my voice cracked, tears already threatening to spill over.
Wilder’s embrace enveloped me, and amidst the scent of whiskey and earth, there was a comfort I had forgotten. I looked down at my hands in his and waited for him to start.
“My mother left me when I was merely four,” he began, his words carrying the weight of a lifelong narrative. “That’s what I’ve been told for as long as I can remember. My father raised me and my brother, with help from nannies. But it was clear that my brother was being prepared to inherit the family legacy, while I was molded into my father’s personal enforcer.”
As Wilder shifted uncomfortably, his shuffling movements and avoidance of eye contact hinted at his unease. It became evident that this was a side of him he had rarely shared.
“Anna, I have a very bad side to me. It is dark, secretive, and violent. And for a long time, this is all I was. I did not particularly enjoy it, but I was what my father needed me to be, and I was very good at it.
“And then I met you. You were everything I wasn’t. You were kind and giving, you unveiled a different side of me that I didn’t have access to before you. To have something so pure in my life, I would’ve given anything to keep you from finding out who I was.” Wilder kept talking, as though once he started he was afraid to stop.
“About a month ago, I accepted a job from my father. One of our accountants, who had stolen from us, had gone into hiding and my father asked me to find him. I did, but when I was there he told me some things about my mom, things that were different from what my father had told me.
“I wanted to get more information from him. I’m being honest with you, I was probably going to kill him regardless because that was my job, but he pulled a gun on me and I was given no choice. I shot him before he could finish telling me what happened the night my mother left.
“I started asking around. It led me to Levi’s father. The night my mother left, he was there. He told me that my father killed my mother after she had tried to escape with me. He had been abusive and she wanted to go home to her family, a powerful partner of ours in Ireland.
“My father couldn’t let the Kelly’s know that he had killed their daughter, so he made a story up about her running off.”
Wilder looked to me, his eyes soft and searching for understanding. I didn’t know what to say. “How did all of this lead to me being taken?”
“I’m so sorry, Anna. I should’ve been able to protect you. I would’ve given anything to protect you.” Wilder’s face fell with pain. “Someone informed Quinn that I was asking these questions. They told him that Levi’s father had talked to me.
“You see, when my mother married my father, the Kelly’s gave him control of their business in the US. The Kelly’s are a powerful family in Ireland. In the US, at the time, they were starting to expand here. If they had known my father had murdered my mother, they would take their men back and it would have begun a war between the families. And we would’ve lost.”
“By asking these questions, I was threatening the well-being of the family, and my brother’s future rise to the head of the Kavanaghs. He knew his power and wealth were at stake. He came to see me that night, to threaten me maybe, I don’t know what. But he saw you and he saw that you could be important to me. So he took you to control me. He didn’t know what I was going to do with the information I had, hell, I didn’t know. But he thought that I would roll over if your life was at stake.
“What happened to Quinn?” I whispered.
“My grandfather, Ronan, in Ireland. He was pissed when he heard what had happened to his daughter, my mother. He flew over that night and went with me to get you. He provided men that I could trust to provide cover against Quinn’s men.
“I had my father killed that morning, while he slept. I left Quinn with Ronan. I assume he is dead too. I am the last in line to take over as a Kavanagh.”
Wilder sat down at the bar and poured himself a glass of whiskey. Everything that had happened to me, all the new information that had come to light. I walked up behind him.
I met his gaze, searching for answers in the depths of his eyes. “So, you’re the new head of the Kavanagh family?” The question hung in the air, the weight of our future hung in the balance.
His response was a gentle shake of the head, a silent confession. “I made a pact with Ronan. In exchange for his assistance in bringing you back, I agreed not to oppose him taking control of the business here in America. I sent word to the men the next morning. They are now a part of the Kelly family.”
“So what does this mean for you? For us?”
His eyes softened, carrying a glimmer of hope and determination. “I told you, Anna, I would leave that life behind. I would change—for you. You have been my guiding light, leading me away from the dark life I led before to the hope that I could have an honest future. I still own Aideen, which was never a part of the family business. I still have money for capital. I was thinking of taking a break and then maybe opening a new business.”
Hope surged within me, and desire bloomed in my chest. “So. What does that mean for us?” Could I possibly have a future with Wilder?
A vulnerable smile graced his face. “You are my hope, now and always, Anna. I love you,” he confessed, the sincerity in his voice washing over me like a comforting embrace. “Could you love me again?”
“I never stopped. I love you, Wilder.”
