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She didn’t know how to respond. He was right. It felt like he was still hers. Even after six years. Even after moving to Colorado so they could spend years apart.
What mattered was that deep down she didn’t feel like she was his.
Seeing him tonight at the sidewalk with another woman hurt. All those women who came after her in the past years had taken something from him that belonged to her.
Maybe she was being stubborn or too damn proud for her own good. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been with others in these past years. She sighed and rolled onto her other side.
She would never tell him how vulnerable he made her feel. How heartbroken and alone she’d felt while he seemed to live his best life amongst groupies.
She didn’t have the nerve to open up to him and lay all her cards on the table. He was the love of her life, but also the one person she would never let close to her again. Getting over this kind of heartbreak was hard the first time. It would devastate her now.
4
Ronan
Ronan and Gwenn said goodbye to the police officers that arrested Geoffrey, or rather, the man that’s supposed to be Geoffrey Tiles, their client. After months of investigation, they finally got a hit on the man who had stolen their client’s identity and caught him red-handed as he tried to open up a business in downtown Austin today.
Ronan worked full-time for his brother’s security company and PI business after Donovan had first called upon Ronan’s help on a job years ago. It worked out both ways as his strength and fighting skills came in handy for Donovan, and Ronan could let out his beast in a more legit type of job.
Fighting was still his life, but he couldn’t fight in those cages forever. There would come a time that his body would have enough and couldn’t take the blows anymore.
When Donovan had asked him to partner up with Gwenn Ryan, it didn’t take him even a millisecond to think about his answer. Out of all four of Fianna’s sisters, he was closest to Gwenn. The youngest Ryan sister was like his pesky little sister he loved to death no matter how much she got on his nerves.
Working side by side for the past two years had brought them even closer. After returning home from Afghanistan, Gwenn struggled to fit in.
She was stuck between the memories of her hellish past and her need to lead a ‘normal’ life. He hated that for her. No matter how hard he tried, he still felt like something was missing for her to be genuinely happy.
Ronan understood Gwenn. He was stuck between his life in the shadows—fighting all kinds of criminals, and on the other hand his life as the youngest Mills brother, the carefree joker nobody ever took seriously.
As they walked back to his truck, she said, “Did you hear anything from her yet?”
He opened his door and shook his head. It took no scientist to know she’d meant Fianna. They discussed almost everything during their workdays so Gwenn knew all about what happened between him and Fianna four days ago.
“Nah. I don’t even know why I sent anything to her. She’s not waiting on a word from me. That much is clear. It’s better to leave things as they were.”
Gwenn closed her door and fastened her seat belt. “You two hurt my head. I can’t deal with this shit. Just go over to her place, fuck all of those missed years out of your system and get it over with already. You two have wasted so much time. You love her. She loves you. You both are a stupid match made in heaven.”
All those years in the military had done wonders for Gwenn’s vocabulary. He loved how she didn’t mince her words. Ronan playfully punched Gwenn’s bicep and got a direct hit against his jaw. He obviously still underestimated his partner, and that irritated the shit out of him.
The cabin was silent as he rubbed his jaw and stared at her. Gwenn’s facial expression said he’d nudged her first so he had to deal with the consequences.
He started the truck and said, “Nice shot.”
“Thanks, old man.”
He busted out laughing. He was only four years her senior. “We’re two fucked up—”
She held up her hand, “Yeah, yeah. You’re not telling me anything my shrink hadn’t already said.”
He let that one slide. She wouldn’t open up to him, anyway. He’d tried. Got shot down every time.
“Lucky’s?” he asked.
Gwenn gripped the dashboard when Ronan overtook a car. “Is Emmy working?”
He laughed. “Yeah. She had a night off last weekend. I think Brennan is still fixing the mess Paddy made in the kitchen.”
Gwenn scrunched her nose. “I hate to say it but whenever I eat something Paddy’s made, I get a flashback to the MRE crap we had over there.”
