Chapter 22
“She doesn’t deserve this,” Shayne murmured softly as he reached down and gently pushed a strand of her beautiful golden blonde hair back behind her ear only to have his lips twitch as he watched Ashlyn swat at his hand in her sleep before she rolled over onto her stomach with a groan.
“None of them do,” Quinn said from the bedroom door as Shayne reluctantly dropped his hand away and made his way to the living room and quietly closed the bedroom door behind him.
“Anything yet?” Shayne asked as he made his way across the living room and let himself onto the balcony before he closed the sliding glass door behind him.
“Finn and Aidan are watching over the two couples that ye spotted in the lobby. Declean and Liam are home watching over Marty, still no word from Connall, and I managed to take care of the ghost that attacked ye in the elevator,” Quinn said as he suddenly appeared on the small love seat overlooking the lake.
“Is she engaged yet?” Shayne asked as he placed his hands on the banister and found himself staring out at the lake.
“Last month,” Quinn said, sighing heavily as Shayne watched a couple steal a kiss by one of the firepits set up along the shore.
“It’s only a matter of time then,” Shayne said, knowing that they wouldn’t be seeing their brother again until it was over.
Connall could never stay away from Caireann, not when they were alive and not now when they were trapped in this never-ending cycle of hell.
He watched over her even when that meant watching the woman that he loved fall in love with another man, and she did every single time.
Once she became engaged, Connall never left her side, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the curse came for her.
“Unless ye break the curse on yer end,” Quinn drawled as Shayne absently nodded.
“What do ye think the odds are that I can make a woman who never wanted ta see me again fall in love with me?” Shayne asked as he placed his elbows on the banister and leaned over the railing.
“Ye don’t want ta break the curse,” Quinn said as he suddenly appeared by his side.
“I don’t want her ta die in my arms again,” Shayne said, wondering what the hell he was thinking when he agreed to do this only to remember that he was the reason that they were here in the first place.
“How long are ye planning on punishing yerself?” Quinn asked while he watched the fires burn on the shore as he found himself thinking about a night much like this one a long time ago.
“Until it’s over,” Shayne said as he allowed himself to think about Lasarín for the first time in years.
God, he missed her. He missed falling asleep with her in arms, that devious little smile of hers when she thought that she had him wrapped around her little finger, but most of all, he missed waking up with her in his arms.
Finding out that she wasn’t his nearly fucking destroyed him, but knowing that she was safe from this curse was the only thing that gave him peace.
“Ye loved her,” Quinn said quietly.
“Lasarín’s off-limits,” Shayne reminded his brother, something that he’d never had to do before since his brothers knew just how fucking difficult this was for him.
“I was talking about Aileen.”
“She was a pain in my ass and I had a soft spot for the lass, but I didn’t love her,” Shayne said, repeating the lie that he’d been telling himself for years.
“I was there, lad,” Quinn said, making everything in him go still as he slowly looked at his brother.
“Say that one more time,” Shayne bit out even as he told himself that Quinn was lying.
“We took turns watching over ye, but we made sure ye didn’t find out,” Quinn said, only to shrug as he added, “We didn’t want ta get in the way. But I saw the way that ye watched her.”
“She needed someone ta watch over her,” Shanye snapped.
“That doesn’t explain why ye told her that ye loved her or why ye told her that ye wanted to spend the rest of yer life with her when she lay dying in yer arms,” Quinn said quietly as he watched him with something close to pity.
“Fuck ye,” Shayne snapped as he moved to head back inside and-
“Or why you cried when she took her last breath,” Quinn said, making him swallow hard as he stood there, thinking about the moment that he knew she was gone.
“I let her go,” Shayne said hollowly. “She told me that she loved me and I let her go.”
“It’s my fault for not getting there in time to protect ye, lad,” Quinn said as Shayne stood there, glaring at the wall as he found himself wondering about something.
“What was the real reason ye tricked me into giving into the pull?” Shayne found himself asking as he turned around to find his brother watching him.
“Because she was being punished every time ye failed ta go ta her,” Quinn said, making his stomach drop.
“Why didn’t ye tell me?” Shayne demanded as he thought about all those times that he ignored the pull to go to her, telling himself that he needed to watch over Tadgh instead.
“Because it nearly fucking destroyed ye when ye lost Lasarín,” Quinn said as Shayne slowly nodded as he turned around to head inside.
“And what do ye think this is going ta do?” Shayne asked as he opened the sliding glass door and-
“She would have wanted ye ta be happy,” Quinn said as he suddenly appeared in front of him.
“She made me happy,” Shayne said, walking past his brother and-
“So does Ashlyn.”
Two Days Later...
She wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take.
She just...
Needing a moment, Ashlyn slowly exhaled as she stood there, staring down at the sick bastard that was screwing with her head as her grip tightened around the pillow and-
Murder was wrong, so very wrong, Ashlyn reminded herself even as she found herself moving closer, more than willing to give in to the urge to smother the sick bastard that had spent the past two days going out of his way to piss her off and find out once and for all if she had what it took to survive prison.
It started off harmless enough, they’d spent the first night going over the files for the six women that had been murdered, ordered room service while they worked, and pretended the night before never happened.
When it was time to call it a night, he let her have the bed and even drew her a bath, giving her hope that she could get through this without losing her goddamn mind.
But everything changed the next morning...
That’s when she learned the true definition of hell.
He barely said two words to her while they were getting ready, but the moment they stepped foot outside their hotel room, that all changed.
He went from ignoring her to destroying her will to live.
As soon as the door closed behind them, he’d turned into the most charming, attentive, and besotted man alive.
He looked at her adoringly, made sure to call her that endearment that she couldn’t quite pronounce but loved hearing whispered in her ear, and found any and every excuse to touch her.
In fact, he couldn’t seem to be within five feet of her and not touch her.
He held her hand while they walked, making sure to absently caress the back of her hand with his thumb just the way she liked.
If they were standing in line, he was standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her, and he made sure to pull her down on his lap every chance he got.
But the moment they stepped back into their room, that all stopped.
He became quiet, barely said two words to her, and slept on the couch, leaving her to spend the rest of the night staring at the television, telling herself that she didn’t want any more of his stupid kisses.
But every time she heard movement coming from the other room, she perked up, sending hopeful glances at the doorway until she realized what she was doing and went back to staring at the television, grumbling and once again telling herself that this was for the best.
She honestly wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take.
Deciding against making all of her dreams come true, at least her homicidal ones, Ashlyn threw the pillow at his head, ignored his sleepy grumble, and made her way back to her room.
She turned the television on, found a horror movie, flopped down onto her side and stared at the wall, wondering what the hell was wrong with her until her eyelids grew heavy and she slowly closed her eyes. ..