Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Declan couldn’t contain the wave of sheer happiness he felt on entering his apartment three hours later and finding Fawn exactly where she had said she would be waiting when he returned from his meeting with Nikolai.
He stood in the doorway of his sitting room, watching her now as she sat on the carpeted floor playing a card game of Snap with Angel. The see-through case containing the little girl’s pet spider sat beside her.
Fawn and Angel laughed when Angus decided to lay himself over several of the cards, effectively preventing them from continuing with the game. They immediately hugged and settled on calling it a draw.
Declan could so easily imagine Fawn with their own child. A daughter or a son. Or both. Just the thought of seeing Fawn’s body round with his child, of touching that child through her skin, made Declan ache for it to become true.
Instead, he forced himself to concentrate on the here and now. There would be time to discuss all that once they were alone together.
There was no sign of River or Danny, so they were probably still in the younger man’s bedroom.
Magnus was sitting in an armchair scrolling through the messages on his cell phone, but he shut it down to cross the room the moment he spotted Declan. “All good?” he broached tentatively once he was standing beside Declan.
Declan nodded without looking at the other man, only having eyes for Fawn. “All good,” he confirmed distractedly.
The outcome of his meeting with Boris Koslov wasn’t perfect, but it was the best they were going to get.
Declan had spoken to Boris Koslov, explained the circumstances of his brother’s death, with the emphasis that Declan had been the victim, shot by mistake, and was not the perpetrator.
Declan had continued to talk to the younger man until he saw the veil of grief that had been the driving force behind Boris Koslov’s movements since learning of his younger brother’s death start to lift from the Russian’s eyes.
The conversation had become easier after that, Koslov acknowledging that he had known this might be his brother’s fate when he had left the bratva and come to England to work for Lev Yegorov. The money being offered was twice what they had been earning with the bratva family in Russia.
Declan knew this was because Lev Yegorov was the only son of the now-deceased billionaire oligarch, Andrei Yegorov, one of the men responsible for stripping Russia of a great deal of its assets and wealth before abandoning the country.
Boris explained that, with his pakhan ’s permission, he had now also cut his own ties with Russia.
He had then apologized to Nikolai for behaving so badly on the Markovic territory, before asking if the older man would consider asking his pakhan to accept him into their London bratva.
Nikolai had been surprised and very reluctant to trust the young Russian. He had only agreed to that request after a private conversation with Declan, in which Declan had explained he liked this idea much better than the alternative.
Nikolai had finally agreed to take Boris, but warned that he would be on probation until Nikolai deemed otherwise.
If he fucked up, Nikolai had warned the other man that he wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate him himself.
Declan had no doubt that Nikolai would carry out that warning if it became necessary.
No, it really wasn’t the perfect outcome, but it was better than the alternative.
“I’ll tell you about it later,” he told Magnus, totally concentrated on Fawn as she turned and saw him, and her face lit up with pure happiness at the sight of him.
That was exactly what Fawn now represented to him. Pure happiness.
It was very soon for him to feel that way when they had only met for the first time a week ago.
But not too soon, in Declan’s opinion.
It was impetuous for the same reason.
But not too impetuous, also in his opinion.
Even if it was either of those things, it didn’t matter, because Declan knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was totally in love with Fawn.
That he loved her, beyond all and every reason why he shouldn’t. She was too young and too innocent, with all her life still ahead of her.
Especially when those reasons could just as easily be turned back on him: he was too old, he was too jaded, with half his life already over.
None of those objections mattered after their perfect lovemaking last night. When just these few hours away from Fawn had proven to Declan what he had already known: he loved her with everything that he now was or had ever been, and he knew himself well enough to know that he always would.
He had accepted years ago that he had never been in love with Bridget. That he had been very young and in love with the romance of their situation: a soldier going off to war and having to part from his love.
Yes, his pride had been hurt when he learned of Bridget’s duplicity and her financial machinations with her lover, but he had felt nothing but anger toward her.
His heart hadn’t been broken because of losing her, but because she had taken Connall with her.
His heart had shattered completely, and remained that way, when Connall had disappeared a little over three years later.
Falling in love with Fawn, loving and wanting her, had finally put all those many pieces of Declan’s heart back together.
“I’m happy for you,” Magnus told him huskily, also looking at Fawn. “Angel.” He raised his voice so his daughter could hear him before Declan could think of a suitable answer. “We really should get back now and see if Mummy is feeling better.”
“Oooh, yes.” She jumped to her feet, her expression full of excitement. “I’ll just go and say goodbye to River and Danny.” She rushed out of the room, once again taking Henry’s see-through carrycase with her. Angus trotted patiently along behind.
Declan watched them go. “What are you and Sapphie going to do when Henry dies?”
Magnus grimaced. “Hopefully, find another spider who looks exactly like him.”
Declan chuckled. “Good luck with that.”
He turned to smile at Fawn, his arm moving instinctively about the slenderness of her shoulders as she came to stand next to him, her arm automatically sliding about his waist. She was careful to place it below where he had been shot.
He waited until Magnus, Angel, and their entourage had left before speaking again. “All okay?” he prompted huskily.
“Are you okay?” she came back.
She was so selfless, always thinking of the comfort of others before she even considered her own feelings. Declan was going to have to break her of that habit, mainly because, if she let him, he was going to spoil the hell out of her. Initially by buying her that boat, if she really wanted it.
“No one died, or is going to die, so it’s all good,” he dismissed.
Fawn breathed a sigh of relief. “Nikolai managed to restrain himself?”
Declan chuckled. “I told you, he’s a bastard who secretly has a heart. Maybe not of gold, but it’s still there.”
Fawn chuckled. “I really don’t care, as long as he stopped himself from killing a man who is merely grieving for his brother. I can relate,” she explained when Declan eyed her questioningly. “I would do anything to protect River. I’d also want to avenge him if someone hurt or killed him.”
Declan already knew that about her. “How is he?”
“He’s still feeling a little weak, but the swelling on his face has gone down considerably.
He almost looks like my handsome brother River again,” she added happily.
“He and Danny have eaten a brunch, now River is going to rest for the afternoon, then the two of them are going to join us for dinner later.”
His eyes widened. “Danny is still here?”
She nodded. “He spoke to Magnus and arranged to take a few days off. I have a feeling Danny is never going to want to leave River’s side again.”
“They really are already that together?”
“Yes.”
“Just like that?”
She turned to stare up into his eyes. “Sometimes it happens that way.”
Yes, it did. And if Declan had his way, the two of them were going to be together for the rest of their lives too. Hopefully, with several children of their own.
Fawn had never had such a perfect day as the one that she spent with Declan.
Maybe when she was a child? Although, even those halcyon days of being homeschooled and drifting along the length and breadth of England in a canal boat had been fraught with uncertainties.
Such as when and where her parents would find temporary work again so that they could support them all.
Winters had always been the hardest, with no fruit or vegetables to pick.
Once she reached eighteen, Fawn had become completely responsible first for herself and then for River too, once he joined her in London, leaving the days of their carefree childhood behind them.
No, this day with Declan, the two of them also spending several hours in bed together making love during the afternoon, had definitely been the best of her life.
So far.
She had a feeling that all her days were going to be this happy from now on. Declan certainly gave every indication that he was in this long-term.
It made Fawn’s heart soar just to think of being with Declan, of the two of them loving each other, for the rest of their lives.
All they needed to do now was find a new kidney for River.
All!
It was still a big shadow over all their lives. But if they could find a suitable kidney donor, her brother could hopefully begin to live again. Fawn could also stop worrying about him so much.
She would still worry, of course. He was her baby brother, and there was always the possibility of his body rejecting a new kidney. But that was a bridge much further on in the process. For the moment, she only wanted to concentrate on the positive things in their lives.
Declan was definitely the biggest positive ever in hers.