TWENTY-SEVEN Killian #2
I heave a deep breath, letting it out despite how my ribs ache.
“I get it, Jhene. You didn’t have much of a choice.
Even the choices you had were complicated ’cuz of what you’ve been through.
You were doing what you felt was best for Eva, and I...
I get that. I would’ve done the same thing if Maeve’s life were on the line. ”
“So what does this mean for us now?”
“I’m not sure,” I admit. “I’ve been wondering the same thing.”
She folds her legs under her on the bed, sitting crisscross as she stares at her hands in her lap, then braves another look up at me.
“Can I be honest?”
I nod and wait for her to keep going.
“I’m a wreck, Killian. I have so much to process and think about. I don’t even know what I want my life to look like now that... now that everything’s different.”
“You don’t have to right now. Not tonight,” I say. “Get some rest. Ronan’s alright with us crashing here for the night. I’m in the room down the hall if you… need anything.”
A vague smile touches her lips. “Okay.”
I turn to go, crossing the room and heading back for the door. I pause only when she calls out to me again.
“Killer?”
“Hmm?”
“Good night,” she says softly.
I nod at her from over my shoulder. “Night, stray.”
I don’t sleep much through the night and judging by the dark circles under everybody’s eyes at breakfast, I’m not the only one.
Oona’s a woman on a mission, running the kitchen even more abrasively than usual. She has the kitchen staff prepare enough food for breakfast to feed a small army.
Fried and scrambled eggs, pork sausages, baked beans, mushrooms and tomatoes, toast, fresh-squeezed orange juice, a pot of coffee strong enough to strip paint—the list is damn near endless.
I recognize it for what it is. Like most in the clan, she’s still mourning Seamus. Cooking big meals is part of how she escapes her grief.
My appetite is unparalleled. I scarf down two plates of eggs and sausages and eat half the damn pan of baked beans too.
After the fight I had last night, fueling my battered body is crucial.
I find Jhene in the foyer once everybody’s cleared out of the dining room.
She’s stubbornly dressed in her own clothes again, the same worn and distressed ones she was wearing when we pulled her out of Fedorov’s estate. Her hair’s pulled back in a messy, curly bun at the top of her head.
Admittedly, she seems more rested than she did last night. As if she actually got some sleep.
I come up beside her, hands shoved in my pockets, and nod toward the front door.
“Let’s take a walk.”
She follows me outside, and we end up on the front steps of Callahan House, the morning air warm and breezy against our skin.
Only a few employees wander the grounds in the distance. People like the gardener trimming the hedges and a couple buttonmen working a security shift at the front gate.
We’ve got a moment of privacy to ourselves. Hopefully to pick up where we left off after last night.
“You seem ready to leave,” I say. “I can drive you. Wherever you need to go.”
She shakes her head, gaze fixed on some point in the distance. “I appreciate that, but... I think I need some space from you… and everything. Some time to figure myself out.”
I’m not sure what I was expecting after last night. But it didn’t include Jhene telling me she’d like space from me… and our relationship.
It could be things are too broken. More than I realized.
This issue between us isn’t something she can just get over.
I scrub a hand over my face and bite back the urge to disagree. Even though I do, if Jhene says she needs space, then that’s what she needs. That’s what she deserves.
…but I’ll be damned if I let her return to the streets.
“You can’t do that if you’re at shelters or living on the street,” I say. “If you’re gonna clear your head and figure things out, then you need to be somewhere stable. Somewhere safe.”
Her lips part as if she’s about to argue, but I’ve already pulled out my wallet. I slide out the folded check I’ve been carrying around for a while now. I push it into her hands, watching as her brows knit and she stares down at it as if it’s a foreign object.
“Killian…” she says slowly. “I don’t get it. What is this?”
“It’s a check from Dez. He wrote me one for all the money he’s been skimming off the top for years. I held onto it because I want you to have it.”
Her eyes double in size, and she vehemently shakes her head. She tries to shove it back at me. “I can’t accept this. Are you crazy? Do you know how much this is?”
I let out a gruff laugh. “Yeah, stray… I do. I might struggle with numbers, but occasionally I can read ’em. You’re the one who discovered the fraud. You’re the one who needs it more than I do. I’ve already got more fucking money than I know what to do with.”
She can’t even bring herself to answer, openly staring in shock at the check and more zeros than she’s probably ever conceived of having.
A sense of pride fills me up watching the realization sink in. It’s rewarding to know I’ll be able to help her out in this way. Give her what she’s always deserved, even if we might not be together anymore.
“Use it to start over,” I say. “A real new life for yourself. For the first time.”
Her gaze flicks up to meet mine, mistier than a second ago. A shaky laugh follows. “I don’t even have a bank account.”
“Looks like now you’ll have to open one. Deposit all the money and start fresh. It should be enough to get you on your feet and let you live comfortably for a very long time.”
“That’s… that’s an understatement.”
She carefully tucks the check into her pocket as if it’s made of glass, then surges forward. Her arms fly out and wrap around me, and she pulls me into a warm, soft hug I feel deep. Right down to my bones.
“This means so much,” she whispers. “Thanks, Killian. No matter what happens, I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me.”
The embrace ends as abruptly as it began. She’s drawing back, and I’m sliding my hands back into my pockets to watch her go.
It seems the Callahans have arranged a car for her. She heads toward the front of the circle driveway and a driver gets out to open the rear passenger door.
It’s only a matter of seconds before the car is turning off the property and disappearing from sight, and I’m left wondering if it’s the last time I’ll ever see Jhene…