Chapter 59
Verity
My gaze slid across the three indecently sexy Irishmen while my heart stopped beating. It had been five weeks since I last saw them. Five weeks of soul-searching.
The twins had sent me hundreds of messages, asking how I was, wishing me good morning, good night, and telling me how much they missed me.
Nothing from Declan, though, so why had he come?
Eden tripped through the sliding door, giggling as she read a message on her phone.
Our afternoon had been spent having our nails done and enjoying a late lunch with some friends of hers.
Danny and Sylvian were makeup artists with many famous clients.
Eden had met them at Coachella a few years ago and they were now fast friends.
Within five minutes of meeting, I adored them, too.
They were hilarious. Some of the horror stories they shared about entitled celebs had me in stitches and my jaw still ached from all the laughing I’d done.
Not that I was laughing now.
The sight of Declan scowling like he wanted to rip my head off was enough to sour all the milk within a 100-mile radius.
“Oh! You’re here!” Eden beamed at her cousins.
I spun on my heels. “You knew they were coming and didn’t think to warn me?”
“I may have, um, forgotten?” She smiled so sweetly it was hard to stay mad at her for long.
“Besides,” she added airily. “You’d have only gone into overthinking mode and ruined a lovely afternoon with Danny and Sylvian.
” She patted my cheeks while wobbling slightly.
Whereas I’d mostly stuck to sparkling water, she’d imbibed a ton of mojitos and was now drunk as a skunk.
Landon watched with interest as Declan growled.
“Who the fuck are Danny and… Sylvian? What the fuck kind of name is that, anyway?”
“Two very handsome, amusing men who adored our sweet Verity,” Eden explained. She pointed a finger at Declan. “And don’t you dare insult my friend’s name, you miserable fucking bastard!”
“Sylvian is a French name,” Milo said as he wandered over. “It comes from the Latin ‘silva’, which means forest or wood.”
Declan’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t acknowledge Milo’s comment. Landon laughed and hooked his arm around Milo’s shoulder.
“Come on, let’s leave the lovebirds to sort their shit out.”
Milo looked confused while awkwardly wrestling Landon’s arm away. “I see no evidence of anyone being in love? You told me that shouting often indicates anger. Is that wrong?”
“Thea shouts at me a lot, and we both know she loves me, so it can be both.”
“I’m out of here too, bitches. Mama needs a power nap.” Eden gave me a quick hug while whispering in my ear.
“Make them work for it, Ver. They don’t deserve you unless they’re willing to grovel.
Like really grovel. If I were you, I’d insist on diamonds at the very least.” I caught her grinning over my shoulder.
“Diamonds, Declan! Big-ass diamonds!” she yelled before hustling back inside, leaving me alone with three pissed off men.
But I wasn’t caving to their bullshit brand of toxic masculinity. My new therapist had taught me the value of self-worth. Ignoring Ronan and Conal for the moment, I turned to face the biggest asshole of them all.
“Got something to say, Declan?” I noted how his gaze slid down my body, lingering on my boobs, which looked pretty damn fine in the dress Eden insisted I needed when we went shopping the other day.
My olive skin had turned tawny gold in the sun, and thanks to a very expensive salon appointment two days ago, my hair was freshly cut and styled. Danny had told me I had way better skin and hair than Kim Kardashian, so I knew I looked hot as fuck.
But was this asshole willing to admit his mistakes and accept he wanted me?
“He’s got plenty he needs to fucking say, but first, I need a kiss from my sweet Pixie girl.” Before I could utter a word of protest, Ronan had crossed the deck and wrapped me in his arms. His mouth found mine, and I melted.
Fucking melted.
God, it had been way too long.
His kiss lit a fire in my core, reminding me of all the many dirty things he liked to do to me, and also how much I loved them. I whimpered as his tongue demanded entrance to my mouth, and groaned as his hand gripped my ass.
Before I could lose my fucking mind, Conal stole me away.
“My turn,” he said before he kissed me.
Conal poured all his longing and sorrow into the kiss, letting me know how much he’d missed me. His fingers cupped my jaw as he stared into my eyes.
“No more long-distance, sweetheart.”
“No,” Ronan agreed. “My dick will fall off if I have to go another night without my Pixie.”
“If the only reason you came here is to get laid, you can fuck right off,” I snarled. My self-worth demanded they treat me like a queen, which meant being wooed, as Eden called it.
“Pixie, I want all of you,” Ronan purred, sliding behind me while I stood plastered to Conal’s chest. “Not just your sweet body.” The rock-hard erection throbbing against my ass made a liar of him, but it felt pretty damn good, so I let that one go. For now.
Still, if he thought I’d fall over like a house of cards, he was in for a rude awakening.
“Verity.” Declan’s rumble cut through the lust fogging my brain. Dammit, I should never have agreed to the third cocktail Eden insisted I order. Even after five weeks of day drinking with my sister and Eden, I still had zero tolerance to alcohol.
“Declan,” I mocked, lacking the strength to shove the twins away. Conal’s hands rested on my hips as his lips traced a teasing path along my jaw. I shivered and bit my tongue as a moan threatened to escape.
“I need to talk to you.”
“You’ve had weeks to talk to me.” A message or two would have sufficed. A small crumb to let me know what we shared was not wholly in my imagination. Or maybe it was. Who knew?
“You asked for time,” he pointed out. Annoyingly.
“I did,” I agreed after a pause. “But I don’t recall us having that conversation.” Conal’s erection pressed against my soft belly, tempting me. I wore a dress, so it wouldn’t take much for him to lift me and then sink into my hot, wet…
Declan’s jaw clenched. “No, but what you said to my brothers also applied to me. So I gave you time.”
It was really hard to focus on anything, but I forced myself to turn and look at him. Dark hair touched the back of his shirt, curling just so. I longed to thread my fingers through it, scrape my nails across his scalp.
Like always, he wore a suit, projecting the persona of polished businessman to the world. But when I looked closer, I spotted dark circles beneath his eyes, and I realized how tired and stressed he was. This man bore the weight of the world on his shoulders.
I desperately wanted to ask him if he was OK, but I held back. He’d made it more than clear we were nothing. That his only role in my life was that of a protector.
“You gave me time,” I repeated, not entirely sure what point he was trying to make. After all, he’d brushed me off at the airport in Catania and walked away without a second glance.
“How’s the lovely Bridget?” I finally remembered to ask. The twins hadn’t mentioned her, but I assumed the bitch still lingered like a vengeful spirit. Women like her didn’t let go all that easily. Not with the prospect of a rich, powerful husband at stake.
“You didn’t see it online?” Ronan’s eyes widened in surprise.
I frowned. “No?” Since arriving here, I’d avoided the internet. Seeing photos of desirable women draped all over the men I loved was bad for my mental health.
“Yeah, he dumped her in a restaurant, in full view of some bitchy influencers. The video of her throwing a bowl of soup all over his head went viral. There are memes about it now. Just Google ‘pissed-off ex’ and ‘soup head’.”
Declan rolled his eyes. “Thank you, Ronan, for having fun at my expense.”
“Oh, come on, bro, it was fucking hilarious!”
“Trust me when I say it wasn’t fucking hilarious.”
“Yeah, it was,” Ronan chuckled while Conal shook in silent laughter.
The minute I had a moment, I was so googling that.
“Does that mean she’s not your girlfriend anymore?” I tried not to sound hopeful. And failed miserably.
“No, Verity, Bridget is not my anything. She never was.”
“Hmm.”
“You’re my everything.” His words sank in, but I refused to take them at face value.
Not after he’d let me in and then shoved me back out again.
My feelings mattered. I’d made great strides these last few weeks and allowing him to play football with my emotions all over again was no longer an option.
“Then prove it.”
I didn’t want diamonds, or designer clothes, or any other bullshit gift that meant nothing. I wanted him to treat me with respect, listen to me, and, most of all, open his heart to me, like Ronan and Conal had done.
But Declan wasn’t like his younger brothers.
Thanks to his upbringing, he’d learned to keep his emotions under wraps because doing the opposite was a sign of weakness.
It wasn’t, of course, but here we were. Toxic masculinity at its finest.
I waited for him to respond to my challenge, but he stayed silent. Disappointment crashed over me, bringing my old insecurities to the surface.
He didn’t want me enough to fight for me.
I wasn’t worth it.
But before I could spiral completely, he’d ripped me away from Ronan and Conal.
“Hey!” Ronan yelled in outrage. “Give her back!”
“She’s not a toy, asshole,” Conal reminded him, although he didn’t seem happy about losing me, either.
“We’ll be back in a few hours,” Declan said, ignoring their tantrums. “I’m taking the car.”
“And what the fuck are we supposed to do while you’re gone?”
“Take the dog for a walk.”
“No fucking way, it might eat me.”
I giggled. Beneath the menacing growls, Petal was soft as a kitten. She loved head scratches and since I’d started feeding her bacon in the mornings, she’d added me to her pack.
“Put me down!” I grumbled as Declan tossed me over his shoulder, clearly forgetting I had legs.
“No, you might run away.”
OK, so he had a point. “No, I won’t,” I lied.
I pounded his back with my fists as he carried me around the side of the house to the driveway, where a huge vehicle sat waiting. My mouth gaped open as I stared at the thing in shock.
When he gently deposited me on the ground, I looked from the car to him.
“What the actual fuck is that?”
He shrugged like we were both looking at a mom mobile rather than something that belonged in a Dwayne Johnson movie.
“Your safety is important to me. This vehicle has a host of security-focused features like armored glass, bomb protection, and gas masks.”
“Seriously? Are you anticipating a terrorist attack?”
He lifted me into the passenger seat and refused to say another word.
I sighed. He really was ridiculous sometimes.
Not even Kyril was this insanely protective, although I now knew he carried a rocket launcher in the trunk of his G-Class, as I’d discovered when searching for a shopping bag.
Thea told me he had all kinds of toys stashed away in their family’s vehicles, which kind of made sense.
Still, this insane vehicle was a step up.
“Buckle up, princess. We have somewhere to be.”