Chapter 40
Mia
Declan stood at the bottom of the stairs, arms crossed, expression unreadable staring up at me.
“I... I need to run an errand before the ceremony,”
I lied, the words sounding hollow even to my own ears.
Declan’s eyes flicked to the bag on my shoulder. “Must be quite the errand.”
I swallowed hard, searching for a plausible explanation, but the words wouldn’t come. Declan had always seen through me, from the very beginning.
“They threatened you again,”
he said, not a question but a statement. “And you think leaving is the answer.”
“It’s the only answer,”
I replied, my voice barely above a whisper. “As long as I’m here, all of you are in danger.”
Declan shook his head, disappointment etched in the lines of his face. “I expected better from you, Mia.”
The words stung more than I expected. “This isn’t about courage,”
I protested. “It’s about protecting the people I love.”
“Is it?”
he challenged, stepping closer. “Or is it about protecting yourself from the possibility of losing them?”
I stared at him, caught off guard by the accusation. “What are you talking about?”
“You’ve spent your entire life alone, convinced that attachments are weaknesses to be exploited,”
Declan said quietly. “Now that you finally have something to lose, your first instinct is to run before it can be taken from you.”
His words cut through my defenses with surgical precision. I gripped the stair railing, suddenly unsteady.
“You don’t understand,”
I said. “These people won’t stop. They’ll use anyone I care about to get to me.”
“You think we don’t know that?”
his voice softened slightly. “You think Connor doesn’t understand the risks? Or Rory? Or me?” He gestured toward his chest, where the bookcase had cracked his ribs. “We’ve all paid prices for this family, Mia. The difference is, we choose to pay them together.”
I sank onto the step, my resolve crumbling. “I can’t be responsible for more pain. For more scars.”
“Then don’t be,”
Declan said simply, climbing the stairs to sit beside me. “Be responsible for standing your ground. For fighting beside the people who love you instead of for them from a distance.”
We sat in silence for a moment, the weight of his words settling between us.
“What if I’m not strong enough?”
I whispered, voicing my deepest fear.
“Then you lean on us,”
he replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “That’s what family means, Mia. Not just protecting each other but supporting each other. Filling in the gaps when someone falters.”
I looked at him, this man who had every reason to hate me—who, if it hadn’t been for my sister, I would have killed—yet chose instead to offer wisdom and compassion.
“When did you get so wise?”
I asked, echoing the words I’d spoken to Connor earlier.
A hint of a smile touched his lips. “I’ve been near death so many times that it tends to clarify one’s perspective.”
He stood, reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, showing me a screen already open to a text conversation with Winters.
“I forwarded the threat as soon as Connor showed me,”
he explained. “Winters has a team sweeping the perimeter as we speak. Two agents will accompany each of us to the ceremony, and the venue’s security has been tripled.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “You did all that without telling me?”
“Because I knew exactly what you’d do if I didn’t,”
he replied with a knowing smile. “Run.”
Shame washed through me. “I thought I was protecting you all.”
“I know,”
Declan squeezed my hand. “But protection works both ways, Mia. You’ve spent so long watching over others that you’ve forgotten what it’s like to be watched over yourself.”
His phone buzzed with an incoming message. He glanced at it, then showed me the screen.
“Perimeter secure. Two suspects apprehended half a mile from property. Clean sweep otherwise. Proceeding with escort arrangements for the ceremony. –Winters”
Relief flooded through me, followed quickly by embarrassment at my planned escape. “I need to get my note before Connor finds it,”
I said, starting to rise.
Declan chuckled. “Too late for that. He’s the one who sent me to stop you.”
“He knew I would run?”
“Of course he did. He knows you better than you think.”
Declan stood, offering me his hand. “Come on. Your sister’s flight lands in an hour, and Connor’s about to become captain of one of Ireland’s oldest clans. You’ve got a ceremony to prepare for.”
I let him pull me to my feet, retrieving my bag from where it had fallen. “I’m sorry,”
I said quietly. “For almost leaving.”
“Kat left Rory once, just about killed him when she did. Don’t be sorry,”
Declan said, his voice kind. “Just be here.”
∞∞∞
Connor paced in front of the fireplace, the note I’d left him clenched in his fist. I watched from the doorway for a moment, my heart twisting at the sight of his obvious distress.
“Connor,”
I said softly, stepping into the room.
He turned sharply, relief and anger warring on his face. “Mia,”
he said, his voice thick with emotion. “You were really going to do it. Just leave.”
I approached slowly, unsure how to explain myself. Declan’s words had given me clarity, but I wasn’t certain how to convey it to Connor—to make him understand how terrified I was of losing everything.
“You found my note,”
I began awkwardly, gesturing to the crumpled paper in his hand.
He stared at me, a mixture of hurt and confusion in his eyes. “What did you think that would accomplish? Running away?”
“I thought it would keep you safe,”
I said honestly. “As long as I’m around—”
“As long as you’re around, my life has meaning.”
He interrupted fiercely, closing the distance between us. “Without you... without us, what am I fighting for?”
“They’re watching us,”
I said, trying to make him see the danger. “Out there right now. Winters caught two of them this morning.”
“I know,”
he replied, brushing a strand of hair from my face with more tenderness than I deserved. “And guess what? There will always be more threats, more enemies. That’s just life. But we face them together or not at all.”
His certainty should have scared me—the depth of his commitment, the way he refused to consider anything but us against whatever came next—but instead it filled me with a warmth I’d never known.
“I’m afraid,”
I admitted, leaning into his touch. “Not of them hurting me... but of hurting all of you.”
He pulled me into his arms, holding me so tightly it felt like he was trying to fuse our souls together. “Then we’ll be afraid together.”
Tears slipped down my cheeks as I buried my face in his shoulder. “I love you,”
I whispered against the soft wool of his sweater. “So much it terrifies me.”
“Good,”
he murmured into my hair. “Because nothing short of terror would explain that note.” He drew back slightly, tipping my chin up so I was forced to meet his eyes. “Staying means everything to me, Mia.”
I nodded against him as if assuring myself as much as him. “Then I’m staying.”
A small laugh escaped me—a mixture of relief and disbelief that it had taken Declan’s insight to make me see what Connor had been trying to tell me all along.
He kissed me then—deep and full of promise—before resting his forehead against mine with a long exhale that released some of the tension coiled inside him since finding my note.
“Now go get ready,”
he said gently after a moment. “My wife can’t attend my swearing-in ceremony looking like she just survived an ambush.”
My breath caught at the words— it always did when he uttered them. The casual confidence with which he claimed me, the certainty in his voice that this is what we were.
“Is that so?”
I teased, wiping my tears as I pulled away. “Because your wife was thinking of wearing jeans.”
He gave me a look that was both amused and exasperated, one that promised I’d never hear the end of this morning’s attempted escape. “Green dress,”
he said firmly. “It matches my kilt.”
I laughed, the sound coming easier now. Lighter. “I’ll see what I can do.”