Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Atlanta—Present Day
“I can’t believe you brought your own whiskey.” Cara glared at him. “You knew I had special holiday-themed cocktails.”
Declan eyed the miniature candy canes decorating the green, sprinkle-covered rims of martini glasses containing a suspicious milky liquid.
“Pass.”
She turned her scowl on Luke when he asked, “What did you call this, again?” He held up the glass to inspect its contents.
Cara narrowed her eyes. “Santa’s Little Helper.”
James snorted, and Cami took a sip. “It’s delicious, Cara. Ignore them.”
“They’re great, baby.” Wes squeezed his wife’s waist and pressed a kiss to her temple.
Declan resisted the urge to make a rude comment. He’d already seen Wes hide his beer behind a poinsettia plant.
“Did you see all the trees? Cara has been decorating every spare minute she has.” Wes angled his head at the small tree in the kitchen.
A Christmas tree in the kitchen. Whoever heard of such a thing?
“These are so cute!” Dahlia lifted one of the miniature ornaments to examine it. “But your Star Trek tree in the living room is my favorite.”
Luke, James, and Declan exchanged looks, and Luke rolled his lips in to hide his smile. Declan hummed.
“Have you always been such a huge fan?” Cami asked.
James coughed to cover his laugh.
Cara squared her shoulders and rounded on her brothers, but Wes held her tight and pulled her back into his side. “She’d never seen it before she met me. An immediate convert.” He smiled indulgently down at his wife.
She crossed her arms with a huff, and then looked evilly at her brothers. “Curling up with my hot new roommate was all the incentive I needed.”
Luke pretended to gag.
“You loved it,” Wes said.
“I loved something.” She waggled her eyebrows, and the other women laughed as Wes’s cheeks flushed.
Declan looked around the room. He was genuinely happy for his siblings, even if the glimpse of what he would never have made him want to run.
He frowned, Olivia’s face in the parking lot flashed in front of him. He shouldn’t have cornered her, but her reaction seemed too extreme to come from being startled.
She’d been shaking, and he’d seen the pain in her blue eyes. Now that he thought of it, she seemed off even before the parking lot.
Olivia clearly had a severe headache, but Declan couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was wrong, and it drove him insane that he didn’t know what it was. He wanted to grab her, pull her close, ask what it was and then do whatever was necessary to fix it for her.
But he couldn’t, and she wouldn’t have told him anyway.
Might have something to do with you showing up again and acting like a heartless bastard.
“What has you frowning so darkly over here?” Dahlia asked.
His expression cleared. “Work.” It was true. He was still irritated that Armstrong had already voted, but it didn’t matter. On the car ride to his sister’s, he’d put his back-up plan into action.
“I bet it’s Snow White,” Cara said, joining them. “How is she?”
“How would I know?” He gave his sister his best shut-the-fuck-up look.
Dahlia gave him a funny look. “Declan, you swooped in like a superhero and carried her off. We didn’t hear from you for days. No one is buying that there is nothing between the two of you.”
“It’s business. She was drunk, and you three…” He lifted a brow to include Cami as she sauntered up. “Were going to drop her. I was trying to avoid a scene.”
“Mm. Yes. You carrying her like a bride over the threshold… That definitely didn’t cause a scene. Besides, she wasn’t drunk.”
Declan glared at his sister. “Thanks for your expert analysis.”
“I’m just saying I’ve never seen anyone go from upright to incoherent that fast. Except in Ibiza.”
“She wasn’t on drugs,” Declan snapped. “Olivia has a low tolerance for liquor.”
“How do you know that, if you just met her?” Cami asked.
“Stop glaring at my wife,” James all but snarled, coming to Cami’s side.
She patted James’s chest. “I’m a big girl. Besides, I think it’s kind of sweet how defensive Declan is getting over this.”
“That’s it. I’m leaving.”
“Don’t be so grouchy,” Cara said. “We discussed it. We think someone slipped her something. Maybe roofies? I was talking to Olivia right before, and she was fine.”
“Seems like an unusual venue to drug a woman.” Dahlia frowned. “She was with coworkers, right… oh!” Her green eyes widened. “Chris was awfully determined to take her back to her hotel.”
Declan’s blood boiled as rage consumed him. He wanted to hit something… hard.
“That would be a pretty obvious move for Chris. He’s more of a snake in the grass than an obvious creep.” Cara squinted. “Now, Courtney, on the other hand.” She sucked in a small breath. “That bitch.”
“What?” Declan barked, and out of his periphery he could see Wes glare at him.
Cara made a face. “I may or may not have been eavesdropping on their argument in the ladies’ room. Courtney was completely unhinged, accusing Olivia of trying to sleep with Chris and even you.” She cut her eyes to Declan. “I told you I wasn’t the only one who noticed how you were watching her. Anyway, Olivia’s drink was on the counter unattended.”
“Valium or another benzo would do it,” Cami mused. “If Courtney had something like that in her purse, she could have put a few pills in Olivia’s drink. It would act almost the same as a roofie, except it would have made her sick, not just incoherent.”
Three pairs of female eyes swung to him, and Declan was well aware that his brothers and Wes were listening.
“Was she sick that night?” Dahlia asked, her voice a shade too innocent.
“How the fuck should I know?”
“Watch your tone,” Luke growled.
Declan rolled his eyes. “If they are going to gang up and try to bully me, then I get to treat them like the bratty sisters they are.”
When Dahlia and Cami beamed at him, he blinked. “What?”
James’s arm encircled Cami’s shoulders with a grin. “He doesn’t get it. There’s no use trying to make him understand.”
Declan wondered if Olivia’s headache was contagious, because his family was making his head pound. “Understand what?”
“You called them your sisters.” Cara poked him in the side.
He lifted his brows. “And that’s what has you all staring at me like I sprouted a second head?”
“You can’t really blame us,” Luke teased. “You don’t really exhibit human emotion that often.”
“Fuck me.” Declan closed his eyes. “I need more whiskey if I’m going to deal with all of you.”
“While you’re making yourself another drink, let’s talk about what’s important,” Cara began. “Do you have a tree yet? I can help you decorate your hotel suite if you like. Also, if you were serious last week about relocating to Atlanta, I’d love to help you house hunt…”
“Kill me now,” he muttered, doubling the amount he normally poured.
Luke extended his glass, and Declan splashed a liberal amount into it. “Your date was pretty pissed when you disappeared.”
“I know.” He’d gotten several angry texts and a phone call the next day about how he’d embarrassed Fiona by disappearing. What could he tell her? She hadn’t even crossed his mind that night.
“I know you have a plan. You always do,” Luke said, taking a swig of his drink. “But that woman is a truly horrible individual. Cara told us stories from when she and Fiona were in the same social circles. I’m not talking about the normal bullshit either.
“Did you know she put a young woman in the hospital for spilling a drink on her at a party? Fiona broke a vase over her head, and kicked her repeatedly in the head. Or that there are rumors about her helping cover up more than one sexual assault for male friends?”
Declan inhaled sharply. “No, I didn’t know that. I’m assuming her father kept it quiet?”
“You know how that shit works in your world.”
He did. It’s what he was trying to protect Olivia from. But what did it mean if someone from that world was already coming after her?