Chapter 50
CHAPTER FIFTY
Rhode Island—Present Day
A peaceful, rhythmic sound surrounded Declan. His body was comfortably warm and buoyant. It reminded him of a vacation he took in the Caribbean. He’d floated in the ocean, drifting lazily over the waves.
“ Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same .” The sound floated in the air around him, the words dragging at him, reminding him of something he needed to do. “Come back to me, Declan.”
Declan wanted to relax into the soft feeling. It was so tempting… “Stay with me.” The voice pulled at him.
“Stay with me,” the voice whispered in his ear again.
“I think he’s waking up,” someone said.
Was that Cara? She sounded like she was crying.
“Car-bear,” Declan licked his lips and tried again. Why couldn’t he open his eyes? He tried to lift his hand only to have it drop as a sharp pain in his shoulder sent agony shooting through him.
“Easy,” Luke said, his voice uncharacteristically concerned. “They backed off your pain meds. Take it slow.”
Urgent need seized his chest. He needed to go. There was some place he needed to be…
Firm hands pushed him gently back, and his weakness only fueled his anger as Declan sank against the pillow.
“You’re going to rip the lines out,” James’s voice was gruff.
Declan winced as the sharp pain returned, but his mind was a little clearer now, and he tried to grasp the thought floating on the edge of his consciousness.
He was on his knees, knew he was going to die, but he needed to…
“Olivia,” Declan gasped. Panic crested like a wave in his chest, and he fought to sit up. “I have to get to…”
“She’s here, and she’s safe,” Cara soothed. “Olivia is in the hallway talking to Siobhan and Anne. I’ll get her.”
Declan winced as he shifted. “I’m alive then?”
James glowered at him. “Not for lack of trying.”
Declan grit his teeth against the pain. “Olivia is okay? You got there in time?” His eyes sought his brothers, needing to hear them say it again. Needed to hear that Olivia was safe and unharmed.
Luke nodded, a smile on his face. “She’s fine. Brady’s men got there before us. Lucky for you, one of them used to be a field medic.” Luke's face twitched with emotion. “You almost died, Dec.”
“Olivia.” Declan’s throat was raw. “Was she hurt? Did Chris?—”
“She’s a little banged up, but she’s okay.” James smiled.
“Chris?”
“Dead.”
Declan hissed out a breath. “Good. I would have liked for him to suffer, but I’m glad they got him.”
Luke and James exchanged a look.
“They?” Luke asked.
“Brady’s men.”
Luke coughed to cover up a chuckle. “Yeah. Chris was already dead when they got there.”
Declan frowned.
“Olivia stabbed him and then cracked his skull open for good measure. They found her doing her best to save your insane ass,” James informed him. “The two of you are perfect for each other.”
Declan’s eyes widened. “She was supposed to get out. The window was right there. Are you telling me she stayed?” The heart monitor began beeping rapidly.
The door opened, and Olivia, a bandage marring her beautiful face, strode in, glaring first at the machine and then at his brothers.
“He needs to stay calm.”
James lifted his hands in surrender. “It wasn’t us.”
“You were supposed to jump out the window.”
“I should have left you there to bleed to death with a psycho?” Olivia took his hand and squeezed, softening her tone.
“You killed him?” Declan asked, searching her eyes.
Olivia swallowed, but didn’t look away. “I’m not sorry.”
“You shouldn’t be.” James agreed grimly.
Luke clapped his twin on the shoulder. “Come on, we need to go help Car-bear run interference with the moms. Now that they know he’s awake…”
Once the door shut quietly, Olivia studied him, her eyes filling with tears. “I thought I’d lost you.”
He lifted his uninjured arm to brush weakly at the tears on her cheek. “I’m still here.”
“You knew it was a trap.” Olivia’s eyes held his.
Declan nodded.
“Your brothers said you wouldn’t wait for help.” He stayed still under her perusal. “You almost died.”
Declan interlaced her fingers. “But I didn’t.”
Exhausted, he closed his eyes, as Olivia brushed the hair against his forehead with her free hand. “Don’t ever do anything like that again.”
“I promised I would always come back for you,” Declan whispered, before letting sleep pull him under again.
Declan spent over a week in the small private hospital before they transported him to his home in Connecticut for another week to recuperate. Olivia refused to leave his side.
“The repairs on my house are complete, but the Armstrong facility is going to take months.” Olivia sighed. “The warehouse was a complete loss.”
Declan walked slowly, his good arm slung over her shoulders as they maneuvered toward the atrium. He didn’t need to lean his weight on her as much as he did, but Olivia had been so adorable fussing over him for the last week. Oscar barked happily, trotting alongside. Olivia glanced down at the puppy. “That dog has taken more private plane rides than I have.”
“We couldn’t leave him in Atlanta by himself,” Declan said, smiling at the memory of how Olivia’s face lit up when Todd arrived at the estate with Oscar.
“Are you sure you’re okay, walking this far?” Olivia’s face screwed up with concern. “We could just stay on the sofa.”
“Olivia, if I had stayed on that sofa for another minute, I would have permanently fused to the cushions. The atrium is heated, so we’ll be comfortable.”
What Declan hadn’t told her was there was a surprise waiting for her in the glassed room.
“I know you are going stir-crazy, but you’ll be able to go back to work soon.” Something in Olivia’s voice had his feet stopping, and he straightened.
Looking down, he saw the vulnerability in her eyes, and brushed her hair back.
“What are you worried about, baby?”
She shrugged and tried to take his arm again, but he refused to budge. “Olivia?”
“This is going to sound so messed up,” she muttered.
“Tell me,” he demanded softly, cupping her chin.
“When I was with you on the floor in the study… and you were…” Olivia sucked in an uneven breath, and her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t want to be away from you. Like, at all.” She gave him a watery smile.
“I know you’re stronger than you’re letting on and that you are downplaying it because I needed to take care of you, but this time together is coming to an end.”
Declan frowned. “Nothing is coming to an end.”
“You know what I mean. When I’m back in Atlanta and you’re gone.”
“Where is it you think I’m going?”
Olivia met his gaze, her expression so unhappy his chest burned. “Bloom Communications is in New York. I know you need to be here. I know things will have to change.”
It was true. Even during the two weeks he’d been recovering, he had been inundated by one issue after another. But Declan had also had a lot of time to think while he healed.
He nodded thoughtfully and took her hand, pulling her along with him. Declan abandoned his fa?ade of using her as a crutch and stopped at the door of the atrium. “Things will have to change,” he echoed her words, and then swung the door open.
Olivia gasped as she took in the space in front of her. The early evening light flooded the glass walls of the room, giving the entire room a golden glow. White roses cascaded from the ceiling in wide garlands, framing another floral canopy over a small table. Olivia stared at the candelabra on the table, the chilling bottle of champagne, and the pair of flutes next to it.
“Declan?”
He smiled at her, leading her further into the room, her eyes huge. Declan’s heart pounded. He felt as if he’d waited a lifetime for this moment. Olivia’s eyes shimmered in the candlelight as Declan took both her hands in his.
“We have always shared a love of poetry, and there have always been the same lines that came to me over and over since I met you. Through the storm, we reach the shore. You give it all but I want more, And I’m waiting for you. ”
Olivia’s brow furrowed. “I don’t recognize it. Who wrote that? One of the Romantics?”
“Only the greatest Irish poet of all time,” Declan deadpanned.
“Who?”
“Bono.” When she still looked confused, he shook his head. “The singer? U2? It’s from the song ‘With or Without You.’ Sorry, we didn’t all go to Oxford.” He joked, but then Declan sobered.
“I’ve known since the moment I saw you in that pub, we were meant to be together. There hasn’t been a single second that has passed in the last twelve years that I didn’t love you… That every ounce of my soul didn’t miss you…”
Declan lifted a hand to wipe away the tears trickling down her cheeks. “You aren’t supposed to cry yet, Petal. I’m trying to tell you how much I love you,” he teased. And then, because he couldn’t resist, he pressed a kiss against her lips.
“Olivia.” Declan slowly sank to his knee and pulled a ring from his pocket, still holding her hand. He slid the ring onto her finger. “Petal, my rose, my heart, will you spend eternity with me?”
Olivia was already nodding through her tears, reaching to help him stand. “Yes, but get off your knees before you pull your stitches.”
Olivia stared at the ring. “I’ve dreamed of this moment for twelve years,” she admitted.
Declan’s thumb rubbed over the top of the ring. “It’s my grandmother’s Claddagh ring,” he said quietly, before pulling out another velvet box from his pocket and opening it to reveal an oval-shaped sapphire surrounded by diamonds. He slid it on to sit snugly against the antique ring. “Something old and something new. And the blue reminded me of your eyes.”
Olivia stared at the rings with a soft smile. “The grandmother that gave you the cottage?”
Declan nodded. “She and my grandfather loved each other fiercely. I wanted to ask you with their ring. I told you my grandmother moved to the cottage because she couldn’t bear to stay in their Dublin house with all the memories.” Declan took a deep breath. “I never understood until the day I left you at the airport. I wouldn’t even be able to breathe in a space where I’d loved you, knowing I couldn’t have you.”
Olivia’s brows drew together. “Are you saying you haven’t been back to the cottage?”
Declan shook his head. “I knew it would be too painful. It was our place… It wouldn’t feel the same… after.”
“Declan,” Olivia’s voice broke.
“We were apart for so long, I don’t want to wait another minute to start our lives together. You said things were going to change, and they will.”
Olivia lifted her eyes from her rings to meet his. “I know. Nothing is as important as being with you. I am going to manage Armstrong until I can find my replacement. I want to stay here with you.”
“Now you’re just trying to steal my thunder.” Declan pretended to scowl at her. “We aren’t staying here. I’ll be able to fly in another week. It’s time to go home.”
“But your home is here. Your job is here.”
“This is just a house, Petal. I have a lot of houses. I don’t plan on getting rid of it. Atlanta will be ridiculously hot in the summer.” He grinned as cautious hope flit across her face. “My home is wherever you are.”
“How will that work?”
Declan framed her face with his hands and pulled her in for another kiss. “However we want it to.”