Chapter Thirty-Two
Love wasn’t enough.
The words haunted him through the evening and into the night.
They were his first thought after tossing and turning into the early-morning hours.
They were on repeat when he got a call from Shauna on the way to work, letting him know that Brennan had been caught in a motel, surrounded by empty bottles and gas station food wrappers.
All the Visa gift cards had been spent, but he hadn’t had enough time to trade away the store and restaurant cards.
The police took care of him, and after that Kieran didn’t give a shit.
Brennan could rot in jail for all he cared.
Further proof that he was right to let Lily go. She’d be safer this way.
“Sullivan.” Neal’s voice boomed across the gym. “My office.”
Kieran finished re-racking the free weights someone had left scattered and followed Neal into the small room.
Neal closed the door behind him. “Saw you come in late this morning. Everything alright?”
“Yeah, just family stuff.” He wasn’t going to explain further, but Neal pinned him with an expectant look. Family stuff meant it was Neal’s business, too. “Brennan made an appearance at Shauna’s wedding and fucked shit up as usual. Shauna called with info from the police.”
The older man grimaced. “Sorry to hear that.”
“Me, too.” Kieran rubbed the back of his neck. “Is that all?”
“Have a seat.”
That couldn’t be good. Kieran sat in the only available chair.
Neal settled in behind his desk and lifted an unsealed envelope. “Do you know what this is?”
“A donor’s check to replace the pipes in the building?”
Neal frowned. “What’s wrong with the pipes?”
Other than being as old as the building and leaving all kinds of damp spots in the ceiling tiles? “Nothing. What’s in the envelope?”
He knew Neal could see right through him, but instead of calling him on his bluff, the man tapped the envelope against the desk. “It’s a resignation letter from Lily Parker, effective immediately. She must’ve dropped it off with Rachel first thing this morning.”
So she’d quit. Good for her. They could mail her a check, and she’d have enough, hopefully, to get her by until another business snatched her up. Maybe she really would work at Riverside.
The thought soured in Kieran’s gut.
“Now, the last time I saw Lily, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She was always on time, she seemed happy to help out wherever we needed her when she wasn’t working on our social media pages, and I never once heard that girl complain.
” Neal set the envelope on his desk and leaned back in his chair.
“Did anything happen while you two were gone this weekend? A certain personal trainer may have mentioned you took Lily to your sister’s wedding. ”
Dammit, Sebastián.
Kieran couldn’t bear to look Neal in the eye, so he stared instead at the pictures of Neal’s family on the wall behind him.
At the pictures of Kieran and his coworkers and the family they’d built.
There was even one with Lily and Rachel waving from behind the welcome desk.
“This weekend made me realize a lot of things.” He hesitated.
Neal didn’t need to know all those things.
“I got in too deep, and now the gym’s paying the price. ”
“The gym will survive. It always has.” Neal sighed.
“But we do need to talk about how we’re going to move forward without Lily.
She was going to run some video event during the fight on Saturday.
The other gyms will have their people filming, and we should as well.
I’ve already asked Sebastián to take over the social media pages when he’s between appointments with his clients, but since he’ll be helping you during the fight, we could use some extra help. ”
Work. He could talk about work without feeling like a disappointment. Kieran lifted his head. “I can talk to Maeve.” Between him, Sebastián and Maeve, they could figure something out. Hell, maybe he could let Danny prove himself with a little responsibility.
“But the fight isn’t my biggest concern right now.” Neal came out from behind his desk and leaned against its edge. “Are you okay?”
He was anything but okay. Lily had told him she loved him, and there was nothing he could do but save her from the disaster that was his family. His life.
Love isn’t enough.
“I’m good.”
Neal studied him. “You will be, son.” He stood from his perch, his gaze never leaving Kieran’s face, and held out his hand.
When Kieran took it, Neal helped him to his feet.
“We’ll figure out how to make things work.
But I’m going to need you to figure out what’s most important to you and what you’re capable of before you take over this gym.
If you really want it, you’ll fight for it. ”
Of course, he wanted it. “And by fight you mean the tournament, right?”
Neal clapped him on the shoulder. “Something like that.”