25. Leah
LEAH
“She’s beautiful,” I say, staring at Madeline’s perfect new baby.
Mila was born a week ago, all seven pounds, four ounces of her. She looks like Madeline, and when she gives us one of those twitchy half-smiles that only newborns make, it lights up the room.
We waited to visit because Madeline wanted time alone with her daughter first. But now that the guys and I are here, and we can see mother and baby happy, healthy, and untouched by all the family drama, I think everyone can breathe a little easier.
Kian stands in the corner of the living room, watching. He seems to know better than to get too close to me or his brothers. From across the room, Mr. Oliver looks down at his new granddaughter and cracks a small smile.
It’s the first time I’ve ever seen their father smile. It sits awkwardly on his face, as if he’s trying to remember how and has nearly lost the muscle for it. I’m not the only one who notices.
Declan touches my wrist, then gets up and crosses to where his father and Kian are standing. He looks down at the baby for a moment before he speaks. Emmett and Rowan stay on either side of me, but their eyes follow their brother, waiting to see what he’ll do.
“Dad.” It’s the least formal I’ve ever heard Declan speak to his father. “You still have kids, you know. You always have. We’ve been right here the whole time, even when you forgot how to be a parent.”
What he says is a challenge, wrapped in something gentle, and it’s a lot for Declan to say after so many years of letting it slide and just doing the job himself.
Kian says nothing.
Rowan and Emmett say nothing. Beside me, Emmett’s leg has stopped bouncing.
Only Mila makes small gurgling sounds while we all wait.
Mr. Oliver looks at the baby, not at his son. “This isn’t the place, Declan.”
“It’s exactly the place.” Declan doesn’t raise his voice. “She’s a week old, and you’ve already looked at her more than you looked at any of us after Mom died. I’m glad. I am. But I’m not going to stand here and pretend I didn’t notice.”
For a long moment, Mr. Oliver doesn’t move. Then something in his face gives.
“You’re right.” It comes out rough, and everyone in the room is surprised. “You’re right, Declan. And I’m sorry for that.”
He puts his hand on Declan’s shoulder. Even from across the room, I can see him working to keep his face together.
“After your mother died, it was easier to stop feeling anything. I didn’t understand that meant the good things too.” He clears his throat. “I can’t go back and get those years. I know that.”
Declan doesn’t answer right away. Then he lets out a breath, and something in his shoulders lets go with it.
“That’s true.” He nods. “But maybe being present as a grandfather is a good place to start.”
The two of them hug. It’s stiff, and it’s short, and neither of them seems to know where to put his hands. But it’s the first time, and for once, it looks like Mr. Oliver has not only heard his son but decided to do better.
Rowan gives me a look, and I know what he’s thinking without asking. The baby’s here. Mother and daughter are safe. It’s finally time to tell Madeline everything.
“Is it okay now?” I ask him quietly. Once this is out, it can’t go back in.
He nods. Emmett is already standing, as if he knew.
“We’ll give you two a minute,” he says, and heads over to Kian.
It takes the three of them a few minutes to herd Kian and their father into the other room.
Kian looks terrified, but he still doesn’t know that Madeline already knows about his infidelity.
Once Madeline and I are alone, I tell her everything she doesn’t know.
I’m gentle, but I don’t leave anything out.
Victor Walsh. Kian stealing my identity to borrow from a loan shark, and the danger that put me, her, and his brothers in.
The threats. The garage. Rowan in the hospital.
The money Kian took from her to try to buy me off.
And everything Declan, Emmett, Rowan, and I have been doing to keep her and the baby safe, and why I couldn’t tell her the whole truth until now.
Madeline listens without interrupting once, and Mila falls asleep in her arms while I talk.
I can see the color rising in her face and her mouth going tight.
She already knew about the affair, but the rest of this is a lot to take in.
Plenty of men cheat, and that’s bad enough.
Kian endangered his pregnant wife and their child. That’s something else entirely.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” I say. I feel sick with guilt, and I’m bracing for her to hate me.
“I understand why you waited.” She shifts Mila against her shoulder.
“And for the record, I never believed the mugging story. That’s what he told me when he came home looking like he lost a fight.
He couldn’t look at me when he told it.” She lets out a breath.
“I’m furious with Kian all over again. But I’m not angry with you, or with his brothers.
What you were keeping from me was dangerous.
The four of you protected my daughter and me. I’ll always be grateful for that.”
“I’m so glad you’re not angry.”
“Of course I’m not. Well, I’m not angry with you.” She smiles. “I’ve never once blamed you for Kian’s lies. Honestly, I think you and I could be good friends, if that’s not too strange for you.”
She laughs softly. Mila stirs, and I realize I’ve just found one more good thing in my life that I never saw coming.
“So what are you going to do?” I ask. It’s a lot for a new mother. A cheating husband. A man who’d put his own child at risk.
“What I’ve been planning since the day I found out he was cheating. I’m filing for divorce. I have my own money, and I think I have his brothers’ support, and maybe even his father’s. Kian is going to face what he did. To me, to his daughter, to you, to all of them.”
“I don’t want anything from Kian.” I shake my head. I don’t want her going to war on my behalf. “All I want is to move on.”
“Yes.” Her smile turns knowing. “I can see that.”
Madeline knows the relationship with Rowan was staged. She helped stage it. But nobody, not even her, knows what’s really been going on between me and all three brothers. Somehow, she seems to be picking up on it anyway.
“They’re good men.” She glances toward the other room. “All of them.”
She can’t know. But she senses something, and from her tone, she doesn’t seem to mind.
It makes me think about what comes next for the four of us.
They’re high-profile billionaires with companies, investors, and a public to answer to.
One woman with all three of them isn’t something that stays out of the press forever.
Eventually it comes out, and we haven’t talked about that, because we’ve been too busy putting out fires.
Maybe now we finally can.
We sit for a few quiet minutes watching Mila sleep, and then the guys come back in. Declan catches my eye, checking on me. I smile at all three of them, so they know that we’re all on the same page now.
“Not a bad way to end the day,” Emmett says once we’ve left Madeline’s. “A new niece who’s going to break hearts, a father who might start showing up, and no more secrets or threats.”
“Agreed,” Declan says. “Walsh is handled. Kian answers to Madeline.”
“And best of all,” Rowan adds as we climb into the car, “the four of us get to take a breath and figure out where we go from here. Together.”
I’m wedged between Emmett and Declan in the back while Rowan rides up front and the guard drives. With the threat gone, the guard whom I deceived has been hired as my new driver, and I’m glad. He’s a decent guy to have around.
“So what does that look like?” I ask. I’m poking the bear, but it’s time. “Where do we go from here?”
“I don’t know yet,” Emmett says. “I’m not sure any of us do. But can we figure it out after a few days of not pretending to be anything? I could use a whisky and some quiet.”
“Does that mean you go back to being a jokester who desperately needs some new material?” Declan says.
“My material is excellent. My audience has just been emotionally unavailable for decades.” Emmett glances at me. “Besides, Leah gave me a whole book of new material a while ago.”
“You still have that?”
“The joke book? Yep. Nightstand. Never opened it.” He grins. “Turns out I didn’t need new jokes. I just needed someone to tell me I could turn them off.”
Declan smirks. “Fair enough. And Rowan’s finally giving you something to work with.”
“As long as we steer clear of the twin jokes,” Rowan says, “I’m game.”
“So telling Kian he stole your face and has to give it back before we punch his lights out is off the table?”
All three of them crack up, and I can’t help laughing with them.
It’s the first time since the gala that I’ve seen Rowan, Emmett, and Declan all happy and at ease at the same moment. Declan isn’t even wearing a suit. Rowan laughed at a joke about looking like Kian.
Emmett pulls me into a one-armed hug, his fingers sliding into my hair.
“So that leaves you, Leah,” he says, low. “What are we going to do with you?”
I smile and match him. “Oh, I’ve got a few ideas.”
All three of them keep it together, mostly because the driver is a foot away.
But the temperature in the car goes up so fast that Declan cracks a window.
I have no doubt that if the driver wasn’t here and the car was parked, this would already be leading to something I’ve wanted for a very long time.
My thighs press together at the thought. The past few weeks have been a lot, some good, some terrible, all of it intense. I think I’d like to add one more intense thing to the list.
One I can’t initiate in front of the driver.