Chapter 18
KIERAN
“ I should put a bullet in you,” I grumble as I lift the coffee to my lips. It’s strong and black, and I’ll probably need another three cups just to be able to function today.
I didn’t sleep much last night, though that has become very common for me. But this time, it’s because I took full advantage of the fact that my wife crawled back into our bed with me. I couldn’t keep my hands off of her.
Lochlan unholsters his gun from his ribs, grinning widely, but Rohan cuts a glare at him. “Put that the fuck away.” Chuckling, he does, his dark blue eyes dancing with so much joy that it erases a little of my grumpiness.
I’m not too thrilled about my morning being interrupted, but I know that they had no clue when they came knocking on my door. Rohan’s voice had roused me, threatening to dump my ass in the shower if I was drunk again. Which was a fair expectation.
When I slipped into the hallway and told the two of them to shut the fuck up before they woke Eden, Lochlan lit up. Which is how I ended up in my kitchen. The little gossip wants all the details.
Lochlan nudges Rohan. “Can’t you be a little happier for him? Eden spent the night with him!”
Rohan raises an unimpressed brow. “They’re married.”
His dry tone is enough to pull Lochlan’s expression down into an annoyed frown. “You know damn well that they haven’t been sharing a room. Quit acting like such a prick and admit you are glad our friend isn’t trying to actually drown in whiskey.”
Rohan’s dark gaze flicks over to me. “I’m glad you're not dead.”
“Aw, thanks, Ro.” I place a hand to my chest, my voice still deadpan. “That means a lot.”
Lochlan rolls his eyes. “You two are a fucking pain in the arse.” He collapses into the chair across from me and picks up his own coffee. “Sorry I’m trying to be supportive.”
I’m not entirely heartless, so I kick him under the table. He narrows his gaze at me. “Thanks, Lo.”
He scoffs, but I see the smile he’s trying to hide. The sap really does care about me, and I appreciate it. Even if Rohan and I mock him for being able to admit it when we can’t.
My cook brings out a breakfast platter for the three of us, and I offer him a nod as he leaves. I’m already debating how soon I can slip away and get back to my wife, who I’d rather have for breakfast.
But Lochlan isn’t done with me. “Does this mean you two talked? Or was the whole night more about action?” He wiggles his blonde brows.
I look to Rohan, who nods. “Got it.” He whacks Lochlan on the back of the head.
“Ow. What the fuck?” He smooths a hand over the back of his head, running his fingers through the curls. “Is it so wrong of me to ask?”
“Yes.” I finish the coffee as another is brought out.
He huffs. “It doesn’t just affect you, Kier. Can we see her? Is she ready to be around us again? I don’t know where I stand with her.”
Hurt flashes in those dark blue depths, and I hate the way it cuts at me.
I’m too damn protective of Lochlan. Enough so that he’s managing to drag words out of me.
“We didn’t talk.” He opens his mouth to ask more questions, and I lift a hand.
“Nothing has changed. I’m still warming her up to being around me again, but it’s slow progress. ”
“Doesn’t seem like it.” Rohan’s response is laced with judgement.
I sigh, leaning back and running a hand through the thick, disheveled waves. “Physically, it’s been easy to win her over.” Which is almost the inverse of how it happened before. “But I don’t know how to talk to her.”
“Because you aren’t.”
I shift my focus to Lochlan. “What?”
“You aren’t talking to her. You keep giving her space and then showing up, wanting her to remember things she can’t.” He shrugs a shoulder. “You need to start over with her, Kier.”
“Start over?” The idea pisses me off.
“He’s right,” Rohan adds to my annoyance with that comment. “You haven’t talked because you keep fighting. You need to stop bringing up the past.”
“She loves to fight me,” I bite out, looking away.
A part of me recognizes that they are right, which doesn’t make me any less irritated.
I know that I’ve snapped at every one of Eden’s questions, that she’s stiffened when I called her my wife or her nickname.
I’ve had no patience with her, not even to try to offer explanations now that she has settled into our home again.
“This is different.” Lochlan shakes his head. “You can’t build a relationship with her off of memories she doesn’t have.”
“I don’t need to build a relationship.” My jaw flexes as I try to keep my temper in check. “We are married .”
Lochlan sighs. “Kieran…”
“You’re being too fucking stubborn,” Rohan snaps. “You want her? Find some fucking patience. Talk to her. Whether you want to admit it or not, everything that happened before doesn’t matter anymore.”
Well, fuck. What a great start to my morning. My friend who I grew up with, who is my only family, telling me the most important months of my life don’t matter.
“That was harsh, Ro.”
“It was true.” He kicks me this time, making me look at him. “Get your head out of your arse, and treat her right. You convinced her to marry you before. Do it again.”
“I don’t know how .” Sometimes I can’t believe she ever picked me once. To get her to do it again? I’m at a loss.
“You’re putting too much pressure on her to pick up where you left off,” Lochlan answers, his tone softer than Rohan’s. “Make her happy. Pick the right fights with her. You do know how.”
“Yeah, you dumb prick.” Rohan’s lips twitch. “Actually use that brain for once.”
I kick him. “You better watch how you speak to me.”
A swift jab stings my shin. “Or?”
I hit back harder. “You need a reminder?”
His grin is pure violence. “Absolutely.”
Before I can launch myself across my table at him, footsteps echo behind us. I tip my head back to see Jude coming in, which is mildly surprising. He should be at the training grounds this early.
“Oh, good.” Rohan’s words take on a teasing edge that is rare. “A real challenge.”
Jude drops into the chair next to me, picking a piece of fruit off the platter. “Not for me. Too much whiskey and sweets have made you lot soft.”
I try to hide my chuckle as Rohan’s expression falls, looking pissed. He didn’t intend to get insulted with me and Lochlan. “Now I really am looking for a fight.”
Jude doesn’t move. “Unfortunately, it will have to wait.” Rohan looks like he’s on the verge of growling, but Jude waves him off. “I’m here on business.”
“Something happen at the training grounds?” I ask as I study him. He doesn’t look distressed, but Jude is good at keeping a straight face. Maybe the best of us four.
He shakes his head. “I was going over the guard rounds for the day when I saw an internal change.” He cocks his head as his ice blue eyes slide over to me. “Did you cancel two squads from going into the lower parts of the city?”
“I did not.” I straighten, not liking where this is going. “What were they scheduled for?”
“Building sweeps.”
The same thing I had just been arguing with Conor and Miles about. We had settled on a specific schedule that wouldn’t pull too many resources from the clinics.
Which begs the question why they would change the rotation. It had to be one of them. They are the only ones besides the four of us that could approve such a change.
Sighing, I stand. “I want three squads going to those buildings immediately. If they were cancelled, I want to know what they are trying to hide.” Not that they could hide anything from me.
I know every damn thing in the city, but this is just another way the two of them are a fucking thorn in my side.
“I’ll go with them.” Jude pushes away from the table. “You want me to report to you before filing it?”
“If you find anything, tell us and no one else.”
“I’ll be back then.” Jude leaves, and I turn to Lochlan and Rohan, all traces of our playful morning gone.
Lochlan slumps in his chair. “We have to go talk to them, don’t we?”
I nod. “Let me get dressed.”
I stack a few more breakfast items on my plate and take it with me back to my room. So much for a fun morning with my wife.
These fucks always have to ruin everything.