Chapter 12
Lily walked down the stairs a few days later.
She’d spent the time since discovering the truth about the medication she’d been taking thinking about everything, wondering what she could have done differently. She was also confused about what she’d done that had made her mother treat her this way.
About a week had passed, but today when she’d woken up, she’d known something had to change. She was feeling marginally stronger than yesterday and yesterday she’d been stronger than the day before.
It still amazed her that Harvey had taken care of her all this time. Without complaint. Lord, she had mixed feelings toward that man. Was he the hero in her story, or was he the villain? Somehow she thought he might be a bit of both.
He’d taken her from that house. He’d helped her, taken care of her, and he said he was going to get answers for her.
At the same time, he was keeping her here. She knew if she wanted to go, he wouldn’t allow her to.
That he meant it when he said she was his.
So shouldn’t she see him as the villain? Shouldn’t she want to get away?
Maybe. But she wanted answers more.
And she admitted that part of her that was scared to be on her own.
But she shouldn’t let fear stop her from going for what she wanted.
Only problem was . . . she didn’t know for sure what she wanted.
Don’t you?
What about the rush of emotion you get when you see him?
The feeling of coming home that washes over you when he holds you? The feeling that you’re meant to be his.
However, Lily didn’t really trust her emotions anymore. She didn’t know what was real.
So much of her life had turned upside down, she might just be latching onto the one thing in her life that seemed steady and constant.
She shouldn’t feel that way. He’d kidnapped her.
What did they call that? Stockholm Syndrome?
Yeah. Maybe she had that.
Or maybe you just want him, and you’re too scared to admit that to yourself.
Perhaps, but now wasn’t the time for deciding that she wanted to be with someone. She didn’t have her life together in any sense. What she needed to do was focus on getting things back on track, on getting healthy, and on figuring out what had happened to her.
And why.
At least she’d woken up feeling strong enough to get out of bed and shower.
Something she desperately needed.
Lily was over being an invalid, and she was over just being a pawn in her life. Someone that everybody got to manipulate and move around on the board how they wanted.
It was time to start making a few moves herself.
But she couldn’t do this on her own. She needed Harvey. Lily didn’t want to use him, however he was the only one who had gotten involved.
Walking into the kitchen, she was surprised to find it empty. Whenever she needed something, he always seemed to be there.
Hunger made her stomach rumble, and she moved to the fridge, searching through it. It was unusual for her to feel hungry.
She’d taken a good look at herself in the mirror this morning, and she’d definitely lost more weight than she could afford to. So she needed to concentrate on building up her strength. These last few days, she’d vomited up most of what she put into her stomach.
As she closed the fridge door and turned, Harvey walked into the room. She jumped and let out a small squeal, dropping the block of cheese she held in her hand.
“Oh no. I’m so sorry.” She picked up the cheese. “It’s all right. It’s still wrapped up and none of it touched the floor.”
“Hey, don’t stress. It’s my fault for scaring you like that. I should have made some noise.” Harvey walked into the kitchen and took the cheese from her, placing it on the counter.
Oh, shoot. Maybe he didn’t want her eating the cheese. Perhaps he was going to use it for something.
“Sorry,” she said. “Did you need the cheese? I can have something else.”
“No, I don’t need the cheese, and you can eat anything that you want. Whatever is in here is yours as well as mine. Understand?”
She didn’t really understand, but she nodded anyway because she didn’t want to argue with him. Plus, she was really hungry.
“Go sit at the island,” he told her, placing a hand on the small of her back to guide her over to the large kitchen island. Then he lifted her onto the stool and turned it.
Once more, she thought about protesting the way he bossed her around. She wasn’t a child. But somehow, she didn’t think he saw her like that.
More like someone who needed guidance because their judgment couldn’t be trusted.
Which was probably pretty fair considering the way she’d acted this last year.
“Right, what do you want to eat?” he asked.
“Oh, I was just going to make a cheese sandwich, something simple.”
“How about some grilled cheese and soup?” he asked.
“You really don’t have to go into any trouble.”
“It’s no trouble. Soup is made. I just need to heat it up and make the grilled cheese.”
Lily watched as he moved around the kitchen. He was so efficient. There was no hesitation in the things that he did.
She couldn’t help but stare at his hands. They were tanned and strong-looking. She thought a lawyer’s hands might be weak and pale, but not Harvey’s. Mind you, there was more to him, wasn’t there?
A lawyer didn’t have a doctor on their payroll who made home visits.
Harvey placed the bowl of soup and her grilled cheese sandwich in front of her. “You should have used the bell I gave you rather than coming downstairs on your own. What if you’d gotten dizzy and fallen?”
She paused with the spoon halfway to her mouth. “You were serious about that bell? I thought you were joking.”
“I’m not really a joking sort of guy,” he told her.
“Are you sure? I’ve seen you smile a lot.”
“Oh yes, I smile. But I don’t joke.”
Um. Okay.
“So next time, use the bell,” he told her sternly.
Lily swallowed a mouthful of soup, relieved as the warmth hit her stomach and didn’t immediately want to come back up.
“There won’t need to be a next time,” she said. “I’m up now. I feel a lot better.”
He raised his eyebrows, giving her a look that said he wasn’t convinced.
“I’m guessing from your expression that I don’t look much better. Do I look awful?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have put it that way,” he said. “But you don’t look the picture of health.”
“I think that might take some time,” Lily said as she took a bite of the grilled cheese sandwich.
Oh, wow. That was so good. She moaned.
“You like that, baby?” he asked, his gaze centered on her lips.
Lily was transfixed by the note of arousal in his voice. Was he attracted to her right now?
How? Why?
She wasn’t in the least bit attractive at the moment. Her hair still needed a wash. She hadn’t had the energy to do it this morning. The dark circles under her eyes seemed to have taken up permanent residence, and she had no idea how to evict them.
Not to mention that her poor lips were chapped and she desperately needed some lip balm.
“You’re a really good cook,” she told him.
He shook his head. “I’m actually not that good, not compared to some members of my family, but I do know how to make a decent grilled cheese.”
“Compared to what I can do, you’re a master chef,” she told him. “I can’t cook at all.”
Harvey shrugged. “We don’t all need to have the same skills. You’re not going to go hungry while I’m around.”
“I think I’d like to know how to cook though,” she said. “Maybe how to bake. Perhaps I can take some lessons when I get myself more together.”
She’d need to learn how to cook if she was going to take care of herself. But even if she couldn’t get to a class, there were always online videos.
She could do this. She just couldn’t let herself get overwhelmed.
“I’ll be happy to teach you. The cooking part, anyway. I can’t bake. One of my sisters is a good baker, though. I’m sure she’d be happy to help.”
Would she ever meet his sister?
“How many brothers and sisters do you have?” she asked.
“Two of each. I’m exactly in the middle. My oldest brother is Ronan. He’s a bossy bastard. And cold. But he won’t harm you. No one will harm you while I’m around.”
It was so tempting to just jump from her mother’s control to his. Not that she was saying they were anything alike. She was certain that Harvey wouldn’t harm her.
But it would be all too easy to rely on him the way she’d relied on other people all her life.
“I’m sure your brother is a nice man,” she said.
“He’s not,” he said almost cheerfully. “But you get used to him after a while. And if it helps, he’s extremely loyal and protective.”
Okay. She would take his word for it because she didn’t think she was ever going to meet his brother. Things would finish between them before that happened. She’d get her answers and she’d move on. Harvey would find somebody else.
Someone more fitting for him. Someone stronger. More intelligent. With far less baggage.
“Next is my older sister, Fiadh.”
With names like Ronan and Fiadh, were they Irish? Well, Gallagher sounded like an Irish name.
“She’s the baker in our family. She even owns her own bakery.”
“Wow, that’s amazing. What does your brother do?”
“Ahh, he manages the family business.”
Right. She had a feeling she shouldn’t ask further questions about that. Were they the Mafia? The Irish Mafia?
Harvey wasn’t a very Irish-sounding name, though.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“Me? Nothing. Why?”
“Don’t be scared to tell me what you’re thinking, Lily. I’m not going to get upset at you for your thoughts. I’ll only get upset if you put yourself in danger.”
Okay, good to know.
“I guess I was just thinking that their names are very different from yours.”
“Ahh, you’re right. My father was Irish, and my mother was born here. My father insisted the first two children have Irish names, but I was called Harvey because it was my mom’s maiden name,” he said.
“That makes sense. What about your younger siblings?”
“Next is Bea. She’s super smart, our Bea. Her full name is Beatrice after our maternal grandmother. But she’s always been called Bea. She’s actually a research scientist. She’s trying to find a cure for breast cancer.”