Chapter 63 Verity
Verity
The light in Sicily made me wish I had artistic talent.
Lemon groves groaned in the heat, sagging branches pregnant with ripe fruit.
The gravel drive leading up to our old house had become pitted and choked with weeds in the last decade.
Ahead, the wrought-iron gates that marked the imposing entrance to my father’s estate came into view.
I noted the thick chain and a padlock, along with a rusty metal sign warning trespassers to keep out.
“Why are we here?” Memories of the past threatened to overshadow my buoyant mood, leaving a foul taste in my mouth. I hated this place.
“Because it’s yours.”
“What?”
Declan didn’t reply to that question.
Ash jumped out of the car idling behind us, bolt cutters in hand. He snipped the chain holding the gates shut and tossed it aside. A minute later, we passed the empty guard house and approached the house.
I stared in shock at the blackened remains of my childhood home. While the exterior walls were mostly intact, the roof had partially collapsed, leaving the interior open to the elements. Birds cawed and rose as one into the sky when the car stopped outside the tall oak doors.
“Tell me what’s going on.” This was the last place I wanted to be. I still thought of Sicily as my home, even though I hadn’t lived here in years, but this house? No. This had never been my home. It held too many painful memories.
“The authorities confiscated the estate after your father’s trial, like all his other assets. It’s been empty ever since. The land has some residual value, but after arsonists set fire to the house, prospective buyers have shown little interest.”
“Why is it mine? I don’t want it.”
“I bought it in your name. This place has been in your family for generations. It’s your birthright, Verity, just like the estate in Ireland is ours. I know it doesn’t feel like your home, but this is your chance to erase the past and create a new, happier home.”
“What about Thea? It should belong to her as well.”
“We discussed it, but she wasn’t interested. She already owns many properties around the world thanks to Cassian’s investments, and she has no attachment to this one.”
“Nor do I.”
“Not right now, but if all this—” He waved his hand toward the ruined house.
“—was gone, and a new house built in its place, you might feel differently?” He reached into the backseat and pulled out a folder.
“Take a look. I had an architect draw up some plans. So you could envisage the possibilities.”
He passed me a sheaf of architectural drawings and 3D renditions of a brand-new house. Our original house dated back to the 1800s, with various additions tacked on over the years. The new design was a million miles away from that.
I scanned the drawings, taking in the simple lines, glass walls overlooking the lemon groves, the huge swimming pool and terrace, the roof garden, and the way the architect had designed the house to blend in with its surroundings.
It was beautiful. Modern. And as much as I wanted to hate it, I didn’t.
“These are just ideas, princess. A first draft. It’s your property, so you have the final say in what we build here.”
I opened the car door and stepped out, soaking up the heat. Beyond the lemon groves, goats grazed where once there had been a lawn edged by trees. I guessed a local farmer had taken advantage of the many holes in the boundary walls.
Not that I minded.
Somewhere in the tangled mass of trees beyond the ravaged lawn lay an old chapel, where Thea had fallen in love with Dario. While she’d been enjoying romantic liaisons with her secret lover, our father had locked me in an attic. My stomach soured at all the years I’d lost.
But I shook my head. That was in the past. Declan was right. Once this place had been razed to the ground, we could make new memories. Happy ones.
“Can we go now?” It had been a long day, a long flight, and I needed food and sleep. In two days, I’d gone from single to claimed by three men, crossed the Atlantic, and had the life fucked out of me.
All I wanted now was a comfortable bed and some carbs.
“Not yet.”
I was just about to start whining when a yellow sports car appeared, driven at a speed not conducive to the road conditions. I jumped back as Ronan slammed the brakes on the Ferrari, sending gravel flying.
We’d left him and Conal at the airport, supposedly to meet a guy about some business or other. Declan had been very vague about it, so I’d not pressed for more information.
“About fucking time,” Declan grumbled. “Did you get it?”
“Of course. And a few other things as well,” Conal said with a smirk.
“The credit card took a big hit,” Ronan added while winking at me. “We took Eden’s advice to heart.”
My eyes narrowed in confusion. What on earth had Eden advised them about?
Declan glanced at his phone and nodded. “We’re all set.” I looked around, but Ash and Connor had vanished. We’d driven up to the house, but they’d stayed behind at the gate.
I frowned. It wasn’t like Declan to send his most trusted men away. Not here, where potential threats still lurked around every corner. My father was back in prison, but some of Marku’s men remained on the loose. Or so I’d gleaned from a conversation overheard on the plane.
But Declan didn’t give me a chance to question the twins. Instead, he steered me across the lawn and into the trees.
We followed a well-worn path. Birds sang and insects hummed. As the afternoon slowly waned, the shadows deepened. In the distance, a dog barked, the sound filtering through the overgrown shrubs. Probably from one of the farms to the east. At certain times of the day, sounds carried for miles.
I remembered a time when Papa’s men patrolled these woods with dogs. I’d hear the dogs howling at night and cry, afraid the men were mistreating them.
It reminded me of how much I wanted a dog one day. A loyal, protective dog like Petal.
Or maybe not.
Petal ate too much, and her shits were like land mines.
I liked the idea of a small, cute dog who’d snuggle up with me at night, resting his doggy head on the pillow beside mine.
“What are you grinning at?” Declan asked with raised eyebrows when he glanced sideways at me.
“Thinking about my future dog, the one that’ll sleep with me.”
“There will be no fucking dog in my bed, princess,” he grumbled crossly.
“Then we won’t be sharing a bed.” I stuck my tongue out at him, the tension leaving my bones as we left the ruined house behind.
He growled, frightening the birds roosting in a nearby tree. They flew up, squawking in alarm.
“How about a cat, then?” I liked cats too. I liked all creatures, except spiders. Spiders were my pet hate.
“I don’t mind cats,” he admitted. “They’re independent creatures.”
“I love pussies,” Ronan piped up from behind us.
“Do you have to lower the tone?” Conal groaned. “This is supposed to be fucking romantic!”
I wondered what he meant, but the path ended to reveal the ruined chapel, diverting my attention.
“Why are we here?”
Declan didn’t reply. Instead, he pushed open the heavy door, and we stepped inside.
I stared around the small space in disbelief.
Flowers and candles covered every available surface.
Someone had placed bunches of heavy, fragrant blooms in luscious colors in vases and pots.
Small tea lights flickered in glass jars and thick altar candles burned on the altar, creating puddles of melted wax.
Where had they all come from?
Ash and Connor stood at the far end of the chapel, grinning. Declan nodded at them and they circled past us before leaving. When I turned around, Ronan and Conal were watching my reaction.
They both shuffled on the spot, clearly nervous.
“Why are we here?” Nothing made sense. I understood why Declan had brought me back to the estate. His plan to rebuild the house made sense, even if going behind my back and buying the place without telling me had come as a surprise.
“Because we wanted to do this in a place that had meaning.”
“This was Thea’s meeting place with Dario,” I pointed out. I’d only come here once, one afternoon, when Thea rescued me from the attic for a few hours while our father was away on business. We’d sat playing in the cool shade, drawing pictures in the dirt until the guards came with their dogs.
I’d been around five. Too young to fully understand why Papa didn’t let me play outside.
One of his guards must have told our father about Thea’s act of rebellion because she didn’t visit me for weeks after they took me back to the house.
My memories of that day had mostly faded, but the excitement I’d felt walking through the trees while eating stolen pastries from the kitchen lingered.
“Thea brought me here when I was small,” I reminisced, reaching out to touch a tightly furled pink rose.
“We didn’t want to do this somewhere generic, like the Eiffel Tower,” Conal told me as he slid his arm around my waist.
“I didn’t much like it there,” I admitted. It had been on my list of places to visit when I first traveled back to Europe. Paris had seemed romantic, but the crowds and constant hassle from creepy men ruined it for me.
“No, Saoirse said as much. So we asked Thea. She said this place might work.”
“Work for what?”
I let Conal spin me round, only to see Declan on one knee, a jewelry box in his hand. Ronan took my left hand and squeezed.
“You’re ours, Verity,” Declan declared. “Ours to love. Ours to cherish and protect. Will you marry us?”