The next morning, I sit on the couch with my cup of coffee, dressed in the sleek purple robe Deklan bought during our shopping spree. The night before, Deklan had insisted that I looked pale, questioned me continuously about my head, and threatened to take me back to the doctor. I convinced him that I just needed a good night’s sleep, and he cradled me in his arms as I thought about all that blood.
In the end, I’d barely slept at all.
This morning I’m focused on my options, of which there are really only two: stay or go.
If I were to leave, I know I couldn’t go back to my parents’ house. They would just force me back here. The only other option would be to make a run for it—flee the city and never look back.
I have no cash, no credit card, and no bank account. I have no transportation or friends who would be able to help me. Even if I did, I have no doubt that Deklan would manage to find me, and what happens then? What would happen to my mother and father if I were to run? What would life with Deklan be like if he had to drag me back here, kicking and screaming?
I seriously doubt he would continue to be as pleasant as he has been so far.
Running is not a viable option. Besides, I’ve already heard how Deklan deals with runners.
So I stay, and staying means coming to terms with what Deklan does when he’s not around me. I need to concentrate on how he is when he is with me, and thus far, that has been wonderful. He’s been kind, gentle, and generous. That’s who Deklan is to me. That is my Deklan. I will just have to forget about who he is when he’s not here. If there is one thing I am good at, I’m good at suppressing thoughts that cause me grief.
My Deklan isn’t violent. My Deklan is not a killer. He treats me well. He makes me feel fantastic. He is going to keep me safe and be a good husband to me—a real husband—just like he said on our wedding night. Whatever he does when I’m not around doesn’t matter.
I swallow down the lie I have told myself just in time to catch sight of Deklan out of the corner of my eye. I turn to face him, smiling broadly.
“Good morning!” I say cheerily.
“Feeling better?” he asks.
“Much. There’s coffee if you want some.”
“I do. Thank you.” Deklan pours himself a cup and comes to sit next to me, and I watch his gaze move up and down my body. He places the cup on the coffee table before he reaches over and takes the edge of my robe between his fingers.
My heart starts to pound as he moves his finger slowly down the opening. He reaches the halfway point and stops. My robe is partway open now but still not showing much. He runs his tongue over his lips as he continues down until he reaches my leg. He stops again and lets his hand rest on my thigh with just his thumb inside, rubbing back and forth on my bare skin.
“Sleep well?” he asks.
It takes me a second to catch my breath and answer him.
“Well enough.”
“What would you like to do today?”
“Well,” I say as I try to ignore the clenching of my thighs, “I’d like to do a little more cooking, but your refrigerator is rather bare.”
“Our refrigerator,” Deklan says as he taps my chin with his finger. “You’re right though. I rather like your cooking, so we’ll get whatever you like. Ready to go now?”
“Can I get dressed first?” I glance down at my robe and then back at Deklan.
“I suppose.” Deklan runs his hand over my thigh. “We could just go back to bed.”
“I think we might starve if we do.”
“Possible.” Deklan shrugs. I’m not sure he cares.
Deklan drives us to a large supermarket, and I collect everything I’ll need to prepare some of my favorite dishes. Just as we’re leaving the store, Deklan’s pocket buzzes, and he takes out one of his prepaid, hard-to-trace phones.
“Yeah, boss?” Deklan glances at me as he takes the last bag out of the cart and shoves it into the trunk. He nods toward the passenger side door, and I head in that direction. “They were supposed to send you an email, right? Uh…yeah, sure. We can stop by. Yeah, we’re out doing some shopping…”
Deklan gives me a hard look, and I quickly drop into the car and shut the door. A moment later, he gets in beside me, his call ended.
“We need to stop by the Foley place,” he says. “It should only take a minute.”
I’m not eager to see Sean Foley again, but I also know I won’t be able to avoid him forever. I feel better knowing I’ll be at Deklan’s side.
We pull up to the mansion, and John the valet takes Deklan’s car without a word to either of us. I guess the pleasantries are no longer needed. Deklan places his hand on my lower back as we pass through the doorway where Sean greets us.
“You can still walk,” Sean says as we enter. “I have to admit, I’m surprised.”
I drop my gaze to the floor. I hear Deklan let out a short sigh, but Sean doesn’t let up.
“Seriously, I’m surprised you can even stand, let alone walk straight. I thought by now you’d be curled up in a ball, whimpering in the corner.” He laughs loudly, but I keep my eyes on my feet. “Aw, come on, Dek! Just having a little fun.”
“You wanted me to check on the details of that shipment,” Deklan says, his voice monotone.
“Yeah, yeah,” Sean says quickly. “Everyone’s in the office.”
We follow Sean through the halls to a closed door. When he opens it, I see his sister Teagan and another young man I don’t recognize.
“Hey, Dek!” the young man says.
“Brian, how are ya?” Deklan reaches out and shakes the young man’s hand.
“Better,” he says. “Sorry I couldn’t make the festivities. Is this O’Conner’s girl?”
“Kera”—Deklan tilts his head in my direction—“this is Brian.”
“Good to meet you,” I say quietly.
“You, too.” Brian says as we shake hands briefly. “I would have been at the wedding, but I had a little…mishap.”
He motions to the floor, and I notice the odd way he’s standing and the crutch leaning up against the chair behind him.
“What happened?” I ask.
“Someone needs to do a better job of covering his tracks so he doesn’t get followed,” Sean says. “Next time, instead of a hairline fracture, Dek here can introduce him to Melissa, the Angel of Death.”
Sean laughs, Brian looks nervous, and Deklan stands motionless and unreadable.
“Melissa?” I ask quietly.
“Don’t worry about it,” Deklan says. “Teagan, what do you have?”
Teagan spins the desk chair around to face the group and gestures toward the screen of the laptop.
“Morons,” she says. “That’s what I have.”
“Something wrong with the pickup point?” Deklan takes a step toward Teagan, and I stay close behind him as I keep Sean in my peripheral vision.
“If you can figure out what it is from this message, be my guest.”
“What’s the problem?”
“Well, for starters, they think the wingdings font is the same as encryption,” Teagan says with a huff. “Seriously, these people are idiots.”
“So, what’s in the email?” Deklan asks.
“I have no idea.” Teagan turns the laptop to face everyone, and I lean around Deklan just enough to see a bit of the screen. “I don’t want to just throw it into an online translator. That shit can be tracked.”
“Is that Spanish or something?” Brian asks as he peers at the screen. “Don’t these fuckers know we’re in America?”
“They aren’t in America,” Teagan says, “and this isn’t Spanish.”
“It’s Portuguese,” I say.
Deklan snaps his head in my direction and narrows his eyes. I look back to the floor and position myself behind him again.
“We can wait for Jesus,” Brian says.
“He’s not coming.” Deklan’s voice is sharp and his words are clipped.
“Not unless it’s a second coming,” Sean says with a laugh. He slaps his hand on his thigh. “Get it? Jesus”—he pronounces the hard J—“second coming?”
He laughs long and loud. Teagan raises an eyebrow at Deklan, who shakes his head slightly and says nothing.
“Can you read it?” Teagan asks as she turns toward me.
“Maybe,” I say. “I think so. My Spanish is better, but I know a little.”
Sean stands up, wiping tears from his eyes, and gestures toward the screen.
I look up at Deklan, and he nods at me. I approach the laptop and peer at the email.
“Do you want me to just read it?”
“No, write a fucking dissertation on it.” Sean’s no longer laughing.
“Just read what you can,” Deklan says softly as he places his hand on the small of my back.
“Okay.” I take a deep breath and move a little closer. The email isn’t written in sentences, just short phrases and numbers. “It says ‘the ice cream man is coming,’ then there’s a bunch of numbers spelled out. Three-slash-two and four hundred. The next line says ‘friend’ and ‘green,’ but I don’t know the verb. I could google it.”
“I’ve got it,” Teagan says. “It means collect or collection.”
“Then it’s just that line of numbers at the end,” I say.
“Three-two?” Sean turns to Brian and glares. If that’s a date, that’s a fucking month away!”
“I think it’s February third,” Teagan says. “Three days.”
“They’re delivering the snow February third, four in the morning,” Deklan says. “The numbers at the end have to be the coordinates.”
Snow. He means cocaine. I glance at Deklan, but he doesn’t meet my eyes.
“And a friend is going to collect it.” I try to smile at Deklan, but he just narrows his eyes.
“Well, aren’t you full of surprises?” Sean says as he grins at me. “Maybe we should just send you out to pick it up, huh?”
I look at the floor as I take a slight step closer to Deklan.
“She on the payroll now?” Brian asks.
“She is not.” Deklan takes my arm and pulls me back away from the computer. He glares at Brian, who looks at the floor and doesn’t make any further remarks.
“Brian, make sure the cargo in the shipping containers is unloaded by tomorrow,” Sean says. “Gotta be ready for the new supplier.”
“I’m digging into these guys a bit more,” Teagan says. “I know they’ve been vetted by Lucas, but something isn’t right here. They can’t really be this stupid.”
“Check it out,” Sean says. “If you find something hinky, we’ll let Dek deal with it.”
“Kera,” Dek says softly, “go wait in the hallway. I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Okay.” I back away from him slowly, and I don’t miss the smirk on Sean’s face as he watches me leave the room.
I’m perfectly happy to be out of Sean Foley’s presence. I walk halfway down the hall to put a little more distance between us. The walls are lined with expensive-looking paintings of people, but I have no idea who they are.
I don’t wait long before the office door opens, and Sean and Teagan walk out.
“Give me two hours,” Teagan says. “I should have something by then.”
“It’s a plan, baby sister.”
Teagan rolls her eyes, gives me a nod, and heads off down the hallway, leaving me alone with Sean.
I’m instantly on edge, even before he takes a step closer to me, invading my personal space. My back is to the wall, and I can’t move away from him without being extremely obvious. I glance at the door, but it’s closed again with Deklan on the other side.
“Little Kera.” Sean smiles and inches nearer. “I have to say, marriage seems to agree with you. You are positively glowing, as they say. Kinda like one of those monkeys that hold their bright red asses in the air, begging to be fucked.”
I don’t respond. I can’t even look at his face. I just keep glancing at the door, praying for Deklan to come out. I can feel sweat collecting at the back of my neck, and I’m positive my heart has stopped beating.
Sean places his hand on the wall beside my head, and I turn away from him, still focused on the door to the office. He leans in until his mouth is right next to my ear.
“You know, back in feudal days, lords would take a turn at commoner brides on the wedding night, hoping to spread a little noble cum around. Maybe I should have done that. Maybe you’d like a taste of my noble cock, huh?”
“Come on, bitch. Lick my balls!”
“We ain’t supposed to touch her.”
“Who’s gonna know?”
I swallow hard, forcing the unknown, menacing voices from my head along with the smell of grease and old sweat.
“The wedding night’s over,” I say softly, trying to keep my nerve. “I’m…I’m Deklan’s now.”
“And who do you think owns Dek?”
Voices on the other side of the door get closer, and the doorknob begins to turn. Sean takes a quick step away from me as he snickers softly. A moment later, the door opens, and Deklan comes into the hallway with Brian right behind him.
“She’s so fucking hot,” Brian says. “And she smells so good. I think she must work at McDonald’s. Every time I pass her in the hall, I get a craving for a Big Mac.”
“You ain’t right.” Deklan narrows his eyes as he glances between me and Sean, but Sean turns and walks down the hallway without another word, and I let out a long-held breath. Deklan reaches for my arm. “Everything okay, babe?”
“Yes,” I say quickly as I press against him. “Can we go home now?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“I’ll call ya later, Dek. Good to meet you, Kera.”
“You, too.” I give Brian a brief smile, and Deklan leads me to the front door.
As soon as we’re in the car, Deklan’s phone rings. He doesn’t say much, but I can tell he’s talking to Sean. When he hangs up, he reaches over and grips my thigh.
“Did he say something to you?” Deklan asks.
“No.” I don’t want to lie to Deklan, but I also want to put my encounter with Sean completely out of my head, and recounting it isn’t going to help. “Nothing really.”
Deklan sighs audibly. I glance over. I can see his chest rising and falling, and his jaw is tense. He takes his hand from my leg to shift gears before running it through his hair.
“I should have told you to wait in the car. Just…just keep your distance from him, okay?”
“Gladly.”
Deklan reaches over to stroke my cheek, and I close my eyes, leaning into his touch.
I have no doubt in my mind—Sean Foley is completely insane. I know Deklan said he would protect me, but against his own boss, a man who claims to “own” my husband? Deklan’s loyalties are clear, and I’m not sure exactly where I fit on his priority list.