With a grin on his face, Keenan motions with his finger for me to come to him. I go willingly for two reasons. The first, I love being near him. The second, I don’t want him to overexert himself.
Once I’m tucked in under his arm, he leans in and presses his lips to mine. This kiss can’t go where either of us wants it to, though my feeling is that he’d take it there if I let him. I won’t. That would be awful, and any selfish reason I may have for wanting him to touch me is just going to have to wait.
Besides, right now, I have a lot of work to do to notify all the vendors we had a last-minute location change.
CHAPTERSIX
KEENAN
“Keenan, were you expecting company?” Delaney asks in a low tone as she approaches. She’s been much quieter over the last few days, though Delilah tells me she was a bit iron-willed right after I was shot. Delilah might not think much of it, but I know my sister. She was shoving every emotion she had down the furthest she could, just so it wouldn’t come rushing out.
Keeva is by far the more emotional one. She’s loud and in charge every step of the way. She dresses promiscuously, says what’s on her mind, and doesn’t apologize for shite, but Delaney is quite the opposite. She’s reserved and sweet, wants everyone to like her. She’ll be turning eighteen very soon, and then she’ll be off to university. It’s hard to believe my baby sister is becoming a young woman, and she’ll be leaving the nest soon.
“Yes, Eoghan will be here any minute now. Has he arrived?”
“He has. I heard one of the men mumbling on about it and figured I’d come tell you.” Much like the rest of us, Delaney’s having a difficult time with all of this. I wouldn’t say she’s upset about the progress we’ve made, though, in a way, I think she’s still waiting for the rug to be pulled out from underneath her. Hell, sometimes I think it’ll happen, so I can’t blame her. Our entire lives have been filled with nothing but agony after losing our mother. Then we all became very well aware of how horrid the world can be.
Thankfully, we got through it, but not all families are as lucky as ours. Most would’ve been split up by social workers. But we were lucky, I was of age to prove to the courts that I could care for my siblings. When I went in front of the judge, I pleaded my case, even stating how I knew it wouldn’t be good and dandy, but we’d lost enough after losing our mother. We didn’t need to lose anyone else. Luckily for us, he agreed. It’s moments like this that I’m grateful for everything we’ve been through together as a family, even if most wouldn’t want any part of it. We’re survivors, and that’s all there is to it.
“Thank you. When he comes down the driveway, I’m sure someone will walk him here,” I say and look back at the book I’ve been reading. It’s nothing overly important, but I find if I don’t keep my mind busy, well, I go a bit mad.
There isn’t any sound being made, so I glance up from my book to see Delaney still standing where she has been. “Is something wrong?”
My sister thins her lips and stares at me.
“Well, get on with it. Won’t do you any good to be keeping it inside now, will it?”
She widens her eyes and nods. “I . . . sorry. Um, but do you think he’s here about your job and all? I mean, are you going to do both? Be working for Eoghan and for Liam?”
Delaney hasn’t been made privy to everything the physician told me in London. Now I don’t want to worry her, but I’m sure if I don’t say anything, it’ll only drive her crazy. Yet I still know telling Delaney nothing won’t help me in the least bit, but I can’t lie to her. I’ve been doing my job for so long it feels odd not to be reporting to duty.
“I’m not sure,” is all I can tell her.
Delaney doesn’t seem happy with what I’ve said, but she’ll just have to deal with it. It’s not like she’s demanding much of me, but I can’t give her an answer I don’t have.
She doesn’t say a word, but I watch as she swallows and walks off. The skirt of her flowy blue dress waves in the wind as I sit on the back patio. It’s moments later that one of our men comes up to notify me Eoghan has arrived. I tell him to bring Eoghan through as I sit and overlook the beauty of the gardens. Acres and acres go on, and every bit of it in sight belongs to my family. I grab onto the handle of the blue coffee cup in front of me and take a sip of it, grateful for not instantly gagging like I used to. Then again, it was only because what I could afford was the equivalent of sludge.
“Aye, look at you. Doesn’t look like you had surgery less than two weeks ago. Bet you’ll be back to playing rugby in no time!” Eoghan cackles as he approaches. I motion for him to have a seat beside me, and one of the house staff comes out with fresh coffee and begins to pour it for me.
“I can handle it from here,” I tell the blonde woman who looks at me like she’s afraid I’m fucking with her.
“Are you certain?” she asks, waiting to hear my verbal order yet again.
“Yes. Thank you,” I tell her, and she nods, then walks off from the way she came.
Eoghan narrows his eyes at me, and I know what he’s thinking. He’s wondering what the hell’s going on. I’ve known him for about eight years now, and since then, I’ve come to learn about every way the man works, both physically and mentally. “This a new type of medical aide thing, or?”
I crack up at the way he’s playing this. “Not in the slightest.”
“Shite, thought I needed to get hurt to get a lass to look at me like she did at you.” I want to push off what he’s said, but Bran mentioned how the blonde staff member stares at me a little longer than necessary. It’s no matter, I’m with Delilah. Blondie doesn’t have a shot in hell.
“Nah, mate. You don’t want none of what I’ve got. Trust me,” I tell him, not even acknowledging what he said about the woman. “So, what’ve you come here for?”
He told me he was stopping by for a visit, but like I said, I know him. He’s never the type to stop by unless something’s on his mind. “I wanted to check in on ya, see how you were doing.”
Like everyone else, he believes I was mugged in London, but it wasn’t the case. “Cut the bullshite, mate. I know you. I’ve worked with you long enough to know when you’re lying through your bloody teeth.”
My boss and friend visibly pales in front of me. I pour some coffee in his mug, and he grabs it, takes a sip, and finally clears his throat. “The medical board got your files a couple days ago. If they were going to give me the green light to pull you back in a few weeks, I would’ve heard by now. I know it’s only been two weeks, Keenan, but I’ve seen a lot of men go through medical review in my time. I’m sorry to say it, but I think we know what’s coming.”
