But it seems Ciara doesn’t feel the same, as when I stroll into the kitchen, she looks up from her dinner with genuine shock on her face.
“I was starting to forget what you looked like.”
“You’re the one who didn’t want to accept my apology,Tine Bheag,” I stalk over to the fridge. “I was just giving you space.”
“You look like crap. You could have at least put on a clean shirt for dinner.”
I try to stifle my laugh as I glance over my shoulder at her. “And you look as radiant as ever,wife.”
I speak nothing but the truth. Ciara’s swapped her usual ponytail for a loose braid over her shoulder, and she’s wearing a sweater that falls off her shoulder, exposing the bright pink strap of her bra.
If she weren’t so pissed at me, I’d think she wore it on purpose just to tease me.
Ciara goes to retort, but then Mila stands abruptly, mumbling something under her breath about her mother calling as she avoids my eyes.
She’s obviously lying as a way to give Ciara and me the opportunity to be alone, and I appreciate the gesture.
We need to talk, and I’ve decided that I’m not going to let her leave this kitchen until she accepts my apology.
I wait until Mila is out of the room before abandoning my quest for food and taking the empty seat at the table across from Ciara.
She looks annoyed that I’ve dared to grace her with my presence, but she makes no move to leave, which I take as a good sign.
“I’ve been trying to figure out who hired the guy who took Mila. That’s what’s been keeping me busy.”
She nods, still not looking at me as she pushes her pasta around her plate. “Any luck?”
“We’re getting somewhere. Kieran got the name of the guy from the warehouse.”
“Oh?”
“His name was Liam Kelly. He was a gun for hire, connected to the O’Keefe brothers.”
“I’ve heard of them.” Ciara sets down her fork and looks up at me under her lashes. “Aren’t they the ones Seamus nearly wiped out?”
I run a hand over my stubbled jaw. “Yeah. Which makes this more personal than I thought.”
We fall into silence for a moment before I shift in my seat, knowing that I can’t put off this conversation any longer.
“But that’s not what I came in here to tell you. We need to talk about us.”
That immediately has Ciara looking down at her plate again. “What’s there to talk about?”
When I screw up, I do it spectacularly. I left her alone, hoping space and time would help, but it seems to have driven her even farther away from me.
I can’t lose this woman.
“I got angry, and I didn’t handle it well. But the thought of anything happening to you… Ciara, it drove me insane. Youcould havedied. And I couldn’t cope with even the thought of you being in danger, let alone hurt… or worse.”
Her shoulders relax a little, but her eyes remain downcast as she talks.
“I know that, but you don’t get to make decisions for me. If you had listened to me, maybe we could have worked as a team, instead of working against each other. But you refused, so I did what I had to do.”
“I know you did.”
She glances up at me, frowning. “You do?”
“Yes. You thought you had no other choice, and I admire your courage. Not many people would have done what you did.”
