“You sure you’re okay?”
I shake my head. “Not even a little bit.”
He chuckles dryly. “Yeah, that makes sense.” There’s a beat of silence. “You love her, don’t you?”
“Why do you say that?”
“It’s written all over your face, brother.”
Before I can respond, the sound of the front door opening catches my attention.
Cormac frowns. “Were you expecting someone?”
I open my mouth to tell him no just as Ciara strolls into the kitchen.
Cormac instantly straightens, surprise flickering in his eyes at the sight of my wife in my own damn house. “Ciara.”
She doesn’t acknowledge him. Her eyes are solely focused on me, and they arefurious.
My chest tightens at the sight of her.
She looks pale and exhausted, with deep purple shadows under her eyes. Her blonde hair is loose around her shoulders, and she’s wearing an old college sweatshirt over a pair of leggings.
I can’t deny, even now, she’s still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.
She crosses her arms over her chest. “I’m not staying long.”
I push back the bar stool and get to my feet. “You came back.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I came back for answers.”
Her voice is like ice, and it cuts deeper than I care to admit.
Even when she was pissed at me before, there was always some hint of that softness in her face, in her eyes. But now, the way she’s looking at me makes it feel like we’re strangers.
Cormac pushes off the counter and strolls to the door. “I’ll give you two a minute.”
Ciara doesn’t even glance at him as he leaves, but my brother offers me a sympathetic look before disappearing out of sight and leaving me alone with my wife.
I want to run to her, to pull her into my arms and hold her against my chest, but there’s a solid wall around her, and I’m not sure if my words will be enough to break through it.
I tuck my hands into my pockets to stop myself from reaching for her. “I’m sorry. For how it happened. For leaving you at the restaurant. For…everything.”
“I don’t want apologies, Ronan. I want to know why the hell you thought you had the right to decide what I knew about my own father.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Bullshit. You don’t get to make that call. You kept me in the dark while I mourned a man who sold girls into sex slavery.”
“I didn’t want to hurt you, Ciara.”
“It’s a little too late for that.” She takes a step toward me, her voice cracking. “Do you have any idea what it feels like to love someone so deeply and find out they were a monster? To realize every memory you treasured of them was built on a lie?”
I keep my mouth shut because the truth is I have no idea how she is feeling.
My father might have kept secrets from me, but I know in my gut they are nothing compared to what Ryan McCarthy did.
“Why did you come back if you didn't want an apology?”
