Fallon opened his mouth, then closed it, and his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. “This is manipulation. If I say anything about that, I’m an asshole.”
Rowen smiled. He was sneakier than I gave him credit for, and while I didn’t fully approve of his methods, I was definitely more than impressed.
“Oh myGod, is that a dog?” The thumping of Vail’s feet on the stairs cemented the future of Danu. Now that Vail had seen her, there wasn’t a chance in hell she was going anywhere. He dropped to his knees in front of her, patting her head and cooing at her like she was a baby. Danu wagged her tail and made a funny sound that had Vail laughing. “She’s so cute. Are we keeping her? Tell me we’re keeping her!”
Fallon’s shoulders slumped. He knew a lost battle when he saw one.
Poor kid.I stepped in closer to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, tugging him against me. Kissing his cheek, I rubbed his arm comfortingly. “She’ll be good help.”
“You don’t understand,” Fallon whispered. He leaned against me and sighed.
“I do. Rowen told me what you said about the dog you had before,” I mumbled.
Cillian came up to us and took Fallon’s other side. “Listen to me. Nothin’s gonna happen to the dog, aye? We’re gonna keep her safe, like we keep ye and Vail safe. She won’t come on dangerous assignments, and she’ll only leave the house for walks and on safe outings. Nothin’ will happen to her.”
“I’m not weak.” Fallon raised his chin. “I’m an MMA fighter. I don’t need a diabetic dog.”
Rowen finally stepped in, too, standing in front of Fallon. “Listen to me, my sweet wee tater tot. Having a service dog doesn’t make ye weak. Ye’re strong, always have been. But even the strongest men need support. Look at Cillian.”
Cillian glared. “Me?”
Rowen ignored him. “He’s got Aspen at his side. Always has. Cillian’s strong on his own, but with Aspen? He’s unstoppable.”
Cillian gave me a look over Fallon’s shoulder, and I winked at him, warmth filling me when he glanced away quickly.
“Having Danu is like that. Ye’re strong by yerself, but with Danu, ye’re a powerhouse. Technology that fails won’t get ye down.” He cupped Fallon’s cheek and laid a kiss on his lips. “I love ye, and even if ye’re mad at me, I’ll always protect ye.”
“Are we keeping her?” Vail asked again, his focus completely on the dog as she rolled on her back and accepted belly scratches. I knew enough about dogs to know that she was indog modeuntil her vest went on, which meant Vail could play with her as much as he wanted. Though, being a specific diabetic alert dog, I thought she might still let Fallon know if his sugar was high or low even if she was playing.
Fallon stared at Rowen for a long, tense moment before his mouth slowly slid into a smile. He nodded and ducked out of my hold to hug Rowen. “You’re an asshole.”
Rowen chuckled. “I know.”
When Fallon pulled away, he walked over to the dog and sat on his knees beside Vail. “Yeah, babe. We’re keeping her.”
Vail yelled in excitement and hugged Fallon.
Snorting, I passed the vest to Rowen. “Ballsy move.”
Rowen shrugged, but the tips of his ears turned red. “He needs all the help he can get.”
“Aye.” Cillian smirked and something told me he was up to no good. “About that.... I was thinking about an app I found. It connects to Fallon’s pump. He would have to get a continuous glucose monitor. If he did, it would let us all know when his sugar’s low or high....”
I groaned and raised a hand to him. “Good luck with that. I think the dog’s enough for one day.”
Rowen laughed in agreement.
PARTIII
EPILOGUE
VAIL
My bladder was telling me I’d drunk way too much tea right before bed. It was really the fault of the wonderful staff here at Sloan’s mansion because they just kept refilling my cup if I was sitting in the dining room while working. I huffed as my eyes snapped open against my will. I lay still for a few minutes before a shiver skittered across my skin.
Aspen was missing and not keeping me warm on my front. I patted the bed. When I’d fallen asleep, he’d been here. What in the world? Why was he gone?
Frowning, I rolled over. Cillian had been curled around my back and he was gone, too.
