OK, so he had a point. “No, I won’t,” I lied.
I pounded his back with my fists as he carried me around the side of the house to the driveway, where a huge vehicle sat waiting. My mouth gaped open as I stared at the thing in shock.
When he gently deposited me on the ground, I looked from the car to him.
“What the actual fuck is that?”
He shrugged like we were both looking at a mom mobile rather than something that belonged in a Dwayne Johnson movie.
“Your safety is important to me. This vehicle has a host of security-focused features like armored glass, bomb protection, and gas masks.”
“Seriously? Are you anticipating a terrorist attack?”
He lifted me into the passenger seat and refused to say another word.
I sighed. He really was ridiculous sometimes. Not even Kyril was this insanely protective, although I now knew he carried a rocket launcher in the trunk of his G-Class, as I’d discovered when searching for a shopping bag. Thea told me he had all kinds of toys stashed away in their family’s vehicles, which kind of made sense. Still, this insane vehicle was a step up.
“Buckle up, princess. We have somewhere to be.”
60
Declan
Verity didn’t trust me. That much was obvious. Not that I blamed her. If I’d opened up a line of communication in the last few weeks, like my brothers had done, we’d be on a better footing right now.
Like her, I’d also needed time.
Time to get my head around the idea that this pint-sized girl who’d stumbled into my life a decade previously had stolen my heart.
Honestly, I’d never seen her coming. Me, the man who always strategized ten moves ahead. The man who never let a woman into his guarded heart.
Falling for her had taken me by surprise, but now it was too late.
After we’d rescued her from Marku, I’d stupidly thought I could push her away and move on. Go back to my empty life filled with shallow women and meaningless sexual encounters. But it hadn’t worked.
Despite burying myself in work, I’d thought about her every second of every day.
Missed her sweet smiles and the way she blushed when I caught her ogling me.
I’d missedher.
And I’d also got pretty sick of seeing my brothers moping around the house, cussing me out, and accusing me of upsettingour girl.
They were right.
Ihadupset her.
I knew damn well she expected more after Sicily, when I’d finally caved into my attraction, but the minute we’d reached the airport for the second time, common sense had prevailed.
Verity would never be safe with me. Not with the O’Rourkes still causing us problems. The thought of letting her in and then losing her killed me.
Our father had never been the same after Mama died. A piece of him died with her. What if I lost Verity and ended up like him? A randy old goat with the morals of an alley cat. An old man with no purpose in life other than to get drunk and fuck women young enough to be his daughters.
The thought of turning into my father made me want to vomit. So I’d pushed Verity away and resolved to focus on work and family.
God knows my sisters were enough of a headache without adding protecting Verity into the mix. At least here she’d become someone else’s responsibility.
Only it hadn’t worked.
