I rolled my eyes. “Not good enough. If this…” I waved my hands between us. “… is to work, then we have to learn to communicate better.” If I’d been better at communicating my needs, I wouldn’t have ended up in toxic relationships with abusive men.
Lights twinkled across the bay. As I watched, the last few remaining surfers packed up their things and tramped up the path to the sandy parking lot. A couple of them stared in through the glass window, clearly pissed off when they realized the restaurant had closed, but they didn’t linger.
I felt bad for them, but there were other eateries and food shacks down the coast. Nobody would starve tonight.
“I’d like it very much if you did as you were told when it mattered, Verity.”
My eyes snapped back to Declan.
“And what does that mean, exactly?”
“It means, if I say you’re in danger, you listen to me, Princess, and you do what I tell you to do.”
“And what if I don’t like your suggested course of action?”
He leaned forward, and my breathing hitched.
This was the man I knew. Until now, he’d been on his best behavior, but the wolf had shucked off his wooly sheep suit and was glaring at me, fangs on display, like he wanted to eat me up.
“Verity, it’s my job to protect you. Not listening to me when you’re in danger puts all of us in danger. Me, because I’ll do anything to keep you safe, and that includes taking a bullet for you. And my brothers, because they would do the same. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“That if I don’t listen to you when things get dangerous, someone I love could die?”
He nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying, princess.”
I took his words on board. He was right. While I hoped my life would remain stress free from this moment onward, the likelihood of that happening was nil. The fact was, those I loved moved in morally gray areas and conducted business with questionable people. Hell, my father was a murdering asshole, and my sister had more than her fair share of blood on her hands. I shuddered. Even I had blood on my hands.
Not directly, but men had died because of me. God knows I should have felt guilty about that, but they’d tried to hurt me first, so I didn’t.
“OK, if I’m in an imminent danger situation, I will defer to you.”
“Thank you.”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
I blinked. Nothing? No demands that I stay at home like a good little woman and pop out a few kids? I’d seen how his father, Seamus, treated his mom, and it wouldn’t have surprised me if Declan held similar views. Not that I’d seen any evidence of it in his interactions with Bridget.
“What about kids? Where will we live? Can I get a job?”
He chuckled. “Princess, I’d love kids, but that’s up to you. We can live anywhere, but I’ll need to spend a good deal of my time in Ireland. And if you want to work, you can. Your life is your own.”
This wasn’t going how I expected. I’d geared up for a fight. Been ready to stand my ground and reinforce my boundaries, just like my therapist had talked about.
But he’d apologized, told me I could have the freedom I wanted, and his only red line was that I listened to him in dangerous situations. It rather took the wind out of my sails.
“What about Ronan and Conal? I’m not giving them up.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to. They’re my brothers.”
“You’d be willing to share me?” I clarified, while trying to ignore the flush that colored my cheeks.
“Yes, princess. I can share.” He winked.
Thankfully, our pizzas arrived a few moments later, distracting me from thoughts of how that ‘sharing’ would work.
“Now eat up, princess,” Declan ordered, reverting to his usual bossy tone. I rolled my eyes but decided not to argue. The pizza smelled divine, and I was hungry.
