It used to drive me crazy, the way he’d cut off the rest of the world. She drives me crazier, for about a thousand other reasons.
And right now, I’m staring at her interacting with Daisy, who really is the apple of the family, and not only am I jealous and envious and all those shitty emotions, I’m also seeing Tally’s injuries again.
I move into autopilot, taking over and making tea and toast for the girls. I know it’s annoying the hell out of her, but I can’t stop this building pressure that I have to care for Tally.
Despite getting everything set up for them, the three girls make it more than obvious I’m not welcome at their catch up. Not that they’d say anything. Well, Maeve would, but she’s on her best behavior and keen to have the chance to speak with the woman who saved her daughter.
How Tally was the person to rescue Daisy defies logic. I’ve been trying to figure out how the hell it happened since I woke up, but it strangely makes sense too. To see destiny in action, and to be a key player in fate's plan, is as scary as it is beautiful.
I feel restless in my own skin and pace until I end up sitting on the floor in the second bedroom. Right next to the huge fucking hole Keegan cut earlier today. It wasn’t hard to do. The apartments were always meant to be dual occupancy, and initially, this side was meant to be for me if, and when, we used Raff’s apartment. But like always, we seem to have a hard time finding any sort of separation from each other.
He says it’s because we’re the same peas in the same pod. I’ve got no other explanation that doesn’t make me sound pathetically weak. But from the day we were born, it’s always been Raff and me. That bond is hard to break. Not that I want to, but sometimes life gets cramped with two Alphas and a twin, even though it was always going to be the four of us.
There was also a time when I was meant to be an Alpha, same as Raff, until fate and destiny stepped in and changed our plans.
I can hear the girls all talking, Daisy leading the way in her sunshine-filled chatter.
Fuck, it’s hard to believe how close we came to losing her. Our world would have crumbled.
We came even closer to losing Tally, and our world would have blown apart. Quite literally. Not just because we can’t let bullshit go unanswered—we’re O’Connors, for fuck’s sake—but on a personal level, the one woman who’s been a constant between us since we were bloody kids would vanish, and even the thought has me ready to rage.
“Ty,” Raff whispers from his place, no doubt picking up on my cloudy mood.
He flatly refuses to step foot or even look at her space, which is why he’s sitting in pretty much the exact place. Next to me but not really too.
“On a scale of one to ten, how pissed is she?”
I drop my head back, my own exhaustion starting to kick my arse. But I answer him. I’d give him my last breath if I had to. “You’re gloating.”
I hear a chuckle under his breath, confirming he is. “Told you.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not the one who suggested opening the sealed entry.”
“You helped, though, which makes you just as guilty. Still pissed at you for that, Ty.”
“Pissed at myself, thank you. Although it’s no match to how pissed she is.”
“With reason.”
“Didn’t suggest she wasn’t entitled to be upset. Don’t put words in my mouth,” I whisper back, feeling better already. I’dfeel a hundred percent better if she wasn’t quite so mad. “We fucked up.”
Keegan walks through and sits on the spare bed, facing me. “No, we didn’t.”
I study him, unsurprised by his lack of guilt or shame. Keegan’s never been one to second-guess himself. His cognitive distortion works well in a lot of situations where things are brutally black and white, but not today. “Kee, you can’t be serious.”
And from his point of view, and Ronin too, because those two bounce off each other, they’ll argue what they did was necessary. I get it, I truly do. There was a risk she’d suffered a medical episode or had slipped and was injured, unable to answer the door. We could have used the front door, like Ronin did once she’d fallen asleep.
Any further discussion on what we should and shouldn’t have done gets cut off when Daisy skips through.
“Hey, what are you doing in here? Can I stay here too? Mam?” she asks hopefully, flopping onto my lap, her faith in the world restored already.
Every time I see her, it’s a reminder of how close we came to never having this again. Too fucking close. And the only reason Daisy’s here is because of Tally. The only reason my twin is still alive is also because of Tally. And Tally didn’t answer the door when we came to check on her.
I wrap my arms around Daisy and bury my face in her red curly hair, getting lost in the reality of our world. Split decisions made by smart people keep others alive.
Maeve appears, with Tally in tow, refusing to look at me or Keegan. Maeve opens her arms up for Daisy, who is way too old to be carried, but we all need the reassurance she’s really with us.
Daisy settles in her arms and drops her head against Maeve’s chest. A sweet gesture that has my body twitching to do the same to Tally.
