Catch Him(38)

Or more accurately, her ex father-in-law.

Beyond that, she was in a fragile emotional state. As much as Declan felt for Sinead and her situation, he could not allow her to upset Mary.

When he got to the gate, he pressed his thumb against the access panel. He drove up to the large sprawling red brick mansion and popped out of his black Mercedes SUV. He was only mildly aware of the sense of anticipation he was feeling on the prospect of seeing her again.

He needed to control that. Showing no emotion, or only the emotion he wanted to project, was the first lesson of his particular game. He’d failed with Sinead. He’d given her everything. He needed to take that back.

He walked through the unlocked door. “Mary!”

“We’re in here.” His sister’s voice was coming from the right. Declan turned into the parlor and there she was.

Unruffled in jeans, a simple but pretty white blouse he didn’t remember, and a black leather coat that made her look a little dangerous. But it was the red fuck-me heels that drove him crazy. Because he knew she’d bought them just for this showdown.

Her hair was down around her shoulders, not tied back in a ponytail, and somehow that meant something to him. Like she wanted him to see her as confident rather than meek.

He’d never thought of Sinead as meek. She’d survived too much for that. The way she let him fuck her… no, there was nothing meek about that either. This woman, the one sitting in his sister’s parlor calmly drinking a cup of tea, showing no expression whatsoever on her face…. this was not the woman he’d left behind.

He thought her even hotter than the shy woman he’d met that first night.

Fuck him.

No, he thought. He wanted to fuck her instead.

Dec struggled for control. “You shouldn’t be here,” he said, he hoped coolly.

Carefully, she set the tea cup down, and there it was. The slight rattle of the cup in the saucer that betrayed her casualness.

“But here I am,” she said.

“Dec, don’t be mad,” Mary said as she stood and walked over to him. “When she buzzed at the gate she told me she knew you and all this stuff about Garrett. I had to talk to her…”

“Mary. Stop talking. Sinead, would you please come with me.”

She shrugged. “Sure. But you shouldn’t tell your sister to stop talking. She has a say in this too. She’s a grown woman.”

Declan didn’t flinch at the word. Too many of his stories. He knew that, but he had still shared. With her. Because he’d wanted her to know about his mother, his sister. Him. He’d even told her about his grandfather’s farm in Virginia. Had he done that on purpose? Subconsciously, was this the result he wanted?

“Sinead. With me. Now.”

“I don’t remember you being this bossy.”

“You don’t remember me telling you how I liked my cock sucked, love?”

Mary gasped and Sinead blushed, which was exactly the reaction he wanted. He needed them both to know he was not fucking around. His sister’s life, and now Sinead’s life were in his hands to keep safe.

“You’re a dick,” she said tightly as she approached him.

“And you shouldn’t have come. But we’ll get to that. Now if you would follow me.”

He led her to a back game room in the house. It was large and open and sprawling, but he knew Mary well enough to know she wouldn’t attempt to eavesdrop. She wouldn’t consider it polite. No doubt she was taking herself upstairs to retreat into her bedroom.

A strategic move on her part.

Dec walked to the bar and poured himself an Irish whiskey neat. He held the crystal decanter in offer to her.

“Sure.”

It was another thing he’d liked about her. She didn’t always drink, but when she did she could hold her own with him. And she didn’t mind occasionally really letting go. Their drunk sex after the day at the vineyard had been epic.

Only he couldn’t think about that now. Any of that. This was business with Sinead, because she’d crossed the line and entered his sister’s home.

Mary was at risk of further pain.

Declan’s function in life was to make sure Mary was not at risk. Something he’d failed spectacularly at recently.

He handed Sinead the drink and thought about how to approach this conversation. With lies? With truth? Then he decided this was not his decision. He was not the one who had been deceived.

She was looking around the room. “Yeah, this is some shack you’re stuck with here.”

He didn’t bother to explain he’d made… improvements to his grandfather’s place. Instead he wanted to get to the point.

“What do you want?” he asked her quietly.