“All right, time to get ready for bed,” Fiona instructed two hours later, after Shea finished the last of her assignments for school. Shea nodded, climbing the stairs in front of her. They went into Shea’s bedroom, where Fiona opened the dresser and pulled out a pair of pajamas.
“Is Kieran going to read me a story tonight?” Shea asked quietly, climbing into bed but not directly looking at her. Her large earmuffs were wrapped around her neck instead of her head, and she had her e-reader tucked under her arm.
“Not tonight, baby girl.” Fiona sat on the edge of the bed and brushed a few pieces of hair out of Shea’s eyes.
Shea was silent for a moment. “Is he in trouble?”
Fiona swallowed hard, trying not to reveal too much. “He is, but it’s going to be okay.”
“It’s my fault,” Shea said with a sniff, curling deeper into the covers.
Fiona’s brows shot up in surprise. “Of course it’s not, Shea. This has nothing to do with you. Kieran did something he wasn’t supposed to, and he’s, um, in time-out for it.”
Shea’s face scrunched in confusion. “He’s in time-out?”
Fiona nodded. “Um, yeah, kind of. Like an adult time-out.”
“Oh.” Shea pulled the blankets tighter around her and frowned.
Fiona pulled the comforter up to Shea’s chin, then unhooked the earmuffs from her neck and placed them on the nightstand. “Let’s just get some sleep, okay? It’s been a really long day.”
Shea closed her eyes, letting out a long yawn. “Good night, Fi.”
“Love you, Shay-Shay.” Fiona kissed her forehead, then turned off all the lights and left the room.
Casey was standing in the hallway waiting for her as she closed the door to Shea’s room behind her. “Hey, Fiona. Dee just wanted me to see how you were feeling, if you were okay.”
“Oh.” Fiona shrugged and entered her own bedroom. She collapsed on her mattress as Casey sat in a comfy chair by the bed. “I don’t really know how I’m feeling, and Shea’s a mess.”
Casey looked down at her hands, fiddling with her fingers. “I wanted to tell you about his past, and I told him to tell you. We all did. I’m sorry you found out that way.”
“Well, tell me now. What the heck is going on? I’m still completely in the dark, Casey. He wouldn’t even look at me when the officer took him. I have no idea how to contact him, if he’s okay…I’m so worried about him.” Fiona buried her face in her hands, trying her best not to unravel completely.
She had so many questions, and a small part of her didn’t even care about the answers. She just wanted Kieran to be okay…to be free. And that moment—the bitter, shocking, horrible moment when the strongest man she’d ever known had bowed his head and allowed himself to be dragged away…from her—it just broke her heart.
“He’s safe, he’ll be okay. Our brother Jimmy called and explained that Kieran has violated his parole. He’ll go in front of a magistrate tomorrow and find out what’s going to happen. The best-case scenario would be that he’d have to serve thirty days.”
“Thirty days!” Fiona gaped. “That’s longer than we’ve known each other.”
“It’s still the better option; otherwise, they might revoke his parole entirely. That would mean he’d have to finish serving out his original sentence—and do another six months.”
Fiona ran her hands through her hair, trying to picture Kieran in a prison cell. “What was his sentence? What did he do?”
“He was convicted of aggravated assault and given two years upstate,” Casey explained. “I think Kieran should be the one to tell you the exact details, though, because honestly, I don’t have all the information myself.”
Fiona felt like a weight had settled over her; her heart was aching. Aggravated assault. Ironic. She wondered if she had more in common with Kieran than she’d thought. She wasn’t sure she had any right to judge him for whoever he’d hurt, whatever laws he’d broken, when she was just as guilty of her own crime, a lot worse than that. She had been found innocent, but she knew she wasn’t.
She’d taken a life. There was no innocence left in her.
A new thought suddenly occurred to Fiona and she turned to Casey, who had stood and was walking toward the door. “When did he get out of prison?”
Casey paused as she considered it. “I think about three weeks ago, maybe a month.”
Fiona’s face fell as she wondered how much time had actually elapsed between his release and the moment they met. She realized she wasn’t upset he was an ex-con. She knew him well enough not to be afraid of him. She’d seen him around kids, and he was always positive and uplifting. She’d seen him fighting at Legends, and he never played dirty. She’d seen him wrapped around her, buried inside her, and he was passionate and caring. She knew who he was in that aspect, and he wasn’t dangerous.