Saving a Legend(81)

“Fi, thank God.” His deep, gravelly voice echoed through the phone, and her chest tightened at his tone.

“Kieran.” She knew her voice sounded pathetic, the need apparent as all she wanted was for him to be standing in front of her with their arms wrapped around each other.

Clare, Nora, and Casey were staring at her, eagerly listening in on her conversation. Tossing them a pointed look, she pulled the cord and walked around the corner into the hallway, in hopes of being alone for a few moments.

“You finally took my call,” he whispered.

She just bit her lip and put a hand on her chest, trying to keep her heart from bursting through her ribs.

“I’ve missed you so much, Fi. I’ve been going crazy not being able to see and talk to you every day,” he said, an echo of her own thoughts.

“What do you want, Kieran?” she finally asked, a slight sob at the end of her words as tears threatened to break.

“I want to wrap my arms around you and feel your heart beating next to mine, but I’ll settle for a conversation,” he said softly, anguish in his tone.

She closed her eyes to keep from crying. “Kieran, I can’t.”

“Do you miss me, Fi?” He sounded childlike for a moment, pain ripping through his tone.

“I don’t know what I miss, Kieran. I never really knew you, did I?” That was the thing that bothered her the most, her complete inability to recognize that the man in her bed was a stranger.



“You know me better than anyone else, Fi. You know me inside and out; you know my heart. You own my heart. My past, my mistakes—that’s not who I am.”

“I want to believe that, Kieran. I want to believe you, but you’ve lied to me. I don’t know what to do with that. I’ve no clue how to feel right now.” She tried to ignore the throbbing in her chest as she thought of him in a cold, lonely cell. “How many days were you even out of prison before we met?”

“Two.”

His admission hit her hard. She knew it had been close, but two days…actually knowing this was too much. “Why couldn’t you tell me? Why couldn’t you be honest with me? You knew how much trust mattered to me, how much I didn’t want to give my heart over to just anyone.”

Kieran sighed through the receiver, and she wished she could see his face. “I’m not just anyone, Fi. We’re different, we’ve got something people only dream about.”

She couldn’t argue with that. What they’d had before he’d been thrown into the back of a police car had been special. It was fast and over the top, yet perfect for who they were. Or who she’d thought they were. “Then why couldn’t you tell me?” she repeated. “I would have understood, I think. Everyone has past demons, but I have a child in my care. I need to know the type of person I’m letting into her life.”

He exhaled slowly. “I was afraid of what you’d say. I was afraid you’d not want me anymore once you knew.”



Fiona bit her lip. “Did I do something? Did I make you turn back to drugs?”

“What?” He seemed surprised at her question, but it was one of the questions that had been plaguing her for days. “Fiona, how could you even think that? You had nothing to do with this. I didn’t relapse, and I’m not an addict. I did a few recreational drugs back before prison because I was young and stupid and liked to party, but never since. That was a long time ago, Fi.”

She wanted to believe him. So bad. She felt slightly more confident that his family had confirmed this for her already, but the lies still hung over her. She hoped and prayed he was who he said he was. That he wasn’t a drug addict, that he wasn’t a bad influence to bring into her life. Or that she wasn’t a bad influence on him. “Kieran, I want to trust you, but I have to think about Shea—”

“Fi, I adore Shea,” he quickly reiterated, interrupting her. “I’d never hurt her, and you know that. Everything was going so well between us before this. I know I hurt you, and I will do whatever I can to make that up to you, but I don’t want it to ruin what we had. I’m so head over—”

“Don’t say it,” Fiona interrupted him quickly. “The first time you say those words to me, it cannot be when you’re there and I’m here and everything is such a complete mess. We can’t do this, especially over the phone.”

He was silent for a moment, and the phone line crackled between them. “Come visit me, then. We’ll talk about all of it. We’ll make this work, Fi. Please.”

Fiona wondered what it would be like to see him behind bars. The very image tore at her heart, and a sob slipped from her lips. Shea’s face came to mind, and she wondered what example she was supposed to set as a guardian. She’d spent so much time screwing it all up, she wanted to start doing the right thing. For Shea. And for herself.