Page 60 of Monsters in the Dark

“How does your shoulder feel?” I asked.

“It’ll be fine with a few aspirin,” she replied like we were discussing baking recipes.

Deciding to try a different approach, I said, “Tell me about O’Connell.”

She tensed a little in my arms, but then asked, “What do you want to know?”

“Was he as smart as people said he was?”

“Smarter,” she answered. “He was so brilliant that he didn’t know how to exist around normal people. His brain couldn’t understand why other people weren’t as intuitive as he was.”

“How did you end up with him?”

“What? You don’t know?” she huffed.

“I know how you ended up with him, I just don’t know why,” I amended.

She let out a tired sigh before saying, “He believed that God had sent me to him because of where the accident had taken place and the fact that I had survived when I shouldn’t have. If you’ve seen the photos of the accident, it would shock anyone that I had survived.”

“The Bronntanas Dé Corporation was named after you, wasn’t it?”

Keavy nodded. “Everything that Cian did was for me,” she replied. “Whatever made him believe that I was special, he believed it until his dying day.”

“You never resented him for taking you from your family?” I asked, my fingertips running across her stomach.

“No,” she answered honestly. “I know that most people would be curious, or that they would have sought their family out as soon as they’d been old enough, but…” She let out another sigh. “I didn’t know those people. Cian was all that I knew, and he treated me like I was the most important thing in his life, which I supposed that I was.”

“They looked for you,” I informed her.

“I know they did,” she replied, surprising me. “Cian always showed me every article and every mention of me and my family in the news. He hadn’t lied about what he’d done, and…” She let out a low chuckle. “He used to hate it when I called him Papa. He hadn’t wanted any lies between us, and so he’d been honest about every little thing, even making it clear that he wasn’t my father. Still, the joke was on him. While he might not have been my father, he’d been my entire world.”

“Would you ever consider reaching out to your family?” I asked, wondering how her curiosity didn’t get the better of her.

“I’m not sure,” she answered. “Right now, my life is quiet and uncomplicated, and that’s how I like it.”

I nearly choked on my surprise. “You consider murdering four people in one week quiet and uncomplicated? Not to mention how we’re going to be questioned about Cooper Donaldson soon.”

“In both instances, I was defending myself, Declan,” she replied. “There’s nothing complicated about that. Reaching out to my family will bring questions, awkwardness, and a whole host of emotions that I’m not sure if I’m capable of dealing with. While I might not be as brilliant as Cian had been, I’d been raised by the man, and I’m not like other people. My family is probably normal, and I think it might be best if I let them continue to be normal without my interference.”

We sat in silence for a couple of relaxing minutes before I said, “I can’t have you going after Klive, baby. If you want to be involved, I’m okay with that, but involved means staying inside the cabin while me and my guys search the woods.”

“That’s not going to work for me, Declan.”

“Lass, I’m not asking.”

“I can take care of myself,” she retorted.

“And when you have to, I’ll be fine with that,” I replied. “However, in this instance, you don’t have to. You’ve got me to get bloody for you, Keavy.”

“I don’t have a problem getting bloody.”

“Don’t remind me,” I replied dryly.

After a few seconds, she said, “Cian taught me how to succeed when there’s no help available. I’m more independent than you can probably handle, Declan.”

“I can handle anything that you throw my way, lass,” I assured her. “I mean, I better be able to since I have every intention of marrying you, no matter how much you object.”

“I feel like I’m back in your basement.”

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