I shut the door all the way before turning around, then began searching for the only person that could give me the answers that I needed.

‘Everyone knows that you prefer blondes with big tits.’

As soon as I spotted Declan O’Brien speaking with Sean Murphy, I walked up to them, saying, “Sorry for interrupting, but may I please speak with you, Mr. O’Brien?”

Declan’s blue gaze narrowed a bit. “You may call me Declan, lass.”

“I’d rather not,” I replied honestly.

After a brief second, he said, “Fair enough."

“Is everything okay, lass?” Mr. Murphy asked, and I hated how kind he seemed.

I nodded. “I just need to speak with Mr. O’Brien about something.”

“Of course,” he replied. “I’ll just leave you to it.”

As soon as we had some privacy, Declan asked, “What can I help you with, lass?”

“Why did you pick me?” I asked. “Why didn’t you choose someone that would better fit Mr. Murphy’s particular…preferences?”

For a second, it looked like he wasn’t going to answer me, but then he said, “While the debt with your parents has been wiped clean, they’re contracted to pay me twenty-percent of their monthly profits off the top, and if they should ever need financial assistance again, for every thousand that’s loan, they are contracted to transfer me one percent of the business.”

“Until you own it all,” I finished, my chest feeling tight, my world crashing down around me for a second time in one week. Even though Noah had suggested that it’d been a business decision, I’d been under the impression that my sacrifice would put my parents in the clear, but they weren’t.

They’d never be.

I quickly ran the numbers through my head, and the twenty percent that automatically went to Declan each month wasn’t going to leave my parents any wiggle room. When you factored in taxes, building maintenance, insurance, defaulted loans, and their own personal expenses, they were barely going to be able to hold their heads above water, and all it was going to take was one hiccup to make it all come crashing back down.

“Until I own it all,” Declan echoed, denying nothing.

I placed my hand on my chest, willing my lungs to work again. I had just married the enemy, tying myself to a family that wanted to destroy everything that my parents had built. Sure, they were partly responsible, but I’d honestly believed that marriage to Noah was going to fix everything, but that wasn’t the case. Like a poisonous fish camouflaged by the ocean’s floor, the O’Briens were just waiting until their prey got close enough to feast on.

“Shea-”

“Thank you for being honest about what this is,” I rushed out, wanting to get away from him as soon as possible. “I…I understand.”

“I don’t think that you do, lass,” he replied, his voice firm.

Ignoring that, I said, “I…I know that I answer to Mr. Murphy now, but…but I’d like permission to go have dinner with my parents, just us.”

Declan arched a brow, and just like that, he’d gone from being Noah’s cousin to The O’Brien. “Need some time to form a getaway plan, lass?”

I shook my head almost violently. “No,” I answered honestly. “I just really need to remember why I agreed to this, and dinner with my parents will help with that. For one night, I just want to pretend that we’re still a normal family with normal lives.”

After a few intense seconds, he finally said, “If Noah doesn’t have a problem with it, then neither do I.”

My shoulders sagged with his answer. “Yes, of course.”

When Declan left to go speak with Noah, I stayed where I was. While I wanted to scream, I didn’t. While I wanted to take my parents and run, I knew that I couldn’t. Declan O’Brien would kill all three of us, and it made no sense to save my parents, then turn around and put their heads back on the chopping block. Plus, I wasn’t even sure if they’d run with me. After all, if they’d been willing to, then we wouldn’t be here to begin with.

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been standing lost in my own thoughts, but when I felt a hand on my arm, I jumped, turning to see my dad’s face. “We heard that you wanted to take us to dinner.”

I almost started crying.

Instead, I said, “You heard right. I think…I think dinner with just us would be nice.”

His entire face softened as he said, “Yes, it would, honey.”