Page 18 of Destructive Truths

Lorcan’s lids pinch tight, and his lips clamp shut. With a drawn-out inhale, his nostrils flare as he slowly opens his eyes and peers at me over his brow. “That wasn’t Liam. It was Rohan.”

My feet carry me forward, concern rushing past my lips. “Oh my God. Is he okay? What happened? Where is he?”

Lorcan rolls his shoulders, and the material of his T-shirt stretches across his broad chest when he straightens his spine. “Rohan is a big boy, doll. Beibhinn and Liam are with him. He’s fine.”

Relief deflates my lungs. “Thank God he’s okay. I’ll call Beibhinn when I get back to my room.”

“Don’t!” Lorcan rises from his perch and steps forward, closing the space between us.

“Why not? I need to make sure he’s okay.” There is no way I’m getting into everything Rohan and I shared back at the manor—for obvious reasons—but Lorcan knows that Rohan and I have been spending time together, so it’s not a stretch for me to be concerned about him and his well-being.

His eyes dim with something I can’t quite place, but when his lips tilt down, I recognise the disappointment. Not in me, but for me.

Anticipation titillates every nerve in my body, but I force myself to school my features, face void of any emotion. “What did he ask you to tell me?” Lorcan’s gaze drifts towards his feet before travelling upward and capturing my gaze. “What did he say, Lorcan?”

“‘Every angel wants to redeem a demon, but some demons don’t want to change. Bhí tú mo botún is mó.’”

Typical Rohan, cryptic as ever, using a near-forgotten language to punctuate his point. “What does that phrase even mean?”

Lorcan’s throat bobs as he swallows the taste on his tongue. “It means ‘you were my greatest mistake.’”

If heartbreak had a sound, it would be silence so fucking loud it consumes every inch of a person’s soul until all they feel is the overwhelming sense of numbness strangling the breath from their lungs. My eyes prick with tears, a ferocious sting that burns the hair in my nose.

I say nothing as I turn and walk away.

“Saoirse, wait.”

My teeth sink into my lower lip, and my defence mechanism kicks in. I glare over my shoulder. “It’s too late to play the concerned father, Lorcan.”

ELEVEN

LIAM

My knuckles tighten, turning white as my grip fastens around the steering wheel. “Super Villain” by Stileto & Silent Child blasts through the speakers, dulling the roar of Beibhinn’s Defender and easing the uncertainty licking my skin.

I have lost my fucking mind, no doubt about it. There is no other logical reason I’d be driving sixty down a back road—with my sister in tow—on my way to a private lake nestled in the crevice of the Dublin/Wicklow mountains.

And at Rohan King’s request, nonetheless.

Anxiety coils in my gut, begging me to heed the warning brewing in the pit of my stomach. I ignore it, planting my foot against the peddle and increasing speed.

“Liam! Slow down before you kill us both.” Beibhinn’s hand tightens on the oh-Jesus handle above the passenger door. Her eyes widen as I navigate every bend. “I know you and Lorcan have your differences, but fucking hell, brother, I’d like to arrive alive.”

Briefly flicking my gaze her way, I raise my left brow and ease my foot off the throttle. “Relax. I could drive on these roads blindfolded.”

“That may be so, but you can’t predict the oncoming traffic, and I’d rather not meet my death by plummeting off the edge of a mountain in a ball of metal,” she squeaks. “What exactly happened between you two all those years ago?”

Lorcan gave me his trust. I betrayed it. My jaw clamps shut; teeth clenched tight. “Nothing.”

“Cut the bullshit.” Bev shifts in her seat. Twisting her slender frame to the side, she glares at me with her icy blues. “Spit it out.”

I’m no stranger to my sister’s persistence. Beibhinn won’t stop until she learns every detail of why Lorcan went from my mentor to a virtual stranger within a too-brief summer. It’s best to give her what she’s fishing for.

“My trips to the lake had conditions, Bev. Everything that happened at the lake was to stay at the lake.”

“Fight club rules. Really?”

“Something like that. Nobody was to know about what we did or who was there. Lorcan expressed the importance many times, but that last summer, things between Saoirse and I changed. Selfishly, I didn’t want to wait another year before I saw her again, so I told Dad about the girl at the lake. Little did I know she was a Ryan heir. After that, my relationship with Lorcan changed.”

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