Page 88 of The Irish Redemption

Cormac lifts his head and his gaze meets Rocky’s. There’s a moment where they appear to share a silent conversation that ends in a nod of understanding. Then Rocky takes his leave.

As soon as the door closes, Cormac’s head falls into my lap. I abandon my drink and thread my fingers into his hair, stroking soothingly. Despite his silence, Cormac begins to shake and he cries silently. I comfort him the best I can.

I imagine it would be easier to know Brenden died for a reason. A real reason. Instead, it was just cruelty, the act of a delusional madman driven by possessive jealousy.

I comfort Cormac the best I can, and my heart breaks each time I hear the smallest sniffle or wounded noise of pain. He will have to break this news to his siblings and his mother. Closing my eyes, I tighten my grip in his hair. It’s not going to be easy.

“I’m sorry,” Cormac says after a long while. “I pulled you into this world and you have gone through hell because of me.” He looks up at me with red-rimmed eyes. “I hope you can forgive me.”

“Oh, Cormac.” I cup his face and stroke his cheeks with my thumbs. “You saved me. And I don’t mean with just the tank. If you hadn’t come into my life, I’d be dead by now. I found that body on my own, and the moment the cops questioned me, I was on Noah’s radar. If you hadn’t taken me that day, then I surely would have died at the hands of his assassin. You saved me, okay? You did.”

He surges upward, and our mouths clash in a hot, messy kiss while I slide my hands around his shoulders.

“I promised you that you wouldn’t get hurt again and I failed.”

“Well,” I say against his lips, “you still came for me. You found me and you rescued me, so maybe I can overlook that just this once. Justy’know…” I pull back and gaze deep into his eyes. “Don’t let it happen again, yeah?”

He laughs softly, kisses me again, and then moves up onto the bed next to me. As he draws me into his arms, I pull the blankets with me and tuck us in as best I can.

“No one will hurt you ever again,” he murmurs with his lips against my hairline. “I swear it.”

“Just uhm… keep me away from water for a little while.” Never again do I want to be anywhere near water of that level.

Fuck swimming.

Cormac wraps around me and grasps my chin lightly, then tips my head up so our eyes meet. “Never again,” he swears. “Did you mean it, what you said?”

“What did I say?” I ask softly, lightly stroking his arm. I ache to comfort him more than this, but if holding me and talking to me is working for him, then I’m here for it. Just being in his arms is chasing away the bone-creaking cold in my soul. I never want to leave.

“When you woke up, you said you loved me.”

“Oh.” Heat flushes across my cheeks, and I can’t stop the small smile that creeps across my lips. “Yeah. I meant it. I love you in this kind of obsessive, really overwhelming way, and I was scared I’d never get to tell you. Convinced, actually. And part of me thought you were a dream so I just… yeah. I said it. And I mean it. I love you.”

My pulse quickens suddenly as I’m faced with the prospect that he doesn’t feel the same, and a sharp shiver lances down my spine. I shudder in his arms, and Cormac leans so close that the tips of our noses touch.

“Good,” Cormac murmurs. “Because I love you too.”

36

CORMAC

Breaking the news of why Brenden died was the hardest conversation I’ve ever had to have with my family. Saoirse and Ma were understandably heartbroken, but Cian’s reaction cut the deepest. He was quiet, asking me why over and over as I hugged him until his bones creaked. Senseless killing hurts a thousand times worse than when there’s a reason to cling to. The cops finally released his body, and we chose to cremate him since Ma still desired to have him rest in Ireland.

At least with a reason, there’s something to focus on and hate. Other than Noah himself, who died far too quickly for my liking, there’s nothing to shift that blame onto and so the grief sits like a rock inside me with nowhere to go.

Unless I’m with Evie. Other than the meeting with my family, I refuse to leave her side. The image of her pale and lifeless in my arms after dragging her from that flooded tank will haunt me until the end of my days, and it lingers in my thoughts even now as she flashes me a bright smile and answers her phone, resting her head down in my lap.

“Hello? Oh, Detective Cogs!” Her eyes widen and she gazes up at me while I twirl some of her hair around my fingers.

Since returning to my penthouse, Evelyn has been recovering well these past few weeks and her warmth is the only thing helping me find light at the end of a dark tunnel. A call from the cops, however, is never a good sign.

She subtly puts the call on speaker and Sarah’s voice crackles though. “I was concerned when you vanished from the hospital. Is everything alright in that regard?”

“Yes,” Evie replies. “I was desperate to get home and back to something normal. I’m sick of hospitals now.”

“Understandable,” Sarah replies. “I’m incredibly relieved that you were found safe and alive. It was a scary few days.”

Evie looks up at me. “Yes,” she says. “It really was.”

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