Page 18 of Sins and Salvation

"Is it?" I touch my heated cheeks. "I'm just warm."

"Are you two fighting?"

"No." Not in the way he thinks.

"Then why do you look mad?"

I sigh, kneeling to his level. "Grown-up stuff, honey. Nothing for you to worry about."

"Is he going to help us go home?"

The innocent question cuts deep. "I hope so."

"I miss my room."

"I know." I pull him into a hug, breathing in his little-boy scent of berry-shampoo and innocence. "We'll go home soon."

But even as I say the words, I know our life will never be the same. Declan is back, and with him comes a storm I know will destroy everything I've built.

Later, after Conor is asleep, I sit in the darkened living room. Declan is still awake, I can hear the shower running.

I touch my lips, still swollen from his kisses. The taste of him lingers, a reminder of the madness that overtook us in the kitchen.

It meant nothing, I tell myself.A moment of weakness, it is just fear and adrenaline. Nothing more.

The shower stops. Footsteps move across the floor above. I wait, part of me hoping he'll come downstairs, another part praying he stays away.

The footsteps fade. A door closes.

Relief and disappointment war within me.

I curl up on the couch, pulling a blanket over me. Sleep eludes me as I stare into the darkness, my mind racing with impossible choices.

Trust Declan? The man who left me broken. Tell Conor the truth? Shatter his innocent world.

Run? Stay? Fight?

CHAPTER7

DECLAN

Istare at the ceiling of the safe house bedroom, sleep a distant dream. The taste of Maeve still lingers on my lips. The ghost of her touch haunts my skin. Seven years apart and her effect on me has not changed—electric, all-consuming.

My phone buzzes on the nightstand. Cormac.

"Any problems out there?" he asks when I answer.

"Nothing. The house is secure." I keep my voice low, aware of how sound travels in this place.

"Good. My men tracked the Russians operation to a warehouse in the docks. We're going to pay them an unexpected visit tomorrow."

"I want to be there."

"You need to protect your boy."

My boy. A son I never knew. And the woman I never stopped loving.

"Keep me in the loop," I tell him, ending the call.

---