Page 56 of Twisted Secrets
No, he wouldn’t. She was sure of it—as sure as she could be of anything. He didn’t see her as a political piece to be moved around for his benefit—an asset to be leveraged. He saw her as a woman. It was a sad state of events that that was so novel, but there it was.
Or maybe she was wrong. Maybe she was so wrapped up in thinking the best of him that she was blinding herself to what was really going on.
But she didn’t think so.
She drained the tub and wrapped Hadleyin one of the fluffy towels that hung next to the tub. “Your mama is a hot mess right now, baby girl.”
“Mama!”
It was quick work to put Hadley into a diaper and her sleeper pajamas. Bedtime was still a bit away, but right now comfort was the name of the game. Olivia changed into a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. “Let’s see if this place has a TV, huh?” She propped her daughter on her hip and made her way back downstairs.
Chapter Seventeen
The house was seriously surreal. It had all the modern amenities—especially in the kitchen—but the wooden floors and railing leading downstairs looked downright ancient. Olivia fully intended to explore tomorrow when things were a little more settled, because unless she missed her guess, this place had at least ten bedrooms and another half a dozen rooms. It looked like something out of a time warp.
She found Cillian sitting on a screened-in porch, his feet propped up. Her conviction from earlier that he was at home here was only cemented at the sight of him in a T-shirt and jeans. It was like he’d removed a few pieces of key armor and let her in, just a little. The way his face changed when she walked into the room made her heart skip a beat. He smiled, a wry grin that told her he knew how strange this situation was but he didn’t really care because he washere with her.
Or maybe she was just projecting.
Olivia moved through the doorway. No, she wasn’t projecting. She had to stop doubting her instincts, especially when every part of her was clamoring that Cillian was here for her and her alone. His family couldn’t be happy about this, but he’d shown up anyway.
Forher.
He stood. “Hey.”
“Hey.” God, he looked good. Before, she’d wanted nothing more than for him to pin her against the nearest available surface—and, to be fair, she still wanted that—but there was a new layer there. Now she wanted to just walk into his arms and have him hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay. If he did, she might actually believe him.
You’re staring at him.
He didn’t seem to mind, though. He turned his attention to Hadley and smiled. “Hey there, cutie.”
Hadley gripped Olivia’s tank top, but she peered out at him while ducking her head. Cillian didn’t seem bothered by it. He reclaimed the seat he’d been in and picked up a plate from the table next to it. “If your mama says it’s okay, I have a chocolate chip cookie with your name on it.”
Instantly, all shyness disappeared. She shot a pleading look at Olivia, who laughed. “Yes, but remember your manners.”
She set Hadley on the tile floor and watched as she toddled over to him. He solemnly offered her daughter a cookie and it was taken just as solemnly. Then she rushed back to hide behind Olivia’s legs. She laughed. “Sorry, she can’t quite say ‘thank you’ yet.”
“It’s good.” With one last grin at Hadley, he sat back. “I have a cookie withyour name on it, too.”
“I just bet you do.” She took the seat next to him. This room was really nice. Better than nice. She’d lived in a city for her entire life, and the sheer amount of unrelenting darkness outside the screen should have been completely overwhelming. But it was so…full oflife.
There was a pair of some kind of bird singing back and forth not too far away, and a buzz of some kind of insect in the background. It was peaceful. She checked to make sure Hadley wasn’t getting into anything, but her daughter seemed content to peer out the screen at the country beyond, munching on the remains of her cookie. She’d been on her best behavior today, but it wouldn’t last. Olivia just needed to keep an eye on her so when the indications of a full-on meltdown showed up, she could take Hadley upstairs. Cillian was being a borderline saint, but that didn’t mean she’d be awful enough to subject him to her daughter’s tantrums. If they were any indication of what kind of emotional roller coaster that the teen years were going to be, she was in for a world of trouble.
“What’s got that look on your face?”
She twined a lock of her hair around a finger. “Just thinking that Hadley’s going to drive me to drink when she hits thirteen.”
“That little angel? No way.” He held up the plate again. “Now eat your cookie.”
“Yes way.” She laughed and accepted the cookie. “Trust me, she might be all sugar and sweetness right now, but she’s capable of shattering glass with her shrieks when she doesn’t get her way.”
“My baby sister used to do that.” He stretched in his seat, drawing her eye to the long line of his body. There was so much strength there—strength to lifther against an alley wall and drive her out of her mind, strength to keep going after he’d seen unfathomable loss, strength to stand between her and Dmitri and all of his men. She got the feeling from some of his throwaway comments that he didn’t see it, but it’d never been more clear to her than it was right now. Cillian was a good man. The best kind of man.
He kept going. “Truth be told, I’m surprised she got through her teen years without my mom sending her off to a convent. I think the subject was actually on the table for a while.”
The obvious love he held for his little sister made her smile even as her heart ached a little. “Your family is very Catholic, aren’t they?”
“The most Catholic. My oldest sister actually put off the whole marriage conversation for years because she pretended that she was seriously considering becoming a nun. I think my father was so supportive because he figured that a nun in the family might somehow balance out our karma.”
