Page 105 of Severed Rivalry
Something deep in me settles, like sand falling through the cracks to reinforce the rock. I don’t know.
But this is right.
We texted or talked from the time I dropped her off until she passed out long before I got home.
Rosie is stable. I can only guess that two emergency room visits in less than a month is killer on the body, the ego, and the finances. I’m missing something when it comes to her.
I don’t know which tactic to use to get the info we need. Idon’t want to overstep Sariah’s relationship with her. But to protect my girls, nothing is off limits.
Renée will skip school tomorrow. Another one of those twice-in-one-month things that can’t become a regular occurrence. She liked the motorcycle more than she hated it. Though her mother seemed to feel the opposite. It was a means to an end to get her daughter to safety, so she allowed it, but Liam having a road buddy is a nonstarter.
It’s a good thing, too. He’s not much for that. He likes the open road. It’s therapeutic. The solitary nature, not being contained, the freedom. A teenager at his back or at his flank would not be okay. Maybe later, but that later is a long while off and a very questionablemaybe, even if said teenager will be his niece. He headed to his house when I arrived home.
The woman at my side rolls her hips against me and makes a face as she sleeps.
All thoughts of my brother vanish.
Tonight was mind-blowing.
Mind. Fucking. Blowing.
It’s no exaggeration to say it was the best I ever had. This room still smells like sex and?—
I cut off those thoughts or I’ll be rubbing one out in the dark like a teenager. Not that I haven’t thought and fantasized about the woman next to me. Not that I haven’t come picturing her face since seeing her again at my brother-in-law’s wine bar.
But now that I’ve had her again, and I know the feel of her body…
And… I have a semi.Down boy.
I pull Sariah closer into my body, splaying a palm on her naked ass and cupping her cheek. I get the impression she doesn’t normally sleep naked, but she was so out of it I couldn’t get her redressed.
Her thigh reaches over my hip and her ankle drops inside my knee. Her heat is against me and my semi is semi-ing.
I thought that adulthood would bring less spontaneous wood. But I hadn’t counted on Sariah.
I fall asleep, a small smile playing on my lips. Thank fuck for surprise blessings.
It’s the whimper that wakes me. And not one I’m used to. Eleanor is communicating something, and I learned early on not to ignore her.
I slide out from under Sariah, hearing her mumble something unintelligible, and pull the covers up over her naked body. Grabbing a pair of sweats and a tee, I follow Eleanor as she moves with purpose to the back door.
I grab the baseball bat from the hall closet but set it back down when I see why my dog was so discombobulated. On my back terrace is none other than my father, sitting as if he’s inconvenienced by waiting on me.
I grab a fleece, flip on the lights, and let myself out. Eleanor comes with me. Two birds, one stone, I guess. Maybe I can sleep in… if I can get back to sleep after this visit.
“Dad.” He’s not that. Not anymore, but I’ve always called him that andSeamuswould get things off on the wrong foot for sure.
“Cian.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk. You haven’t taken my calls.”
I lift my brows. Calls don’t show when you block somebody. They go straight into the pit of digital purgatory, I guess. I don’t know. I also don’t care. So there’s nothing to say to that.
“I’m talking to you.” His face reddens as unchecked anger washes through him. “There’s business we need to discuss.”
Thank fuck I had Sariah’s sweet pussy twice last night. It’s the only reason I’m so mellow. “We’re no longer in business together. I’m no longer a part of Murphy Enterprises.”
