Page 79 of Reclaim (Deadly Hearts 3)

She gives me a scathing glare and then stares back under the bed.

“What is in the small box?”

“Something private,” she spits out. I don’t think she’s angry with me for asking.

“Is it there?”

“No.”

“I’ve got it,” Declan says, coming into the room. "It’s in the boot of the car."

“What?” she snaps, getting hastily to her feet. “Why? Give it back.”

“I will,” he says calmly. “I just wanted you to know I have it.”

“What’s in it?” I ask again, this time more firmly.

“None of your business, or his,” Ruby sneers, pushing past Declan to storm into the bathroom and slam the door behind her.

Glaring inquisitively at the sexy Irishman, he gives me a cheeky smile and steps into my personal space.

“Nothing?” I ask.

“Not yet.” He leans forward and presses his lips to mine, deepening the kiss by twisting his tongue around mine. “We need to talk,” he adds, withdrawing his mouth from mine.

“Sounds ominous.”

“Ruby!” he calls out. “Please come here, we need to talk.”

“What about?” she asks, opening the door and sticking her head around it. “Boundaries?”

“No, about my childhood.”

She blinks and her face goes from annoyed to serious. “You sure?”

He nods. “The other men will leave us alone for a while, so the three of us can talk.”

“Okay,” she says, coming back into the bedroom, the small box forgotten.

“Sit.” He indicates the bed.

We kick off our shoes and crawl onto the king size bed, making ourselves as comfortable as we can under the circumstances. Ruby grips my hand and I squeeze hers in return. I don’t know what he is going to say exactly, but I know it is going to be deep, dark and extremely difficult for him.

When he starts speaking, neither of us make a sound until he is finished telling us the horror he endured at the hands of his abusive father, and the pleasure he took in killing him.

Ruby goes to him first. “I love you,” she whispers. “Thank you for telling us this, for trusting us with this.”

He gives her a sad smile. “It’s only fair. I know everything about you.”

She kisses him while I watch, wondering where I fit into this now. I’m not left to wonder long, when Ruby holds her hand out for me and I join them, stroking Declan’s face.

“You are so brave,” I murmur.

He snickers, the tension easing slightly. “No one has ever called me anything but cold.”

“Oh, you can be icy,” I remark. “But it’s a brave kind of freezing.”

Ruby giggles and takes my hand, kissing it as she links her fingers with Declan’s. “You are both so precious. Light and dark. Sunshine and the shadows. You complement each other and you need each other. Don’t ever lose sight of that.”

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