Page 51 of Temptation at His Door

Dear God. Ronan wanted to bang his forehead on the desk at their stubbornness. Just find a room and get it done, was what he wanted to tell them but couldn’t.

He’d told his brothers to stay out of his sex life, and what was good for the goose and all that.

Ronan pushed to his feet. “What do you need, Finn?”

“Not me,” Finn said, looking miserable. “It’s Carrick. He’s holed up in his office, not taking calls or meetings.”

“Is he sick?” Ronan asked, immediately concerned.

Finn shook his head and ran his hand through his shaggy hair. “I told him something yesterday, something about Sadie, and he’s, well, pissed. Not at me, I don’t think, but at the situation. I think he ended things with her.”

Aw, crap. Carrick and Sadie were perfect for each other, any fool could see it. And if Carrick couldn’t, then Ronan was the one to set him straight.

Ronan walked toward his younger brother and as he passed him, briefly placed a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “I’ll talk to him and see what’s up. Hopefully, I’ll be able to sort him out.”

Though, like him, Carrick was stubborn. It might not be so easy.

Being stubborn was something all three Murphy brothers excelled at.

Ronan rapped on the closed door to Carrick’s office but didn’t bother to wait for an invitation to enter. Carrick, his forearms on his thighs, looked like shit. Judging by his bloodshot eyes and pale face, it was obvious he had a hangover from hell. But underneath, Ronan saw heartbreak, an emotion that had been his own faithful companion these past few years.

Carrick sat up and glared at him. “What’s up?” he asked his brother, his tone curt.

“Marsha’s canceled your meetings and is holding your calls. She’s worried because the last time you cut yourself off so completely, Tanna had her accident.”

Carrick frowned at him. “And you didn’t think that maybe I needed some time alone?”

His brothers hadn’t left him alone when Thandi died, no matter how much he begged them. In hindsight they’d been right—he’d needed them to be his buoy in a very wild sea. Well, it was time to repay Carrick. He’d never be able to fully reimburse him for all the long nights his older brother spent with him after Thandi died, but he could try.

“Want to tell me what’s the problem?”

“No.”

Ronan winced at Carrick’s one-word answer.

“I want to be alone,” Carrick stated, looking pointedly at the door.

“But what you want and what you need are two totally separate things.” As he knew.

“I know what I need, Ronan.”

“No, Carrick, youthinkyou know. You think you want to be alone, to protect yourself from hurt, from having another woman leaving you. I hate to tell you this, but you can’t control anyone’s actions. People leave, people die and people mess up.”

Jesus, where did that come from? And was he talking about Carrick, or himself? No, he had to be talking about Carrick because if he wasn’t...

No, he wasn’t ready to go there. He wasn’t ready to let Thandi go.

She left you three years ago... She died, remember?

Shut up, inner voice.

Carrick tipped his head to the side and rolled his finger, gesturing for Ronan to keep speaking. Which, come to think about it, was strange. Like them all, Carrick didn’t open up easily, and while they all argued about business all the time, they didn’t talk much about their personal lives.

“You and Sadie called it, didn’t you? Or, to be more precise, you did.” He wanted to tell Carrick that he was a complete moron for letting Sadie slip away but he knew that Carrick would either kick him out or punch him and Carrick would stew in his stubbornness.

Carrick needed Sadie, dammit. He deserved a second chance at marriage, to be happy.

Didn’t they all?

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