Page 93 of Destined Lovers

“When I explained who you were, they realized you were Declan Buckley, rugby star, and they told me if I contacted you, I would be putting your life at risk. They said If I were ever to be seen with you, it would be even worse. I would put a target on your back.”

“I don’t understand…”

“The Deputy Marshall said since you were in the public eye, the mob would connect us and would find me through you, using blackmail, or worse, murder. So you see…” I cry, “I had no choice but to keep you safe. I had to do this.”

“Nora, I would have quit. I would have left rugby and stayed with you. I would have gone into hiding with you. You must have known that.”

I shake my head. “I would never in a million years have asked you to do that, Declan. You worked hard to get where you were, and we were so young. I knew that I would come to find you once the case was over. I thought maybe a year or two max, not ten or eleven. It was never supposed to be this long, but Conor Byrne was released and went into hiding himself. Miraculously, the police who arrested him disappeared, and the paperwork vanished. So, they had nothing to hold him on for that particular case. At the time, they didn’t have enough to arrest him for hiring the hit on my parents. Once they did, he was gone. At this point, it was known there was a witness to my parents’ murder,me. So, I had to stay in witness protection until they found him, or I could have taken back my testimony. As much as I wanted this to be over, I couldn’t do that to my parents, and I’d already waited so long that I had to see it through. And luckily, I did. They found Conor. The court date is set in six months time.”

“Fecking hell, this is a lot. But six months? You’ll be free in six months?”

“Yes,” I breathe. “Six months, and finally, I’ll have my life back.”

“Explain to me how you got to Ireland if the case is in the States.”

“I was young and didn’t ask many questions because I was scared and lonely. I also wasn’t taking my parent’s death well, as you can imagine. When they tried to move me to a different state in America, I started to freak out, likereallyfreak out. The next day, the Deputy said they could move people to a country in the Anglosphere in certain cases. They spoke to Witness Security in Ireland and agreed to let me come back. After they thought it through, they agreed it was a better idea anyway. I would fit in more since my accent stuck out like a sore thumb in America, and the Mob would probably never think I was back in Ireland. It’s actually why I’m here in Birmingham.”

Declan scrunches his brows.

“You lost me. What does Birmingham have to do with it?”

“When I was moved back to Ireland, I was transferred to the Witness Security Program, run by SDU, Special Detective Unit of Garda. They moved me into Agnes’s house…”

Declan whips his head up. “We’ll talk about her later, by the way.”

“Why, what’s wrong? Has something happened to Agnes?” I rush out. I would kill myself if something happened while I was gone. She must know I only left because I thought I had to.

“Nothing yet. Just keep going with your story.”

“Declan,” I whine, “Please tell me.”

He shakes his head, “Continue, Nora.”

“Fine,” I huff. “When I got to Agnes’s, they put a special alarm in the house directly linked to the Garda Emergency Response Unit, and I was assigned one guard. Bennett Monroe.”

“Bennett… why does that name sound familiar?”

“Do you remember we ran into that local pub guy Killian on New Year’s Eve? He mentioned Bennett. He asked if Bennett knew where I was. Killian doesn’t know who I am, but I think he put two and two together, that I’m not really who I say I am.”

He nods his head as if he remembers.

“So Bennett has been your guard this whole time? And Agnes, she knew about this all?”

“Yes, although Bennett doesn’t know I told her. I just… I lived with her, and she became much more than my landlord. It felt wrong to keep it from her. Except, I put her life at risk because of it. It was selfish. So now Birmingham. We were not supposed to run into each other again. I just needed a sliver of normalcy, a tiny bit of happiness in my life…”

Declan is leaning back on the couch. I’m still on his lap, but he puts space between us so he can type on his phone.

“What are you doing right now?”

“Keep talking, Nora. I’m listening.” He says, not lifting his head from the phone.

“Um. Okay… so when you proposed that road trip, I couldn’t say no. I let myself have that week with you. Sadly,the second you asked questions, I knew it was my time to leave until this case was over. When you pushed that night, I called Bennett, and he said we needed to leave immediately. I had already put both our lives at risk being out with you. If anyone recognized me, it would have been game over. So I had to change my name again, hence Fiona, and move. Bennett thought Birmingham was far from you but close enough that you wouldn’t think to look. And with millions of people here, and even more in London, what would be the chances we would see each other again?”

“I would say pretty fecking good,” he deadpans, still on his phone.

“Declan,” I snap, annoyed. “What the hell are you doing on your phone?”

“Getting things set up.”

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