Page 77 of The Bossy One

The knowledge that this thing between us was only temporary hung unspoken between us. There wasn’t much potential for long term. Not unless Olivia uprooted her whole life. I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it.

“You said light and fun,” she reminded me, searching my face. “Unless you changed your mind?”

I felt like I was standing on a cliff, with the ocean crashing on dangerous rocks far below. If I saidyes, and she wanted the same thing…

But what if myyesscared her off before I’d had time to line up business opportunities for her and convince her to stay? No, that couldn’t happen. Sure, maybe I was acting out of fear…but Olivia was far too precious for me to risk it all in a roll of a dice. You didn’t get to build a tech empire by being reckless, and the stakes here felt even more important than anything I’d ever faced in a boardroom… I needed to be smart.

I needed to buy some time.

“I promised you light and easy,” I repeated. “Just like you wanted.” I forced a smile and let my hands drop from her shoulders.

This time she was the one to take a step closer to me. “Why doyouwant to tell her?”

“Other than the desire to avoid hiding under a bed in my own home?” I grumbled. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “I suppose I’m worried about the secrecy. What if it comes out by accident, and she’s hurt or confused that we kept it from her?”

I couldn’t help but think about the looming secret I was keeping from Olivia. The secret I still didn’t know how to tell her about.

Olivia studied me. There was something going on behind her eyes that I couldn’t read. Slowly she said, “I think it’s okay to keep a secret until the other person is ready to hear it. Would you agree?”

“I would,” I said. “But I think that logic is easier to swallow whenyou’rethe one keeping the secret.”

Olivia looked away, returning to the pan in the sink. “We’ll tell her if she asks,” she promised.

I hoped she’d feel the same way when I told her the truth about who she’d been confessing her anonymous online secrets to. I turned and walked away, my heart heavy.

24

DECLAN

The next day I was at my desk looking over my itinerary for my trip to Prague when my phone started buzzing. I answered it without looking at the number. “Declan Byrne speaking.”

“Declan. Hi,” Sinead said. “Do you have time to talk?”

I straightened. “Is everything all right?”

“I’m grand,” Sinead reassured me. Then she half-laughed at herself. “Well, I’m an alcoholic in rehab. But, you know, aside from that.” She blew out a breath. “My therapist thinks I should tell you about, um, my rock bottom. You know why I finally admitted I had a problem.”

I’d wanted the same thing, but now she sounded so uncomfortable, I felt myself getting defensive on my little sister’s behalf. “Screw your therapist. You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said, sounding a little more sure of herself.

Silence grew on the line between us.

“I’m taking Catie and Olivia on my business trip to Prague,” I said, just to have something to say. “Catie asked to go, and I couldn’t say no.”

“You never could,” Sinead said, sounding sad and fond at the same time. “You’re a good sort, Declan. I probably don’t say it enough.”

“Mum thinks I’m controlling. She said I get huffy.”

Sinead laughed. “Well, that’s true too.”

I grinned. This time the silence between us was comfortable.

“I think I want to tell you,” Sinead said at last. “About my ‘rock bottom.’” I could practically hear the air quotes.

I blinked, surprised. “Okay.” I rose and closed my office door, so neither Catie nor Olivia could overhear my half of the conversation. Then I stood in the middle of the room, bracing for the worst.

“I didn’t drink when I was bartending. At least not more than a pint or two,” she explained. “But sometimes I’d stick around after I clocked out, to chat with my friends, and have fun for a while. My friend normally babysat Catie when I had late shifts—Catie would sleep over at her place and come back in the morning, and it didn’t make any difference if I came home a little later. So I’d stay for an hour or so and pretend… well, pretend my life wasn’t a mess. Anyway.” She took a breath.

---