“You’ve made me cry. Should I steal your dog too?”
“You can have Charlie.”
She snorted.
My scowl darkened as guilt hit me. “Not intentionally.”
“Not intentionally?”
“I didn’tintendon making you cry.”
She shrugged.
“You almost quit because of her,” I pointed out, still uncomfortable with her remark.
“I was a stupid girl,” she retorted.
“Not stupid,” I snapped.
“Stupid,” she snapped back. “I’d been coddled. Being an O’Donnelly had gone to my head, but in a classroom, my surname meant nothing.”
I pshawed, “Of course it meant something.”
“It didn’t.”
“It did.”
“Not where grades are concerned,” she spat. Then, her eyes turned to slits. “You didn’t mess with my grades, Eoghan. So help me God, if you did, I’ll—”
“I had no need to tamper with your grades.”
She pursed her lips. “You tried to?”
“Yes, until I saw you were getting As on your own.”
“What would you have done if I wasn’t?”
“Convinced your teachers you were.”
“You’re unbelievable,” she breathed. “You know I wanted to do this on my own.”
“And I let you. For the most part. You’re mine, Inessa. I wasn’t about to throw you into that shark pool and watch you get eaten alive.”
She studied me. “You promise you didn’t mess with my grades?”
“You already asked me that.”
“And I’m asking again. I just need to know, Eoghan. I-I can take it if you did.”
More guilt hit me because I’d never intended on making her question herself or her work.
Straightening, I stepped over to her and pressed my hands gently to her shoulders as I stared into her eyes. “I did not alter, in any way, shape, or form, your grades.
“I didn’t hurt your professors to encourage them to be nice to you.
“I didn’t do anything, especially over the last three years, that would make you question whether you earned that diploma. I promise, Inessa.”
A shaky sigh rattled from her. “Okay,” she said slowly. “Okay.”