Iris
The clock said it was just past midnight.The lights in the room were low, but not completely off. Ronan was beside me, my hand cupped in his. His phone was on his chest, but his attention was on me.
“Hi,” I croaked. “I’m a little thirsty.”
“Meala.” He helped me sit up, propped against a stack of fluffy pillows so I could drink from the bottle of water he held to my lips. “Better?”
“Yeah.” I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, distinctly aware of each of my wounds. “Have you checked on Finn?”
“Matt is staying with him tonight. They’re both asleep now.”
I sucked in a breath. “I’ll never get the image of the knife stuck in his stomach out of my mind. He could have died for me.”
He nodded. “He could have, and he absolutely would have, but he didn’t. He’s safe, you’re safe. Nothing else will happen. I vow it.”
Ronan wasn’t touching me, and I didn’t like it. We weren’t right with each other yet, but how could he sit beside me and not touch me? I couldn’t do it. I took his hand in mine and held it in my lap. His fingers clasped mine firmly, and he leaned over to touch his lips to my temple. I turned my head before he could pull away, catching his mouth with mine.
It was a fast kiss. Barely more than a peck. But when he let me go, he didn’t move away, and that felt so much better.
“Where’s Olivia?” My chin quivered saying her name.
His sigh cast warmth across my lips. “She’s in custody. I don’t know what will happen, but she won’t be free anytime soon.”
“She’s sick.” I wouldn’t soon forget the black holes behind her eyes.
“She is. She’s been unwell for some time, but her mother covered for her so she could keep milking Olivia like a cash cow. When I was her bodyguard, she became obsessive and delusional to the point she became dangerous. I quit, but she followed me, called me incessantly, stood outside my building screaming and crying. I finally filed a restraining order, and her mother promised she was checked in at a treatment facility, but it was a lie. Olivia didn’t want to go, so her mother covered for her.”
Ronan pinned me with a pleading look. “I was under the impression she was locked away, getting the help she so desperately needed, but she wasn’t. The detective told me she’s been following us both around this whole time. Calling paparazzi on you, leaving notes on your door, spying through your windows. Obsessing over my relationship with you. If I’d known…”
Olivia Grayson scared me. I hoped I never crossed her path again. But I couldn’t help feeling sorry for her. No one cared about her beyond the money she could make for them, and that was the true tragedy.
“How could you have known? None of this is your fault. I don’t blame you.”
He bowed his head, his shame at failing me so tangible it was like a third person in the room. Nothing he could say would convince me to be angry that Olivia attacked me. She was a sick girl and her mother had covered it up. If blame should have been placed, it was on her. Not Ronan. Never Ronan.
“Iris.” He reached for me, cradling my face in his warm hand. “I’m sorry. I squeezed too tight, and I didn’t ease up when you told me to. I broke my promise to you, and that is the last thing I ever wanted to do. I love you, and I will go to the ends of the earth for you. I should let you walk away, but I won’t. Not unless you ask me, and even then, I don’t think I would be able to.”
My heart flipped in dizzying circles in my chest. Not about him being in love with me, although that was nice and I’d focus on it later, but that he should let me walk away. As if I would.
“No one’s walking away.” I shifted carefully to my knees, the stitches on my stomach pulling slightly, and straddled Ronan’s legs so I could look at his tortured, beautiful face. “We both messed up, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with you. I do. I don’t want to be without you, so don’t even mention letting me go. I’ll punch you.”
“Meala,” he growled fiercely, taking my face in his hands. “You asked me to come with you today.”
“I did. I like you, Ronan. I want to be with you all the time.”
His head cocked. “Only like?”
“I love you. But I like you too.”
He inhaled sharply, his eyes dancing over my face. “So that’s it? You tell me you love me as if it’s no big deal?”
“I’ve never fallen in love before so I thought I would slide it in there.” I drew an X on his chest. “And you buried your ‘I love you’ in a big speech, so you’re just as bad.”
His smile grew wide, and he shook his head. “Fuck, baby girl. I’m not certain either of us is too great at this.”
“I think we’re grand.” Leaning forward, I rested my forehead against his. “You were right about Megan.”
He tipped my head back with his hands in my hair. “Yeah?”