Declan furrowed his brows. “What brought out this sudden change in you? Normally you’re the one defending her.”
“Didn’t your brother tell you what he found when he searched for her?”
Declan grimaced. “I didn’t even know he’d continued looking for her, to be honest. He called me and said I should go check up on you. He wouldn’t tell me why. You know how he is—he said it wasn’t his story to tell.”
Keenan let out a mirthless chuckle. “Yeah, well. I’ll tell you all about it. First, I have something to show you. I’ll be right back.”
He stood from his barstool and went back to Ryleigh’s room to grab the manila folder from her bed. The familiar Ryleigh scent welcomed him when he reached in to grab the folder. Instead of the papers, he picked up Ryleigh’s pillow and brought it to his nose.
Even though she slept every night in his bed for the past weeks, her scent still lingered on her pillow. He closed his eyes and took such a deep breath, his nostrils flared and his chest expanded. After taking a few minutes to get his fix, he let her pillow down on the bed.
Right. Time to tell the horrible truth.
When he reentered the kitchen, Declan and Deirdre were talking about Declan’s twins. Keenan didn’t follow the conversation, too lost in his head.
When Deirdre waved a hand in front of him, he snapped out of it.
“Right. So, I’ll come right out and say it. Evangeline left us for a guy named Derek. And according to this copy of a police file, he’s a well known criminal.”
Deirdre gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. When her hand went to her breastbone, Keenan noticed Deirdre’s inability to form words by her mouth opening and closing.
“Fuck…”
“Yeah, Dec. Exactly.”
“How? Why…?”
Keenan scratched at the label from his beer bottle. He said, “Do you remember Derek Isaacson?”
“No way. Wasn’t he that guy who tried to get Ro to sell steroids among the fighters?”
Of course Declan reminded his twin’s so-called friend.
“Yes. He moved to New York and apparently, Evangeline and him had been seeing each other and she left us to follow her drug dealer.”
Deirdre’s hands flew to her mouth. “She… she was doing drugs?”
Keenan couldn’t believe he’d never suspected a thing. Sure, she had been acting weird and jumpy in the last months before she’d left. In hindsight, he’d figured it was because she wasn’t sure about leaving them. But with this recent information, he wondered if she’d acted that way because she was looking for her next fix.
“It gets worse, guys. She’s still doing drugs, and I believe Derek is pimping her out.”
At a loss for words, Deirdre stood from her barstool and walked over to the fridge to grab three more beers. She slammed the door shut with more force Keenan was used from her.
“I can’t believe it. She was always so… reserved? So calm and… I don’t know? Poised?”
He could see why his sister would describe Evangeline like that. His ex had been all of that. The woman he’d loved wasn’t this person who lived in New York.
His headache made him close his eyes for a moment. Shit. After all she’d put them through, he thought about how her life was far from easy. Living with that dirt bag, turning tricks… he wouldn’t wish that on anybody. Especially not the mother of his child.
Declan reached for the folder for a better look at the pictures Keenan had pulled out.
“Poor, Tommy….” Deirdre sobbed and Declan pulled her in for a side hug as he put his arm around her shoulders.
“How can she do this to Blondie? What did that sweet guy ever do to deserve this? What are you telling him if he asks about her?” Deirdre asked.
“It’s been killing me. I just don’t understand…” Keenan was at a lost for words. Everything he thought to be true for the past three years had been wrong. Declan squeezed Keenan’s shoulder and said, “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I guess at some point, I’ll have to talk to her.”