—

“You’re really milking this, aren’t you?” Rory griped, while still smiling at Clare as she lay on his couch next to Ace.

“We’re practically veterans. Have some respect.” Clare tucked the throw blanket under her legs and cocooned herself in its warmth before she resumed petting Ace, who lay spread out beside her with his head in her lap.

“Since when does that mean I have to cater to your every whim?”

“Since the moment you decided to fall in love with me,” she teased in response.

“That wasn’t a choice. My falling in love with you was like accidentally falling off the edge of a cliff; first it was a slipup, then it was terrifying, then I hit the finish line and ended up in Heaven.”

“Did you just compare loving me to dying?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Depends—was it romantic?”

“Not at all.”

“Then I didn’t say that. I compared loving you to skipping through a field of daisies.”

She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. “You’re so going to pay for that.”

“Are you going to punish me? I might like that.” His eyes heated as he stared at her, and she blushed at the implication.

“You’re unbelievable, you know that?” She chuckled, then became quiet for a moment. “I really thought I was going to die, Rory.”

“I’ll never let that happen,” Rory teased her, not picking up on the shift in her attitude.

“No, I’m being serious; I really thought Travis was going to kill me,” she repeated. “I spent years living under his thumb, watching him hurt people, hurting me. Then the last few months hiding, all to culminate in this?”

She motioned to her arm in a sling and to Ace.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it seems anticlimactic; it seems unreal. I was so afraid for so long, and in one day everything is over? He is gone, for good?” Clare said incredulously.

“You were stabbed, Clare. That’s not anticlimactic to me. I don’t think Ace would call it that, either.” Rory tried to reassure her as he leaned down to pet the dog’s head.

“I’m not saying it wasn’t terrible. It was. It was one of the worst days of my life—but now it’s just over. He’s in jail.”

“And you don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

“See? That’s my point.” She bit her lip, contemplating how she was feeling, “What do I do with all that space now? All that space in my heart and my mind that used to be filled with fear? What now?”

“I don’t know exactly, mhuirnín,” Rory replied. Leaving Ace, he sat down on Clare’s other side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “But I think it might be kind of like when I used to be a professional fighter.”

“You still are,” she pointed out.

“Only for charity games and things like that—being a trainer isn’t really the same. But that’s not my point.” His eyebrows knit together as he thought. “My point is that fighting was my whole life. It took up every part of my entire being. When it ended, I felt empty.”

“What did you do?” she asked, leaning her head against his shoulder.

“I started popping pills like they were candy,”

“I hope you’re not suggesting I do that,” she playfully replied.

“Will you just listen to me?” He lifted her chin slightly with two fingers as he grazed his lips over hers. She found herself holding her breath as she leaned in to him farther, wanting him to kiss her. He pulled away and she whimpered in protest.

“I’m not saying to do what I did, because that didn’t work. I thought it did, for a while. I thought the pills and the booze were filling that empty space, but they weren’t.”

“So what did?”

“You did, Clare. When I met you, that’s when I realized how empty I was. You made me want to be a better person, not just so that I could be worthy of someone like you, but also for myself. You made me look at my life differently, appreciate what I have, and see that happiness can be found in something as simple as someone’s smile.”

“Rory”—she kissed him softly—“that was beautiful.”

“I am known to be romantic every once in a while.” He kissed her back and slid a few strands of hair behind one ear.

Chapter 24

“What if he’s going to tell us that Travis is getting out? Or already got out?” Clare chewed nervously on her lip, glancing over at Rory as they held hands on their short journey over to Jimmy’s precinct. Ace stayed beside Clare, pressing close to her side.

“Clare, I’ve been telling you for two months now: That asshole is not seeing freedom anytime soon,” Rory assured her. “There’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“I know, but I just keep expecting everything to suddenly fall apart. Like it can’t possibly be this good, this real. Like you and I can’t also be real. What sense does it make that someone like me, with all I’ve done, ends up with Rory Kavanagh?”

“If it makes you feel any better, I can get my name changed?”

“I’m serious, Rory.”

“I know you are, mhuirnín, but that’s exactly why I refuse to go down that line of thinking. I’m not too good for you; if anything, it’s the opposite. You’ve made mistakes, but that’s all it was. Mistakes. In the past. The last two months—actually, it’s almost been four months I’ve known you—I’ve seen a woman who wakes up every day with the goal of being the best she can be. That’s all you can do.”

“You sound like a life coach,” she mocked him, as they arrived at the station and he held open the front door for her and Ace. She could have opened the door herself now that her arm was back to normal, albeit sporting a not-so-pretty scar down the side, but she appreciated his chivalry nonetheless.

“Rory, over here!” Jimmy waved them over as soon as they entered. The main room of the precinct was filled with officers at rusty old desks.

“Hey, bro,” Rory said, shaking Jimmy’s hand as they reached his desk.

“Hi, Jimmy,” Clare greeted him.

“Good news, guys,” Jimmy told them. “It’s over: Creighton is being sentenced tomorrow.”

“Already? I thought we were going to trial.” Clare looked surprised as she sat down across from Jimmy. Ace sat next to her, dropping his chin onto her knees. She absentmindedly stroked his head as she spoke. His bandages were gone, only a scar and some missing fur remaining to show his heroic history.

“Nope, he took a guilty plea.”

“What does that mean? When do you think he will be back out?”

“With the assault charge, the outstanding warrants from California, and the amount of drugs found on him? Creighton will be locked up for a long time. You don’t need to worry about him anymore,” Jimmy assured her.

“He deserves a fucking life sentence,” Rory griped from the seat next to her, draping an arm over the back of her chair and protectively holding her.

“If I could, I would,” Jimmy told his brother.

“So I don’t have to testify in court?” she asked him.

“No, not with a plea deal. It could result in a slightly shorter sentence, but it will save all of us a lot of time in the long run,” Jimmy explained. “Plus, it’s important that you be able to start your life and move on from all of this.”

“Wow.” Clare was stunned. She couldn’t even begin to wrap her mind around what this meant. That a portion of her life, the worst parts of it, were officially gone and done.

She was completely free.

“And as you already know, the contract that he made you sign is null and void,” Jimmy assured her.

“Thank goodness.” She nodded, relieved.

“You’ll be twenty-five in a few months. What do you plan on doing with the money?” Rory asked, curiously.

“Damn, Rory, are you a gold digger now?” Jimmy chimed in, teasing his brother, who just rolled his eyes, ignoring him.