Declan: Steamy Friends to Lovers Romance (Lucky Irish Book 4)

by Anna Castor

  “What are you doing in here?” the woman said as she held still outside her bedroom where Declan and Cait were playing a tug of war with her photo frame.

  “I’m so sorry, Ma’am. We’re coming right out,” Declan said.

  “Are you related to Rob Walker?” Caitlin asked. She looked from the woman to the picture and back again.

  The woman pulled her eyebrows down and held her child close on her hip.

  “Eh…” She searched for Declan’s guidance as she must have found Caitlin acting as weird as he did.

  “That’s my uncle,” said the little girl.

  “What? He is,” the girl said when she met her mother’s scowl. She wormed her way down from her mother’s hip and walked over to Declan and Caitlin. Her mother followed her and held a protective hand on her shoulder. Liv pointed at a middle-aged man, next to a blonde woman and surrounded by younger men and women.

  “That’s Rob with my auntie Brenda. Rob’s my grandfather’s brother.”

  The photo frame shook in Cait’s hand and Declan quickly took it from her, afraid she would drop it.

  “I can’t believe it…” Caitlin whispered. “I never looked him up. I never wanted to know…”

  “What do you mean?” Liv asked Cait.

  Caitlin blinked a few times and crouched so she was at eye-level with Liv.

  “I think we’re family…”

  “Cait!” Declan took Caitlin by the upper arm and hauled her out of the bedroom. “What in the world has gotten in to you?” he said.

  “He’s my dad, Dec. I’ve got to have that picture!” Cait thrashed as she tried to get out of his iron grasp.

  “Wait!”

  The woman speed walked after them into the living room, with Liv hot on her trail. “I’m Jessie. Let’s talk in the kitchen!” She held a hand to her chest and tried to catch her breath.

  Nobody bothered to look after the still unconscious body on the floor. What a cluster fuck. He was leaving harmed bodies behind and running after his partner, who was amid losing her shit.

  Luckily, their colleagues arrived at the scene. An ambulance followed the squad cars and Declan lead them all into the house. Two I.A. officers took Cait and Dec separately to the side to question them about what happened.

  Two female officers took care of Liv and Jessie. Declan overheard Jessie say she’d been grateful for Caitlin taking the man down like she did. Her husband had been abusive ever since he started drinking a few months ago. The man accused Jessie of taking Liv with her to see her family with the intent of never coming back.

  Declan looked over to the internal affairs officer who lead Cait back into his car. He sighed and figured today had been the last day of his partnership with Cait.

  A small hand on his bicep took him by surprise. “I’m so sorry, officer—about your partner. I wanted to thank you both. She did the right thing, but now she’s going to be in trouble for saving us.”

  “It’s our job, Ma’am. I’m glad we could be there for you and your daughter.”

  “Please, call me Jessie.”

  “Do you have any kids?” Jessie asked.

  For the first time that morning, he took a deep breath, and it was like a weight lifted off his chest. He smiled.

  “My girl is having our twins next year.”

  Her eyes rounded, and she returned his smile.

  “That’s so special. Congratulations.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Here, I have more copies of my own.” Jessie handed Declan the picture of Rob Walker.

  “Is this Rob’s family?” Declan asked as he took the picture.

  “We’ve always wondered about him, you know? My uncle left Brenda for a few years at a time, but he always came back. It was back and forth like that, until at some point, about twenty years ago, he stayed…. Now they’re stronger than ever. It was right after the twins were born.” Jessie pointed at two girls who were the spitting image of his Bree.

  Bree’s half sisters seemed to be around twenty years old. His eyes traveled the picture, and he counted three guys and two girls—the twins. My God, what had Rob Walker been up to all these years?

  “Are you sure I can take this?” he held up the picture.

  “It’s okay. It’s the least I can do for your partner. If she’s really family—I want to stay in touch with her. She saved our lives today. No matter what people say…”

  “Thank you. I’m leaving you my card. I know you’ve discussed with my fellow officers to call them if you need any help in filing charges against your husband. But you can call me night or day with questions about how to go from here, okay?”

  Jessie’s eyes teared up again, and she nodded.

  “And I don’t think its entirely following protocol for me to give you my card, but I’m involved on a personal level. My girl… she’s my partner’s sister. I’m meeting their family tonight for Christmas Eve.”

  “Your girl? That would make her also my cousin.”

  Declan nodded.

  “How many siblings does she have?” Jessie asked before someone called her name. It seemed like her family had arrived to take over from here.

  “My girl has four sisters.”

  “Oh, when my cousins find out, they—”

  “Please,” Declan urged. “Let’s give it a moment before we go spread the word, okay? I don’t know how everyone is going to take this. Let’s meet up after the dust is settled. Also, with you and…”

  He let his words trail. Not wanting to mention her husband. But he wouldn’t let these strangers anywhere near his Bree anytime soon. Not now she was carrying their babies.

  Jessie seemed nice enough. But he’d know from experience with other cases, one could never know. Jessie could take her husband back, and he wouldn’t let Bree anywhere near that fucker.

  “Okay,” Jessie said, letting out a frustrated breath.

  “But I felt that my other cousins need to know about this too,” she added and gave a quick nod in the picture's direction.

  “You’re right, but please let them have Christmas before we drop this bomb on their doorstep.”

  Jessie nodded and took out her phone. She dialed Dec’s number.

  “Now you have my number too. Call me if you’d like to set something up. I’ll be concentrating on Liv and whatever is going to happen to her father. But maybe in a few months, we could arrange something?”

  “Let’s stay in touch. Okay? I wish you all the best.” He nodded at her watery smile and turned around.

  How was Bree going to handle this news about her father? Stress isn’t good for the babies. Shit. He needed to talk to Bree before Cait would.

  Bree opened the door to a deliciously fresh smelling Declan, leaning into her doorway. Dressed in his signature dark blue jeans, black button-down shirt, he’d topped it off with his leather jacket.

  “Hey.”

  He smiled and said, “Hey, Love.”

  The flutters in her belly took over the minute he’d texted he would pick her up early today. He had dodged all her questions. His only reply was that he needed to talk to Bree before they would spend Christmas Eve with her family tonight.

  Throughout the day, she’d convinced herself he must have picked Christmas Eve to tell her he loved her. And this time, he would tell her he loved her in the same way she loved him.

  She’d spent the past two hours in and out of the bathroom. She’d re-dressed several times until Gwenn finally picked out this sexy, mini wrap dress with fluted sleeves. Bree had left it hanging in her closet because of its color: bright red. But Gwenn insisted it didn’t matter Bree would clash with her mother's ruby interior.

  Declan tugged at a curl from Bree and gave her lips a sweet kiss. After backing her up against the nearest wall, he closed the door behind him and took her cheeks in between the palm of his hands.

  “You. Are. Absolutely. Stunning,” he said in between their kisses that heated more and more with every nibble or stroke of tongue. He leaned down and ki
ssed her throat. A soft moan escaped her lips when he gently nudged his knee in between her legs.

  Bree’s ringtone from somewhere on the couch brought her out of her lust-induced daze.

  “I’m so glad you could make it early today,” she said.

  Her phone rang again and Declan stepped aside to let her retrieve her ringing phone.

  “I have to tell you about something that happened this morning,” he said before she could answer her phone.

  She looked at her screen. Cait was calling her.

  “Did something happen to my sister?” She instantly turned to Declan to gauge his expression.

  Declan swallowed. “Not in that way, Love. Your sister is fine. I just checked on her. Well, she’s fine physically…”

  “Tell me what happened? Is it something you can share? Or are there others involved?”

  Bree knew some things that happened on the job couldn’t be discussed at home. It had been this way with Cait, and with her sisters Kera and Gwenn during their deployment. Bree was getting more or less used to it.

  “You better sit down for this,” he said.

  “You’re scaring me, Dec.” Bree sat down and placed her palms on her thighs. She fidgeted with the hem of her dress. It all seemed so silly getting worked up about which dress to wear…

  “Your sister and I had a call about a situation this morning. It was a very intense situation where Cait had to intervene and make a quick judgment call. She saved the lives of two people today. But she also did it in a way I.A. most likely will not approve of.”

  “Is Internal Affairs starting an investigation?” Bree rubbed mindlessly on her wrist.

  “Yes. I’ve checked on Cait before I came here and she told me she’s suspended while waiting on the outcome of the investigation.”

  Bree gasped. “Oh, no… her work is her life, Dec. You know this better than anyone! They can’t do this to her! Can’t you do something about it?”

  “I’m sorry, but they have already decided. And you know I can’t elaborate too much, but I think it’s even for the better. I told your sister she should seek counseling.”

  “I’m calling Cait.” Bree stood from the couch and walked circles in her pocket-sized apartment with her phone against her ear.

  “Hey, sis,” Cait’s voice sounded gloomy, and she slurred her last word.

  “What in the world is going on?” Bree said.

  “Hasn’t Dec told you already?”

  “No? He said something had happened, but he couldn’t tell me anything.”

  Cait let out a humorless laugh. “Ah, so Dec’s being Dec. Tell him he doesn’t need to protect his crazy ex-partner anymore. I’m done.”

  “Have you been drinking already? It’s three in the afternoon!”

  Cait hiccupped and said, “It doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve tried to shoot a bastard down when he threatened to kill his own daughter. I’ll never forget the look in the little girl’s eyes, Bree. Those eyes will haunt me for the rest of my life…”

  “I’m coming over,” Bree said.

  “No need, Bree. Kera is here, and she’s driving us to Mom’s house, so I’m going to take a nap now. Sleep the alcohol out of my system…”

  Bree looked over at Declan while shaking her head. She mouthed, “What the fuck?”

  She almost missed her sister mutter under her breath, “And I need another drink tonight when I tell you all about our brothers and sisters.”

  “What did you just say?” Bree held still mid circle and eyed Declan, who’d been following her one-sided conversation like a hawk.

  “Ask Declan. He’s even got pictures! Even made me a copy. I’m taking my nap now. See you tonight.”

  Bree stared at her phone in disbelief. What was that all about?

  “She told you about Rob?”

  Bree nodded while still looking at her screen. “She said something about brothers and sisters….”

  Declan walked over to her and held out a picture.

  “You have got to be kidding me!”

  Bree took the picture from Declan and her eyes scanned the smiling faces staring back at her. She plopped down on her couch and Declan took a seat next to her.

  She took a sharp intake of breath as she almost recognized herself in the picture. Two young women looked identical if it hadn’t been for their different hair colors.

  One had Bree’s almost black hair color on top with some kind of pink, purple hue on the bottom of her hair. The other twin, because there was no mistaking the fact they were, had chestnut hair with blonde highlights.

  “They look just like me….”

  “I know, Love. It’s the eyes, the chin… I mean sure, they’re paler, but look at their brothers…, they all have the same hair color as you.”

  “I’ve always felt so different from my sisters. Fianna and Kera with the gorgeous red hair—”

  “Your hair is gorgeous too,” Dec interrupted. Bree smiled and bumped her shoulder to his arm.

  “And then you have my mother with her blonde hair, and Gwenn and Caitlin who both have more of a brown hue.”

  She brought the picture closer to her face and said, “This one guy looks just like me. He’s also got my olive skin tone.”

  “He seems to be the middle brother.”

  Declan chuckled and pointed at one guy. “This dude here is one scary motherfucker…”

  Bree laughed. “Stop it, or I’m telling my brother on you.” She bit her bottom lip. “I can’t believe it. I never knew… I’ve got three brothers and two extra sisters, Dec.”

  “Half-brothers and half-sisters,” he said.

  She waved her hand in the air. “Pssht, semantics. They’re blood. True, they’re officially half-blood. But blood all the same.”

  Declan kissed the top of her hair. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up just yet, Love. There’s a good chance Rob’s other family won’t be so welcoming. I can’t imagine what his wife Brenda will say about all this.”

  “Brenda? That’s her name?”

  Bree found her in the picture. She was no mistakenly Rob’s wife. They looked at each other with so much love in their eyes.

  Bree swallowed back her tears. She hurt for her mother. Joan had been heartbroken by this man who’d left them all behind.

  Joan had to pick up the pieces and take care of five girls on her own. Bree’s father never kept in touch with his own children. Instead, he got himself a whole new family.

  “What kind of man does this?” Bree whispered as she glanced at her father.

  Rob Walker had dark-rimmed glasses, almost black hair, and a proud stance. She remembered him vaguely, as she’d been only eight by the time he’d left them permanently.

  “A stupid arsehole,” Declan said.

  This time they both refrained from joking. Because Declan was right. Her father is a stupid asshole. He could never undo the hurt he’d caused her family. She wasn’t sure if she would be up for meeting him now.

  During her fight with her mother, Bree blurted she’d wanted to see her father. But now she’d held the picture of his other family in hand. Doubts were kicking in. What kind of man was her father? Had he been keeping two families at the same time?

  That scary dude in the picture seemed the oldest out of his brothers and sisters, and maybe even older than Caitlin. Bree’s oldest sister’s birthday is coming up. On the last day of the year Cait would turn thirty-six.

  She narrowed her eyes and scrutinized the oldest brother. He had a bit of crowfeet next to his eyes. But he also had a certain darkness to him that Bree only had seen with Ronan whenever he was fighting in a cage during one of his MMA matches.

  Yes, that’s it. He had a smoldering rage inside of him. His raven beard and half long inky hair made him stand out in a crowd, she was sure.

  “How did you even get this picture?” Bree said.

  “Let’s say, there was a situation at someone’s house and your sister stumbled upon this picture.”

  “Oh… tha
t’s the reason she flipped her shit,” Bree said.

  “I don’t think it is, Love. She’d already flipped out. But seeing this picture was the final straw. If I’m honest, she scared the shit out of me, Bree. She needs help.”

  “You scare me, Dec. It’s not like you to say stuff like that. Not about my sister.”

  “There’s something I haven’t told you yet.”

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Because of their privacy, I first felt like I couldn’t share any of this with you. But I’ve thought about it, and since Cait already told you fragments about what happened…” Declan took a deep breath and stared into Bree’s eyes.

  “The little girl that Cait talked about—her mom turned out to be your cousin.”

  “Oh, no! Are they okay?” Bree asked.

  Declan nodded. “I know that Jessie, she’s your cousin, wants to keep in touch. She gave me her number so we could set up a meet. She’s grateful Cait saved her little girl’s life, and she wants to help Cait by sharing information about your dad, I guess.”

  “What did she look like?”

  Declan reached out to cup Bree’s cheek and she leaned into his touch.

  “She has a girl about Tommy’s age, her name is Liv. And Jessie and Liv have both long, blonde hair. But Liv’s hair is almost as white as Kayla’s hair. They both have been through a lot.”

  He pulled her in for a hug and said, “I know. I’m sorry. I needed to tell you before she sprang this on all of you tonight.”

  She sagged against his chest. “Oh.”

  “I love Cait like she’s my big sister, you know that, Love. But I won’t let anyone hurt you. She may not care about anything anymore. She’s about to lose her job, hell, her purpose in life, even. But I can’t let her spring something this important on you.”

  “Thank you.”

  How could she be so stupid? She had been changing clothes like she was about to walk the runway tonight. She’d shaved her legs and everything else… All because she was sure he would finally tell her he loved her.

  “Shall we go?” Bree said, suddenly done with it all.

  “Aren’t we early then?”

  Bree grinned. “You really don’t care much about my mom, eh?”