When he realized Evie had disappeared, he went in search of her, finding her outside on the patio, staring up at the inky black sky. Without a word, he wrapped his arms around her from behind. She stiffened for a moment before realizing who it was and relaxing back against him.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he whispered against her ear.
“It’s okay. I guess some things will still make me a little jumpy for a while. Party winding down?”
“Yeah, Aidan just left with someone. Finn and Cait went home about an hour after James and Maura left. And Brogan is currently trying to drink Rory McBride under the table.”
“Brogan is totally winning that one.”
“He is. Ready to go?”
“Yeah. Let’s go home.”
She stepped out of his embrace and slid her hand through his arm, swinging the bouquet at her side. She’d never know how much it meant to hear her call Glenmore House home.
ChapterThirty-Eight
The buzzing of his phone on the nightstand roused Declan, and he moved quickly to silence it. What in the hell did Sean want at this hour? Christ, didn’t the man ever take a day off?
Leaving it on the table, he rolled over and watched Evie sleep, flat on her stomach as she often did when he didn’t have his arms around her. His eyes drifted down to the cuts on her side, and he frowned. Every time he saw them, he wanted to resurrect Peter and kill the bastard again.
Evie stirred when his phone buzzed a second time, and he groaned. No rest for the wicked. He rolled out of bed and sent Sean a quick text, only to realize he was waiting for him downstairs. He needed coffee before he sat through whatever disapproving speech his uncle surely had planned.
“What’s wrong?” Evie murmured when he slid out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweats.
“Nothing,” he whispered, leaning over to press a kiss to her shoulder. “Go back to sleep.”
Closing the door gently behind him, he slipped a shirt on over his head as he made his way down the stairs in search of coffee and his uncle. In that order. He found both in the kitchen.
“You’re up early,” Declan said, accepting a cup of coffee from Marta and taking a deep drink. “I’m starting to think you work more than me. What do you need?” Declan asked once they were in his office.
“I just wanted to check in and make sure you weren’t planning on doing anything stupid.”
Declan raised a brow and set his mug carefully on the desk. He gave his uncle a lot of leeway considering their relationship, but even he had his limits.
“Explain.”
The cool, clipped tone of his voice had Sean sitting back in his chair. “I meant to say I heard some gossip at the wedding last night and I wanted to see if it was true or not. Right from the source.”
“You should know better by now than to trust syndicate gossip.”
“So you aren’t planning on proposing to Evie?”
“And if I was?”
“Well, we all know how that turned out the first time.”
Declan drummed his fingers on the desktop. “What’s your point?”
“My point is I know you were sweet on her when you were kids, but your father had his reservations, and frankly, so did I. And since he’s not here now to tell you it’s a big mistake, I’ll have to say it for him.”
“Oh, please. Go on.”
Sean shifted in his seat. “She isn’t good for this family, and she isn’t good for you. She’s a distraction. Just look at how you’ve been acting the last few months. Cutting back on your work, spending more time at the house, fumbling the DiMarco thing.”
“Be very careful here, Sean.”
“You need a woman who knows where she fits in the family. Like your mother did. Evie is not that woman, and she’ll run this family off the rails if you let her.”
