~Declan~
"One second, she was crying over a commercial she'd seen, and the next, she was shoving me down onto the couch, begging me to take her. It's weird, man," Logan said as we continued to unload boxes from the moving truck into the house.
This was our house —the house I owned with Leah, the house we now shared with my son. Well, we would share it once all the court documents were filed. It was a surreal day.
"So, this is what I have to look forward to someday?" I asked with a grin.
"I think you have a few more steps to go through, dude, before you knock Leah up...unless you're planning on going the celebrity route and doing everything ass-backwards."
We set the boxes down in the formal living room, a room I didn't quite understand. Why did a house need two living rooms? It seemed redundant.
"No, I definitely plan on putting a ring on that woman before long. That way, she can't run," I said jokingly.
"Yeah? Good for you, man. Does Connor know?"
I nodded, remembering the conversation we'd had a week or so ago. Leah had been out, grabbing take-out, and I'd sat down with Connor to have a man-to-man chat. He had been excited as he'd asked how I was going to do it.
"You can't just ask her. You have to make it romantic, Dad."
I'd laughed and assured him I would do just that. It still tore me up every time he called me Dad.
"He's really happy," I said to Logan as we headed back outside to grab another box for the hundredth time. How much damn shit did we have? "But you can't tell Clare. Leah would know in five seconds flat. You know those two don't keep any secrets."
"What are you two talking about out here?" Clare asked, poking her head out the door.
"You weren't lifting anything, right? I told you to just put away small things, like kitchen things and clothes," Logan scolded, immediately taking residence next to his wife.
She was barely three months pregnant, but Logan was treating her like she was about to give birth any day. We'd all given him shit because he was so cautious and careful with her. As a doctor, he knew better, but apparently, that need to protect overrode all of his medical training. I knew it was a bit of a miracle that they'd conceived in the first place. They hadn't been planning on it, especially with Logan just recently going into remission. But here they were, expecting a child. I'd never seen my friend so frazzled and happy all at the same time. It was a look I hoped I'd have the pleasure of having someday.
"I was just saying how you and my lovely girlfriend can't keep secrets from each other," I said to Clare.
"Oh," she said with a giggle, "that's very true. Very true indeed."
"I don't even want to know what that smile means," I said.
She just laughed and headed back inside. I searched around the moving truck, grabbed another box, and took it inside, heading towards the kitchen. I found Clare sitting on the countertop with Logan standing between her legs. His arms were wrapped around her waist, and he was pulling her body closer as he kissed her.
"Dude! Could you at least let me be the one to deflower my kitchen?" I found a magnet on the counter and threw it at his head.
He ducked and laughed, chucking a kitchen towel in my direction. Just as I was looking around the kitchen for something else I could launch at my horny friend, my phone vibrated in my back pocket.
Leah had been sending me funny texts all day, so I was curious to see what shenanigans she was up to this time. She had sent me pics of flowery bedspreads and another one of herself looking miserable as she and Connor entered yet another store. I'd also received a text saying that she was seriously considering painting his room pink as retribution. She'd thought she was getting off easy by taking Connor shopping for bedding and not having to unpack. Little had she known that it would turn out to be an all day affair. I felt bad for her, but then not so much while I stretched my aching back as I remembered when she'd told me we didn't need a mover.
With a goofy grin on my face, I pulled out my cell and saw that I did have a new message from Leah, but this one wasn't funny or snarky. This one stopped my blood cold and left me frozen in my tracks.
Dad, need U. At mall. Man with gun.
"Declan, you look like you just saw a ghost," Clare said.
Someone tugged at my arm, pulling the phone out of my hand, which snapped me back into reality.
Leah and Connor needed me. I didn't understand what was happening, but I needed to get to them —now.
I heard Logan and Clare's reaction to the text message a second later, and I didn't even need to voice my request as Logan grabbed his keys and headed to the door with me. He turned briefly and gave Clare a quick but passionate kiss that seemed to say everything all at once.
"Tell Maddie I'll be home soon," he said.
And we were gone.
I barely remember the car ride. Thank God Logan drove because I didn't know how the f*ck I would have gotten there otherwise. Logically, I knew the mall was only five minutes away, but it felt like an eternity to get there.
"What do you think he meant?" I asked.
"I don't know," Logan stated.
"Do you think there's a shooter?"
"God, I hope not."
We arrived at the mall, and everything seemed normal. People were walking calmly to their cars, and others were walking in. I remembered which store Leah had said they were headed to in her last text, so I directed Logan there first. We leaped from the car and took off toward the entrance.
That was when I saw him —Clayton Morgan, Leah's father.
I'd never felt such instant rage before in my life. Leah and Connor were walking ahead of him in the parking lot, and they looked ashen and scared. Clayton kept close behind, no doubt covering the gun that was pointed into their backs.
The motherf*cker came back. This was my fault. I'd assumed the money would be enough to keep him away. I'd thought he was so far gone into himself that once he got away, he wouldn't be able to find his way back. I'd seriously underestimated him, and now, Leah and Connor were paying the price.
He looked in our direction, and I dodged behind one of the cars. I didn't want to give up my position yet. If I knew the bastard at all, he had to have some alcohol running through that body, so he would be slow, and I'd use that to my advantage.
Crouched next to me, Logan asked, "Is that Leah's father?"
I just nodded.
"We need to take him out before he gets out of this parking lot." I said.
"Agreed."
Moving low, we managed to get behind Clayton. Taking quick steps, we caught up, and in one quick motion, Logan attacked Clayton from the right, and I slammed into Connor and Leah from the left, moving them out of the way.
My eyes briefly met Leah's before I quickly checked both of them for injuries.
"Run," I told them. "Use your phone and call the police. We'll detain him until then."
Leah nodded, looking vulnerable and scared but strong and determined as well. She grabbed Connor, who was clutching my shirt and crying, and then they took off toward the entrance of the mall. She already had her phone out and to her ear by the time she was to the doors.
I turned to see Logan straddling Clayton on the ground. The gun was tossed several feet away, and Leah's father was face down on the pavement with his hands behind his back.
"Sure you don't moonlight as a cop?" I asked Logan.
"I'm not just a pretty face, you know? I got skills."
I gave a ghost of a smile before focusing back on Clayton. My fists clenched, and I fought back the need to attack. I wanted vengeance so bad that I could taste it.
"Get him up," I said to Logan.
Logan lifted off of Clayton and roughly pulled him up from the ground. He wrapped his arm around Clayton's neck in a chokehold to make sure he wouldn't get away. Clayton's vision focused and unfocused for a minute, making his level of intoxication clear, and then his eyes finally settled on me.
"Well, well...if it isn't the movie star. Haven't gotten tired of my daughter yet, huh?"
My fist collided with his face so fast that I barely saw it. I only registered his head snapping back afterward.
"You shut the f*ck up, do you understand? The police are going to be here in less than five minutes. Then, you will finally be arrested and punished for the multitude of sins you've committed over the years, including when you tried to kidnap my son today. You're going away for a long time, Mr. Morgan."
He just sneered at me, giving me that evil smile that said he didn't give a f*ck about what I'd said.
"Do you remember what I told you about how much they love child abusers in prison?"
His eyes went wide just as I heard the sirens pulling into the parking lot. I gave a wave, and the police cars headed in our direction.
Turning my head back to Clayton, I gave a wicked grin and said, "You have fun in prison, you hear?"
His pleas for help and his cries declaring his innocence were the last things I heard as the cops shoved him in the police car before driving away.
~Leah~
I broke down the last box and took a final look around. We'd done it. Every box was unpacked, and everything was put away.
We had a new place to call home.
It had taken a solid week to unpack. Between my work schedule and driving back and forth to Williamsburg to visit Connor, we'd managed to cram the entire week full of activities, leaving little time for thinking.
I thought we were both avoiding the inevitable, but sooner or later, we'd have to talk about it.
Hands slid around my waist as Declan pulled me close.
"Looks good," he said, his mouth hovering over my shoulder.
"It does, doesn't it?"
"I wasn't talking about the room."
He dusted featherlight kisses on my skin that sent shivers down to my toes. He spun me around, and I immediately became lost in his dark gaze. Declan had the ability to say so much with even the slightest expression. Right now, I saw a million emotions churning under the surface of his intense stare.
"I love you, Leah," he said intently before bending down to touch my lips with his. "I love you so much," he murmured.
"I love you, too," I whispered.
He trailed kisses down my neck and shoulder. "The thought of losing you...I was sure I'd go mad from it," he admitted, bending down to bury his head in my shoulder.
I stroked his chestnut hair as he held my waist.
"I'm right here. Connor and I are fine. You saved us."
"I wanted to kill him. It took every ounce of control I had not to rip him apart right in the middle of that parking lot. If he had hurt you again, I don't know that I would have been able to control myself."
"Shhh...he's where he's supposed to be, Declan. He can't hurt any of us anymore."
"I was so stupid, Leah. So stupid. I should have let the police handle it in the beginning. I should have had him arrested the minute I saw the bruises on your face. None of this would have ever happened then."
"Declan," I said, pulling his face up to my eye level, "none of this is your fault. Do you hear me? None of it. You've done nothing but protect Connor and me. We could have never known what my father was capable of. Please don't let guilt take over."
He gave a brief nod, bending down to take my lips again, as if he needed proof that I was still there. I eagerly gave him all the reassurance he needed as I returned his kiss. I slightly moaned as he deepened it, sweeping his tongue against mine, like two bodies making love. He slowly led me across the room until I felt the back of the couch bump against my legs, and I fell backward. He laid me down and settled his weight on top of me, his eyes full of heat and need.
"I'm right here," I reminded him. I placed his hand on my heart, so he could feel it beating inside my chest.
"Show me," he said.
Declan's world had been rocked last week, and I could see in his eyes that he needed this. He needed me to show him we were still us. I was still Leah, and he was still Declan, and nothing could change that.
"Take off your clothes," I instructed.
He stood and shed his clothes, and then he watched as I did the same. I had him sit down and face me. If he needed to see, then I would show him.
I straddled him, placing one leg on each side of his massive thighs, and then I took him inside me. He hissed in pleasure, but his eyes never wavered from mine as I slowly slid myself down his length.
"Do you see me?" I asked.
"I see you," he answered.
I lifted, sliding up, and then I went back down again, slowly riding him. I grabbed the back of the couch for leverage as Declan wrapped his hands around my waist. He buried his head into my breasts, taking one nipple and then the other into his mouth.
"Do you feel me, Declan?"
"Yes...f*ck yes."
I continued my torturous pace, over and over, moving my hips back and forth. As I hit all the right places at once, I threw my head back and screamed my release just as Declan let out a guttural moan of his own.
"I'm yours, remember? I'm yours, and you are mine," I said breathlessly.
"Forever," he agreed.
~Declan~
The vision of Leah and Connor being pushed through that parking lot had startled me, and I awoke on the couch with the afternoon sun streaming through the curtains. I was alone, but I could hear Leah walking around upstairs, no doubt finishing up some odds and ends leftover from moving.
I wiped my brow and leaned back on the pillow, still trying to catch my breath. The image had been haunting me for days, so much so that I'd barely slept. Every morning since then, I'd woken up early to jog, unpack, or run errands. I'd done anything to keep my mind off of what had happened...what I'd almost lost.
Seeing that maniacal gleam in Clayton's eyes as he'd smiled at me before the police had come, I knew he would have done anything to get the money he'd so desperately believed he deserved. Leah and Connor had been nothing more than his ticket to an unlimited supply of booze, and that had been the one thing he needed above all else in life, the one thing he would do anything for.
That scared me beyond belief.
The police had tried to convince me that Clayton's threats were most likely those of a drunk man, and therefore, they were idle, but I had known better. Clayton had been desperate, having gone through half a million dollars in the blink of an eye. He'd needed more...and he hadn't planned on taking no for an answer.
We'd been assured that Clayton would be put away for a long time, but there was still a court hearing and a trial to go through —the very things I'd tried to avoid in the beginning with my ill-fated plan.
I'd thought I could fix everything with my money.
And it'd almost cost me everything.
Leah and Connor had recovered well, considering what they'd experienced. Leah had spent a lifetime with her father, and for her, seeing Clayton behind bars had been worth the fear. The only thing she'd had problems overcoming was that Connor was involved. After everything Connor had already been through in his short life, she hated that he'd had to go through something else horrific. But I'd assured her that he was fine. He'd told me shortly afterward that he'd known Leah would protect him and take care of him, no matter what. He saw her for more than she gave herself credit for.
I jumped to my feet, raking my hands through my hair. I looked around the house that was now void of the boxes that had invaded every square inch only days earlier. Now, it looked more like a home —our home.
I'd had a plan —buy the house, get settled, figure everything out with Connor. Once our lives had slowed down, I would propose, and then we could begin our lives together, finally.
But the only thoughts racing through my mind when I had seen her in that parking lot was the fact that I'd never asked her to marry me, I'd never told her that I wanted her to be my wife, that I wanted to love her for eternity.
In my old life, I'd lived from one day to another, never taking life too seriously. Since meeting Leah, I'd done nothing but plan —when I would first tell her I loved her, when I wanted to leave L.A. for her, and then when I wanted to marry her. I'd done nothing but plan.
It turned out the old Declan might have had the right idea.
Sometimes, you just had to f*ck the plans and live. Otherwise, life would pass you by, and all you'd be left with was a bunch of useless, unexecuted plans.
It was time I started living.
"Hey, Leah...I have to run out for a bit. I'll be back."
I heard a mumbled, "Okay," as I hurried out the door.
If I wanted to get everything done, I needed to hurry.