Page 39 of Irish Betrayal

Blair: I don’t know how to make this better.

Daniel: Talk to me.

Blair: I’m not ready.

Daniel: When?

March

Daniel: Are you okay?

Daniel: Can I see you when you get home?

Daniel: When will you be home?

Daniel: Blair…

Daniel: You told me you loved me. Were you lying?

“What the fuck was that?” his dad asked, storming into Daniel’s office and slamming the door behind him.

If Daniel’s office team hadn’t known he’d pissed Bran O‘Faolain off, they did now. It didn’t matter to his father that Daniel was taking care of business. Apparently, his “attitude needed adjusted.”

“Jesus, Dad,” Daniel complained. “I don’t have time for this.”

The door opened again and in walked his uncles, Patrick and Ulf, and oh shit, Jonathan and Dagr. My, my, my. Looked like he was getting ready to be on the receiving end of an ass chewing.

Ulf didn’t even work in their family business. He was independently wealthy, and he only spent his time, money, and energy on conservation. His dad had been slowly asking him to meetings, though, probably hoping to entice the oldest brother to join the wolf club, so to speak.

Jonathan and Dagr at least looked sheepish, shrugging and taking up positions holding up the back wall of his office.

His dad jumped right into it. “I’m going out of town with Patrick this weekend. Ulf was too busy,” his dad flashed an irritated look the man’s way. “You’ve been fucked up since Blair dumped you after you two spent the night together. What the hell is going on.”

Daniel still got a little zip of surprise when his dad spoke of his brothers, as in more than one brother. He, Patrick, and Ulf had gone from two to three with barely a hiccup, as if the O’Faolain brothers hadn’t just found out about their long-lost brother a year ago.

Though to be fair, Daniel and Jonathan had welcomed Dagr with as much ease and enthusiasm.

Looking at the sea of similar white-haired men all in various poses of aggression staring at him across his desk was a bit much, however.

Daniel stood up, the backs of his knees shoving his chair back. He’d be damned if he let his family lord themselves above his head.

“I’m figuring it out,” Daniel finally growled.

“You bought the house that you meant for you and Blair, but she left, and according to our wives and Row,” Patrick nodded to his brothers for confirmation and at their nods continued, “Blair has asked Gray, Mags, and Bébhinn not to visit. They say Blair tries to act like everything is fine, but it isn’t.”

Daniel glanced at Jonathan. He nodded, agreeing with the assessment.

“Oklahoma was a good deal for Blair, but my offer was better,” Ulf growled. “Before she left, I offered even more perks. Wales needs someone as passionate about conservation as Blair. She wouldn’t budge. I got the impression that it was distance she was interested in.”

Daniel felt his body stiffen in offense and embarrassment. Had she gone all the way to Oklahoma to get away from him?

“I don’t think it had anything to do with you, boy,” Ulf added roughly. “She texted me before she came home from Scotland. Said she’d like to revisit INCS’s offer. I thought I had her and then…nothing. She was on a plane with no word to me.”

“That doesn’t sound like something Blair would do,” Dagr added thoughtfully. “Dad asked me if I knew of anyone putting pressure on her. Jon asked Mags, and I asked Gray and Bébhinn, and they couldn’t think of anyone.”

“Mags said that Blair was very close with one of her instructors and respected the man’s opinion, but that she’d known the man since she was a child. Coll and Catriona have met him. Remember when she would come in the summers for some extended learning thing at Trinity?” Jonathan asked.

“Yeah, it was two weeks of hell when the four girls were together,” Daniel remembered. His lips twitching in amusement at what little shits the girls were and the mischief and havoc that they’d tortured him, Jonathan, and Ciar with.