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It wasn’t the first time.
Declan and Saoirse have been the only family I’ve had for the last ten years. But then I could tell Saoirse stopped seeing me as a big brother in her life. She saw me as so much more.
Hurting her was the last thing I wanted, and I thought putting some walls between us would be enough. And it was, for a while.
Then she turned 18 not long after the New Year and the way I saw her, when I couldn’t avoid her any longer, started to change. I found myself wondering when the fuck she grew up. How the hell did she become such a beautiful woman?
A woman I wanted to know.
A woman I wanted to be mine.
I couldn’t be around her and I made sure that I spent more time working on whatever the fuck Declan needed. Work and fighting in the underground ring Declan runs were my only outlets because even looking at another woman made me fucking sick. I couldn’t do it, couldn’t even consider it.
Now I’ve spent months with Saoirse on the other side of the country.
I don’t know if I can keep doing it.
I don’t know if I care anymore what Declan will say or think. There is one thing I know to my bones—Saoirse McCarthy is mine.
I’ve gotten all the updates from Jamie, who was sent to California to keep an eye on her. I’ve sent Jamie a little bonus to ensure he doesn’t mention to anyone how he’s keeping me in the loop and sending me a few extra pictures here and there. If he suspects why I want them, he hasn’t mentioned a damn thing.
She’s coming back. Tomorrow.
Which is why I can’t fucking sleep.
Saoirse is going to be in Boston. She’ll be home. Close enough to touch. Close enough for me to do all the things I’ve been fantasizing about for months. Close enough that I’ll be able to make her mine.
Finally.
Then I’ll never let her go.
She has no idea about my obsession or how much it’s grown since she’s been at school.
My phone ringing brings me out of my thoughts, and I almost drop the damn thing as I pick it up and fumble it. Jamie’s name flashes on the screen and I know he has an update for me on my woman.
“Jamie,” I bark when I answer, my voice gruff and my impatience to get even a little fucking morsel about Saoirse is right there for him to hear.
“Conor,” he grunts. “The princess is safe in her castle.”
“She went out tonight? Isn’t her flight early in the morning?”
I sound like a controlling asshole, but I don’t care. I’ve heard about the parties she’s gone to, the people she’s hung out with, and the men who have been sniffing around her. Jamie keeps close, but not too close. He sure as fuck wasn’t going to intervene if she showed genuine interest in someone, and I don’t ask if she has.
That would be stepping over a line and I deserved the punishment if she did spend time with a guy. I’m the one who let her travel to the other side of the fucking country for school.
I should have claimed her almost a year ago when she turned 18.
But I didn’t. I was a fucking coward and now I’m paying for it.
I hope she had fun because once she’s home, I’m not going to be able to let her go again. Getting little glimpses of her light hasn’t been nearly enough. I want her to smile at me and not one of those fake ones she’s been flashing around her college.
Yeah, I’ve seen the pictures and there is something going on in my woman’s eyes. I don’t know if she’s not happy there or if something else is going on. But I’m going to find out and then I’m going to make it right.
I know whatever she’s hiding isn’t about her safety and with her not close enough to be in my arms, that’s the only thing I could find comfort in.
She’s been safe. She’s spread her wings.
Now it’s time for her to come home.
