Saving a Legend: A Kavanagh Legends Novel (26 page)

“Love you, Shay-Shay.” Fiona kissed her forehead, then turned off all the lights and left the room.

Casey was standing in the hallway waiting for her as she closed the door to Shea’s room behind her. “Hey, Fiona. Dee just wanted me to see how you were feeling, if you were okay.”

“Oh.” Fiona shrugged and entered her own bedroom. She collapsed on her mattress as Casey sat in a comfy chair by the bed. “I don’t really know how I’m feeling, and Shea’s a mess.”

Casey looked down at her hands, fiddling with her fingers. “I wanted to tell you about his past, and I told him to tell you. We all did. I’m sorry you found out that way.”

“Well, tell me now. What the heck is going on? I’m still completely in the dark, Casey. He wouldn’t even look at me when the officer took him. I have no idea how to contact him, if he’s okay…I’m so worried about him.” Fiona buried her face in her hands, trying her best not to unravel completely.

She had so many questions, and a small part of her didn’t even care about the answers. She just wanted Kieran to be okay…to be free. And that moment—the bitter, shocking,
horrible
moment when the strongest man she’d ever known had bowed his head and allowed himself to be dragged away…from her—it just broke her heart.

“He’s safe, he’ll be okay. Our brother Jimmy called and explained that Kieran has violated his parole. He’ll go in front of a magistrate tomorrow and find out what’s going to happen. The best-case scenario would be that he’d have to serve thirty days.”

“Thirty days!” Fiona gaped. “That’s longer than we’ve known each other.”

“It’s still the better option; otherwise, they might revoke his parole entirely. That would mean he’d have to finish serving out his original sentence—and do another six months.”

Fiona ran her hands through her hair, trying to picture Kieran in a prison cell. “What was his sentence? What did he do?”

“He was convicted of aggravated assault and given two years upstate,” Casey explained. “I think Kieran should be the one to tell you the exact details, though, because honestly, I don’t have all the information myself.”

Fiona felt like a weight had settled over her; her heart was aching.
Aggravated assault. Ironic.
She wondered if she had more in common with Kieran than she’d thought. She wasn’t sure she had any right to judge him for whoever he’d hurt, whatever laws he’d broken, when she was just as guilty of her own crime, a lot worse than that. She had been found innocent, but she knew she wasn’t.

She’d taken a life. There was no innocence left in her.

A new thought suddenly occurred to Fiona and she turned to Casey, who had stood and was walking toward the door. “When did he get out of prison?”

Casey paused as she considered it. “I think about three weeks ago, maybe a month.”

Fiona’s face fell as she wondered how much time had actually elapsed between his release and the moment they met. She realized she wasn’t upset he was an ex-con. She knew him well enough not to be afraid of him. She’d seen him around kids, and he was always positive and uplifting. She’d seen him fighting at Legends, and he never played dirty. She’d seen him wrapped around her, buried inside her, and he was passionate and caring. She knew who he was in that aspect, and he wasn’t dangerous.

But he was a liar, and that might be a deal breaker for her.

He had mentioned being
away
several times to her, but when she’d asked, he’d changed the topic or found a way to answer her without really answering anything. She’d never thought much about it, never worried that there was more she didn’t know. Never known that hours, or days, before they’d met, he’d been sitting in a prison cell.

“Thank you, Casey,” Fiona said softly. “You’re the first one to really tell me what’s going on. To open up. I appreciate it more than you know.”

“Of course, Fiona. You’re my friend. He’s like a brother to me, but you’re still my friend.” Casey leaned against the doorframe. “I hope you’ll still consider coming to the gala tomorrow. Get your mind off things.”

Fiona dropped back onto the bed, her head hitting the pillow. “I can’t even think about the gala right now, so probably not.”

“Well, I’ll still see you at breakfast. Try to get a good night’s sleep.” Casey gave her a small wave before closing the door behind her.

Fiona got up and turned off the bedroom light before crawling back into bed. She was still fully dressed and hadn’t done any of her normal bedtime routine, but she couldn’t tonight.

She just needed today to be over.

—

“Monday morning at best, man.” Jimmy stared at him in the dank, cold interview room of the local jail, a frown pulling his face down.

“Is that a fucking joke?” Kieran fisted the top of the table as best as he could with his wrists shackled to a steel bar in the center of it, between his two brothers and him.

“No, it’s not a fucking joke, K. It’s Saturday morning, and you got arrested on a Friday night,” Jimmy explained, looking as frustrated as Kieran felt. “What did you think would happen?”

Kieran ran his hands through his hair. “Fuck.”

“I’ll go check again, see if there is a magistrate willing to do it this weekend, but I doubt it,” Jimmy said before leaving the room.

Kane slumped quietly in his chair across the table. Kieran sighed, feeling the pain he’d caused his twin brother now that they were alone.

“K, what the hell happened?” Kane finally asked.

Kieran took a moment before he responded. “It was a misunderstanding. They found a joint in my pocket.”

“Since when are you back to drugs? I mean, I thought you only played around with that stuff occasionally back before your arrest. I didn’t think you were seriously on them or anything.”

“I’m not, now or then.” Kieran shook his head. “Back then, it was just a party thing. I haven’t touched it since I’ve been out.”

“Well, that’s obviously not true,” Kane pointed out, his hand dropping to the table’s surface.

Kieran rolled his eyes. “Fine, yes, I’ve physically touched a joint, but I never smoked it. I haven’t done any shit like that.”

Kane threw up his hands in frustration. “Then why the fuck did you have a joint?”

Kieran knew he was being dodgy. He didn’t want to answer his brother’s questions. He deserved the punishment—no one else—and he didn’t want to bring anyone else down with him.

Shea was eight. She most definitely didn’t need a single thing about this associated with her, especially since if the police knew Shea had been involved, Child Services would have to investigate. After everything Fiona had been through, and how hard she’d fought to gain custody, he couldn’t risk letting something like this tear the sisters apart. It would devastate her, and he couldn’t allow that.

No matter where their relationship stood at the moment, Fiona was still
his.
And he’d protect her with everything he had.

“I took it from someone who shouldn’t have had it, then was going to toss it out. Didn’t get a chance before my PO got me,” he finally admitted.

“Who had it?” Kane asked, but Kieran stayed silent. Kane sighed and shook his head, realizing his twin wasn’t going to tell him. “This isn’t a fucking joke, K. This is your life. This is Fiona’s life, and Shea’s.”

Kieran glared at him. “You think I don’t know that?” The irony was, they were exactly the ones he was protecting.

“You’ve got something great going,” Kane said. “But if you’re in here thirty more days—or, God forbid, six more months—do you really think she’ll be waiting for you when you get out, when you’ve only been dating a few weeks?”

Kieran dropped his head, stared down at the table. The idea of Fiona never being in his life again hurt so bad that he could feel it throbbing in his chest. “I don’t want her to wait,” he said, not sure if he even believed himself.

Kane scoffed. “Liar.”

Kieran glared at his brother. “Fine, I don’t know what I expect. I don’t expect her to wait, but, yeah, I really hope she does. I really hope she comes today and visits me and tells me that she forgives me, that none of this matters to her. That she’s fine with dating an ex-con. Or current con.”

Kane was quiet, letting him rant. A lump in Kieran’s throat made him pause as he thought about Fiona seeing him behind bars. As much as he wanted her to come today and tell him everything was fine, he also didn’t. He didn’t want her to see him like this. He didn’t want her forever to think of him with bars between them. He wanted her to look at him the same way she had over the last few weeks…before she knew the truth.

But he’d blown that chance by not being completely honest with her in the first place.

“Hey,” Jimmy said, walking back into the small gray room that offered as little hope in its decor as it did in its purpose. “So you’ll go before the judge Monday morning. Prosecution is going to recommend thirty days for the violation. Any future offenses or violations, or any misconduct during incarceration, you’ll be made to complete the rest of your sentence.”

Kieran gritted his teeth, absorbing the information. He wanted to be angry. He wanted to flip the table and slam his fist through a concrete wall, but he knew Jimmy had done the most he could by getting him only thirty days. There was no one to blame but himself.

“Thanks for trying, kid.” He nodded toward Jimmy, who just frowned back at him. Kane joined Jimmy by the door.

“I’ll be back on Monday to visit, bro,” Kane told him. Kieran just nodded as a guard entered and motioned him to his feet. He stood, and the guard unlocked his handcuffs from the steel bar on the table, then locked his wrists together behind his back. Then he grabbed Kieran’s elbow and pushed him out of the room past his brothers. “See you Monday,” he told them.

“Be safe, K,” Kane replied.

Jimmy nodded. “See you then.”

Kieran looked back at the guard as they moved through the door and wondered how easy it would be to smash an elbow into his face and make a run for it. The officer was scrawny, not much to look at. Jimmy had told him they’d been hiring younger and younger, bringing in newer and less experienced police officers and guards to fill empty spots. If Kieran really wanted to, he could probably escape. He could start over somewhere new, never returning home again. But he didn’t want a life that didn’t have Fiona.

Even though that might be exactly what he had to look forward to now.

Chapter 19

“Shea, please calm down,” Fiona begged, holding the bag of frozen chicken nuggets in her hands.

“No!” Shea screamed from where she sat at the kitchen table in the Kavanaghs’ house. Her forehead was flat against the table and she was kicking her feet against the chair legs.

Hoping food might help calm down her sister, Fiona lined the nuggets on a plate and popped it into the microwave. “Shea, we have to look at apartments. We need to find a place to live.”

A small foot smashed into the table leg. “Here!”

“This was just temporary, honey. We can’t stay here forever.” Fiona tried to touch her shoulder, but Shea shook her off quickly. Her sister had somewhat average verbal skills, albeit not exactly at her age level. However, when she got really upset and frustrated, she either stopped responding or found a word, or phrase, to repeat tirelessly.

Frowning, Fiona did her best to swallow her own tears. She didn’t want to upset her sister into yet another massive life upheaval, not with Shea’s need for routine. However, she couldn’t expect the Kavanaghs to keep letting her live there rent-free when their son was in prison.

“What is going on in here? That’s quite the ruckus, little one,” Dee said as she walked in and dropped her purse and keys on the counter. “Is this a new one, or is it a continuation of the last one?”

Dee was referring to Shea’s last temper tantrum, which had occurred before Dee had left the house a few hours earlier. While there had been a brief respite, it felt as if Shea had been nonstop up and down since the moment Kieran had been taken into custody. It was wearing on everyone, but Fiona worried most about how her little sister was reacting to the loss.

“Here!” Shea screamed again, a hoarse rasp in her voice.

Dee cocked her head to the side, hands on her hips, as Seamus walked into the kitchen. “Who’s here?”

“She’s upset about having to look at apartments.” Fiona sounded as frazzled as Shea felt. “I can do it without her—I’ll find a babysitter.”

“Why in God’s good name are you looking at apartments?” Dee asked, her brows lifted high and the corners of her mouth turned down low.

Seamus glanced from one woman to the other, then opened the pantry and pulled out a box of cookies. “Hey, Shea, while you’re waiting for dinner, how about a snack?” He held the box up between them. Shea quieted down, eyeing the box.

“Cookies before dinner, Seamus?” Dee sighed. “Really?”

He ignored her, wiggling his eyebrows at Shea and motioning for her to follow him out of the room. “Come on, let’s let your sister and Grandma Dee talk while we spoil our appetite.”

Sugar, of course
. Fiona mentally kicked herself for not thinking of that. Despite her need for routine, Shea’s love of sugar had definitely increased, thanks to the sweet tooth all Kavanagh men shared. Shea and Seamus could often be found sitting on the deck, eating cookies, while he told her long stories of his life as he grew up, during what he fondly remembered as the good old days. Shea absolutely loved it, always having questions to ask and wanting to know more. So, still hiccupping slightly from her outburst, she slid off her chair and eagerly followed him out of the room.

As soon as Fiona and Dee were alone, the older woman wasted no time. “Fiona, you can’t move out now with everything going on. That little girl will fall apart in an entirely new way. First, one of her main supporters up and leaves, for jail, nonetheless, and then you want to uproot her from her new home, too?”

Fiona bowed her head, exhaling slowly. “We can’t stay here, Dee. You’ve been so sweet having us these last two weeks, but don’t you think that’s long enough for us to be taking up your time?”

Dee shrugged. “It’s my time. I can give away as much of it as I want. If you’re serious, let me ask you this—do you have first and last month’s rent for a new place? Plus, a security deposit?”