Saving a Legend: A Kavanagh Legends Novel (34 page)

Fiona sighed and shook her head. “How can you be so calm about all of this? You have to think I’m the worst person ever, being angry at you for keeping your past from me, while at the same time hiding something worse about myself. I pretty much dumped you for that. I think part of me was even relieved when you went back to prison. It was like a built-in excuse to end things between us, so you’d never have to find out about me.”

“Fi, don’t beat yourself up over that. I was always going to find out. It was just a matter of when. Nothing’s secret for long in this family.” Kieran kissed her cheek again, and they were quiet for a few minutes, holding each other. “And you are part of this family now.”

She clutched her hands tighter in his shirt and tucked her head under his chin. He stroked her hair softly, holding her secured against him as she listened to his heart beating. Slowly, the rhythmic pounding released some of the tension in her muscles, and she settled down.

Fiona finally broke their silence a few minutes later, wiping at the wet streaks on her face. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you, Kieran. I’m sorry I got angry at you for holding back, when I was doing the same thing.”

“Yeah, that was kind of shitty.” He grinned at her, then kissed the corner of her mouth.

She laughed despite her tears. “I’m being serious.”

He wrapped an arm around her back and she curled into his chest. “We’ve both been through the hardest lessons in our lives and come out the other side better for it. You are better for it. You always were, Fi. I know who you are, and you’re the woman I want to be with for the rest of my life.”

“Kieran, don’t.” She shook her head, pushing against his chest.

“No, I want you to know this.”

“Kieran, after everything you just heard, you can’t possibly still want to be with me.”

He shook his head before speaking softly, inches from her face. “Fiona, for once, can you please just listen to me?”

His husky voice and close proximity made her shiver, and she closed her mouth, nodding in agreement.

“I want to be with the type of woman who cares so much for another person, an innocent little girl, that she’d literally kill for her. A woman who sacrifices her whole life to raise another. A woman who makes me laugh, and whose smile lights my whole day. A woman whose body is so perfectly made for mine that I can’t imagine touching anyone else ever again.”

He pushed a few stray hairs out of her face and cupped her cheek with his hand. She leaned into him, closing her eyes briefly. She was so completely exhausted from the emotions of the evening that it was all she could do to not fall apart at his touch.

“Fi, you’re it for me. You always have been. From the first day I saw you, I knew that, and no matter what we’ve been through, or what I’ve learned since then, nothing’s changed for me. I love you, Fiona.”

Fiona studied him carefully, seeing nothing but honesty in his eyes. “You love me?”

“I’m so head-over-damn-heels in love with you that it’s not even cute. It’s reaching creepy levels, like crazy-person territory.”

Fiona rolled her eyes and laughed. “That was almost romantic. And then, not so much.”

“I try.” He grinned.

She curled tighter into his chest, allowing him to wrap her in a warm embrace. “Kieran?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you, too,” she whispered against his skin before he tipped her chin up to him to look at her carefully. He searched her eyes, and she felt a shiver run through her at the intensity of it.

“Then this is it for me, Fi. You’re it.”

“You promise?” Fiona breathed out slowly, as a foreign sense of relief washed over her. She was happy. She was truly happy, and it was like nothing she’d ever felt. She loved this man, and he loved her. She wanted this more than she’d ever thought possible, and there wasn’t a single doubt in her mind for the first time in her entire life.

“I promise.” His lips found hers, brushing softly for only a moment before pressing down. He held her face in his hands, cherishing her, as he kissed her with a seriousness that said he owned her. Her heart pounded in her chest, matching the rhythm of his as if they shared one soul. “You’re mine, flower girl.”

And she was.

Epilogue

S
IX
M
ONTHS
L
ATER

“Um, why are we here?” Fiona looked questioningly over at Kieran as he opened the passenger-side door of the new SUV he’d purchased the week before to celebrate the end of his parole.

He helped her out, and they stepped onto the sidewalk in front of Fiona’s Flowers. “It’s a surprise, Fi.”

“I think I’ve been here before, I—” she began to tease before he interrupted her. Kieran placed his index finger over her lips, quieting her as he smiled.

“I have a question for you.” Kieran removed his hand. “How often do you want the store to be open?”

“Well, I’d be profitable if I could be open more hours a day.” She shrugged, blushing slightly at what she thought of as a failure. With Shea now in a much better school program all day, and with the help of Kieran’s parents, she’d been able to put in considerably more hours at her shop and was making progress on paying back her bank loan. It wasn’t as fast as she wanted, but she was getting closer than she ever thought she would.

Only a few months earlier, she was sure her entire world had fallen apart, but Kieran proved himself to be the man she’d thought he was. He was doing great at his job at Legends, was off parole, and had not had a single legal issue since. He’d not only built a successful life for himself, but he included both her and Shea in every aspect of it.

“If you lived closer, do you think that would make it easier?” he asked.

“Of course it would, but is that an option? Did you want to try to find a place near here?” Fiona looked up and down the block. “It’s a very expensive neighborhood, Kieran.”

“Fi, we’re in the Bronx, not Beverly Hills.” Kieran chuckled, then pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and walked past the shop door to a smaller door a few feet away.

“What are you doing?” She scurried after him as he unlocked the door and stepped into the building. “This leads to the apartments above the shop.”

“Soon to be
apartment
…singular,” he told her as he motioned her toward the stone steps in front of them.

Frowning, she climbed them quickly, reaching a short hallway at the top that led to a small lobby with several apartment doors on each side. “Welcome home, Fi.”

“I don’t understand. Are you renting one of these apartments?”

“Think bigger.”

She stared at him but couldn’t understand what he was talking about.

“I bought the building and put it in your name, Fi. It’s all yours now. The apartments, the shop, all of it. Everyone who is here has a lease that’s up within the next month, and I notified them two months ago that I’d help them to find new places to live and would contribute to their moving costs. Once they’re all out, we’ll renovate and combine all four apartments into one big home for you and Shea right over the shop.”

Fiona’s eyes widened and she shook her head, trying to catch her breath.

“It’ll take a couple months, but I hope you like the plan…”

“You bought the building? Including my shop?” She couldn’t wrap her mind around what he was saying.

“Technically, yes, but legally, it’s yours. You’ll never have to worry about coming home late or being away from Shea again, Fi.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against him, kissing gently at her cheeks, forehead, and the tip of her nose before sealing her lips with his.

“This is too much,” she whispered between kisses.

He shook his head, disagreeing. “I’ve spent all this time trying to figure out what I wanted to do after prison, but when I met you, I knew. I knew I wanted to have a family, and to help other people. You and Shea are like a packaged family, all ready to go. I’ve got the director job at the gym, and all of my brothers and I own stock in Legends. I made some pretty great investments back in the day that are still paying off. We’re even starting a pro bono MMA program for at-risk youth right in the gym itself. All of that, plus you and Shea, it’s everything I could ever want from life.”

“What are you saying?” Fiona smiled, her eyes traveling to his lips as her heart felt so full she was sure it would burst. “Do you want to move in together?”

“Hell yes, but not right now. I want to do this right. We have a little girl to be an example for. I don’t want to skip any steps, I want to take each one with you.”

“I want that, too.” Fiona squeezed his hand in hers. “So, so badly.”

He removed his hand from hers and stepped back, pulling a small black box out of his pocket. “Then take this next one with me, Fi.”

Fiona’s mouth fell open as Kieran got down on one knee in front of her and opened a ring box. The most beautiful white gold ring overflowing with diamonds sparkled back at her, and she was sure she’d never be able to take another breath.

“Fi, when I first met you downstairs at the flower shop, my entire life fell into place. For years and years, I’d been making a mess of everything, not fitting in anywhere. I was living only for myself and I thought I was happy, but I wasn’t.”

Fiona clamped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from squealing with excitement. Kieran took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. She wanted to reach out and touch him, remember every single part of here and now.

“You make my heart race, Fi. You always have, and I want to spend the rest of my life with it beating only for you. Will you marry me, flower girl?”

He looked at her so expectantly, handing her his heart and begging her not to break it. At first, she was sure her entire body had frozen, but just as quickly, she melted forward onto her knees in front of him and threw her arms around his neck.

“Of course, Kieran. I love you.”

He squeezed her tightly against him, and she felt his muscles relax beneath her. Grabbing her hand, he pulled it between them and carefully pushed the ring onto her finger. She stared at it as if she were seeing things, as if it would disappear if she looked away.

“It’s so beautiful,” she breathed, hugging him tighter.

“Like the woman wearing it.” He kissed her, and this time no amount of sparkling diamonds could distract her from the spark between them. His lips turned hungry and devoured hers in a way that told her she was wanted, she was desired, she was loved. And she loved him with every part of her, would for the rest of her life.

Kieran pressed his forehead against hers, breathing heavily. “Come with me.”

They stood and he took her hand, leading her back out of the lobby, down to the street, and over to the front door of the flower shop.

“Keys?” he said. She fumbled around in her pocket quickly, finally locating them. He inserted one into the lock and opened the door, and she moved to enter—but his hand caught her wrist and pulled her back.

“Not a chance is my future wife walking across any threshold.” He leaned down and scooped her into his arms, angling her against his chest.

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck as he stepped into the shop with her, kicking the door closed behind them before he put her down. “That’s only for after you’re married.”

“Close enough. I don’t need a piece of paper to tell me you’re mine.” He lowered her to the floor in front of the counter, which he cleared with a quick sweep of his hand. His lips stole hers again, his tongue tasting as she opened her mouth and let him in. Hopping up, she wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed herself against him, eager to quell the ache quickly building in her core and grateful for the closed blinds on every window.

One of his hands pushed under the hem of her shirt and found its way to her breast, cupping and squeezing gently before pushing up her bra. He positioned her rear on the counter itself, and leaned forward over her. His fingers found her nipple and tugged, rubbed, and circled around it as she moaned into his mouth.

Eager for more, she pulled her shirt and bra off as he slid his tee up over his head and tossed it to the ground. She grabbed at his belt buckle and tried to get it undone to no avail, until he did it for her. Instead of dropping his belt, he laced it around her wrists, tying them behind her back.

She bit her lip, panting as her naked chest heaved against him. He made fast work of pulling her jeans off and sliding her panties down her legs and over her feet, before shoving them in his pocket. He grinned mischievously, and she flushed at the implication.

He ran his hands up and down the length of her legs, massaging lightly before pushing them apart and hooking her knees over his shoulders. Moving lower, he blew a cool breath against her core, causing her back to arch as she tried to keep up with the shock waves shooting the length of her entire body.

He didn’t tease her long, though, and the moment his tongue came down on her center, she moaned so loudly, she was suddenly grateful they owned the whole building now. He chuckled against her, and the vibrations had her shuddering with pleasure. He kissed, licked, nipped, and sucked until she was barely able to breathe, furiously pressing herself against his mouth until he brought her to climax and she lay back against the counter, exhausted. He unfastened her wrists, and she sighed at the satisfied feeling overwhelming her.

She watched him through drooping eyes as he replaced his mouth with his hand, using his fingers to arouse her again until she was bucking her hips against him once more. He pushed his jeans down, shimmying out of them, before stretching himself over her and kissing her deeply. She sat up, gently nipped at his chin and then neck as she felt his member pressing against her entrance. Her knees clutched his hips, holding him steady against her.

“Fi,” he breathed, as he pushed his length inside her. Her head fell forward against his chest and she moved her hips slightly over the counter’s edge to accommodate him. “I love you so fucking much. I can’t wait to marry you, because I don’t want to do this with anyone but you ever again.”

“I love you, too, Kieran.” Her hands circled his biceps, as she enjoyed the massive muscles. “I’m yours now and always.”