Redeem Me (Beckett Brothers #2)

39. Caelon

Chapter Thirty-Nine

CAELON

Ivy and the kids stay with me until I conclude my business in Portugal. It takes another eight days to resolve things, and while the days are sometimes long, drawn-out, and stressful, the nights are short, lust-fuelled, and tranquil.

Eight nights of waking up with her in my arms.

Eight nights of intense, soul-shattering sex.

Eight nights of whispered ‘I love yous’.

I haven’t slept as well in years. I feel rested, despite the tedious meetings and mountains of red tape.

We’ve been in our own beautiful bubble, but now it’s time to go home and I’m about to cash in on Ivy’s ‘anything’ promise.

The jet lands in Dublin just after five o’clock. It’s Saturday, so the traffic is heavy. Damon drives while I respond to a couple of important emails that can’t wait. Stephanie can deal with everything else.

Ivy sits in the back between the kids, who are watching a movie on their tablets .

‘Are you looking forward to meeting our fur baby?’ Ivy teases.

I roll my eyes. ‘Feckin’ dog.’

‘You’re going to love her.’

‘Doubtful.’ Though the damn mutt might come in handy for security purposes.

‘Are you okay?’ Ivy leans forward, whispering into my ear.

‘I will be. You know the other day, on the boat, you said you’d do anything…’ I stare at her intently. At the freckles dusting her nose. At her sun-kissed skin. I’ve caressed every freckle on her beautiful body. I know how she feels from the inside out. I could tap out the rhythm of her heartbeat like a melody.

‘That was in the heat of the moment.’ She eyes me suspiciously. ‘You’re not seriously going to hold me to it?’

‘I am.’ I glance at the kids, checking they’re still engrossed in their screens. ‘And if you want me to make you come just as hard tonight, I need you to do two things for me.’

‘Are you blackmailing me with sex?’ She doesn’t sound annoyed. If anything, she seems to like the idea. Kinky brat.

‘I prefer the term “rewarding you”.’ I nip her left ear lobe, gently blowing on her skin. She visibly shivers.

‘What do you want me to do?’

I pull back so I can look into her eyes. All teasing evaporates from my tone. ‘You need protection now that we’re back in Dublin. I have enemies and I refuse to let them get to you, like…’

I trail off, wincing. I still love Isabella. I always will, but my relationship with Ivy has given me a reason to go on. A reason to think past revenge. That’s not to say I won’t take it when the opportunity arises, but now I have something, someone, to live for afterwards.

Ivy reaches for my hand. ‘It’s okay. I mean, it’s not really.’ She scrunches up her nose. ‘Do I want to be followed around twenty-four-seven? Do I want someone to wait outside the toilet for me every time I want a pee? Do I want someone following me round the lingerie department when I’m shopping? Honestly, not really, but I get it.’

I let out the breath I’d been holding. I thought she’d take it harder. Like I was babying her, the way her family does, but it’s far from that.

She tilts her chin to meet my gaze. ‘You’ve been watching me anyway, between the cameras and having Samuel escort me and the kids everywhere.’

‘I love you.’ I kiss the back of her hand. ‘If anything happened to you, it would kill me.’

‘I love you too.’ her expression softens. ‘Nothing’s going to happen to me.’ Concern floods her eyes, but it’s not for herself, it’s for my feelings. She’s so selfless. So perfect. ‘What else do you want me to do?’

‘It’s time we came clean to Dermot,’ I whisper grimly.

She shakes her head vigorously. ‘No way. Not yet. You know he’s going to explode. I can’t deal with that right now.’

‘It’s one thing flaunting it around Portugal, but here, the press are all over my family. He will find out. It’s better he hears it from us.’

Ivy groans, her face falling to her hands. ‘This is going to cause a war.’

‘It will.’ There’s no point in denying it. ‘But I’m hoping I can make him understand. We’re together. You’re a grown woman. My woman. And I take care of what is mine. Dermot knows that. It’ll take a while to get used to the idea, but you were always going to find someone one day. It just happens that someone is me.’

‘You know that security we just talked about? You might want to double up on it. Yours, not mine. You’re going to need it.’ I’m not joking .

‘He might not take it that badly. We could be brothers one day.’

Ivy’s head whips around. ‘Good luck with that.’

When we finally reach the house, there’s a car in the driveway.

Dermot’s BMW.

Oh fuck.

Did another sneaky pap get a shot of us?

My mind returns to the yacht. Jesus, anyone with a drone or a long lens could have photographed us together. It’s one thing telling Dermot I’m with his sister, and another thing for him to see it in high definition.

Guilt snakes into my stomach. I had five missed calls from him over the last week. I couldn’t bring myself to call him back. Couldn’t be sure my voice wouldn’t betray me. That I’ve been eating his kid sister like she’s my favourite dessert and wearing her like she’s my favourite fucking outfit.

Damon stops at the gate, glancing between Ivy and me in the rearview mirror. ‘Would you prefer if we kept driving for a while? Samuel can arrange for Mr Winters to return tomorrow if it’s easier.’

I flick my head round to meet Ivy’s gaze. ‘Are you ready?’

Dermot is pacing up and down the drive with a thunderous expression on his face.

She blows out a breath. ‘Fuck it. Let’s do this.’ A horrified look crinkles the corners of her eyes. She clamps her hand over her mouth, glancing at the kids. They’re still engrossed in their tablets, thankfully, it’s not the first time they’ve heard the F-bomb.

Damon drives up to the front of the house, parks next to Dermot’s BMW, and ushers Orla and Owen into the house where Samuel is waiting for them. The ginger furry beast bounds from the house and charges towards the kids. My breath catches for a second as I wait for her to knock them over, but for a creature that size, she’s surprisingly gentle with them, leaping around and licking their faces as they squeal out their delight.

If only Dermot would give us such a warm welcome. Judging from his pacing, he is furious.

I help Ivy out of the car while Damon covers my back, ready for anything.

‘There you are!’ Dermot shouts, glaring at Ivy.

‘What’s the problem?’ I step in front of her, sheltering her from her brother’s wrath.

‘I’ve been trying to call you all week. I was worried sick.’ His eyes sweep over her, like he’s looking for scratches or bruises. He’d have better luck finding them on my back. My woman has a habit of digging her claws into me when she’s close.

‘She was working,’ I tell him. ‘You don’t have to worry about her when she’s with me. I’d never let anything happen to her.’

‘You thought that about Isabella too ,’ an invisible devil on my shoulder reminds me. I swat it away. Lightning doesn’t strike twice.

Declan and Jack O’Connor are behind bars. The other brothers fled the country. Their assets are still frozen, so they have no funds for retaliation. After Isabella’s death, I doubled security around here as a precautionary measure for the children. Ivy is safe with me.

Dermot’s shoulders visibly relax. ‘I know I shouldn’t worry about her when she’s with you, but you seem to have forgotten how a phone works, too,’ He looks at me pointedly for a long beat, but the anger has dissolved from his voice.

‘I’ve been snowed under with work,’ I tell him, motioning for him to go into the house. ‘So much bureaucracy and legal bullshit. Thankfully, I found a mayor who wasn’t averse to helping oil the wheels, for a price. ’

‘Glad to hear it.’ Dermot wraps an arm over Ivy’s shoulders, walking her up the steps. The dog and kids rush in ahead of us. ‘How are you getting on? Did you enjoy Portugal? Is Caelon being good to you?’

‘He’s not being too bad.’ She twists her head and winks slyly at me. ‘Oh, Roxy, I’ve missed you!’ she coos, rubbing the dog as she passes her in the hallway.

‘Good, because I’d hate to have to fuck him up for not treating you right,’ Dermot grunts.

Liz is in the kitchen preparing dinner. The kids settle on the couch with their tablets and the dog rushes towards me, slobber foaming from her mouth. Gross.

‘Go away.’ I shoo her with my hands.

‘I thought you hated dogs.’ Dermot frowns as Roxy ignores my attempts to dismiss her. She’s as defiant as Ivy, but nowhere near as loveable.

I grab three beers from the fridge. ‘Let’s drink these on the patio,’ I suggest, determined to get Dermot as far away from my kids as possible in preparation for the beating he’s liable to give me before this evening is over.

Dermot sits on the outdoor sofa. Ivy sinks into the seat beside him, and I take the armchair opposite. I can’t trust myself not to accidentally touch her the way I’ve grown accustomed to doing.

‘How was Portugal?’ Dermot asks Ivy.

The damn dog pads out, sniffs the air, then pees on the patio. I shake my head at Ivy, who lets out a laugh and a shrug.

‘It was way more fun that I imagined.’ She sips from her beer bottle and as she tilts her head back to swallow, I catch a glimpse of a shadow on her neck. Another fucking hickey. One I put there last night.

Oh fuck. Her hair mostly hides it. My eyes snap to her wrist where she perpetually keeps a hair tie. I pray she doesn’t decide to use it.

‘Did you think any more about going back to college?’ Dermot cocks his head towards me. ‘Did you know Ivy’s thinking about studying for a degree,’ Dermot says, peeling the label from his beer bottle with his thumb nail.

‘But I need her.’ It’s out before I think about it.

‘She needs to settle on a proper career now she’s home. It’s time to think about what she wants to do with her life.’

‘This is what she wants to do with her life.’ I sweep a hand towards the door, motioning towards the kids in the living room.

Dermot scoffs. ‘She’s twenty-three. She’s not going to want to be your nanny forever. She has so much potential.’

‘Hello, I am here, you know.’ Ivy waves sarcastically. ‘Dermot, I told you, I don’t want to go back to college.’

‘You said you’d think about it.’ He arches an eyebrow.

‘No, you told me to think about, and I did. I don’t want to.’

Dermot’s jaw locks and he inhales deeply through his nose. ‘I just want what’s best for you.’

‘What’s best for me is doing a job I love. Look at me.’ She points at herself. ‘How many jobs do you know where I get paid to drink beer by a pool? To go on holiday with two of the coolest kids I’ve ever met?’

‘You don’t seriously plan on being a nanny forever?’ he scoffs.

‘Why does she have to have a plan? Why can’t she just take things one day at a time?’ I interject.

‘Ha, says the man who always has a plan,’ Dermot reminds me wryly.

‘And look where that got me.’

Dermot’s eyes narrow as he glances between Ivy and me. The breeze picks up, fanning her hair back, revealing her neck and the hickey I put there. Fuck. He leans forward, peering at it. ‘Is that another love bite?’ Horror hangs on his every word.

Ivy’s hand flies to her throat. ‘Oh, probably. I met this really hot single dad in Portugal, and we had crazy, intense, indecent sex every day. Multiple times.’ She says it like she’s joking. I hold my breath, waiting for Dermot’s reaction.

His eyes narrow. ‘You’d better be kidding.’

‘I’m an adult woman with needs.’ Ivy shrugs, deliberately brazen. Damon and Samuel step out from the house as if sensing a storm brewing.

‘I don’t need to know about your needs.’ Dermot shakes his head, then turns to me. ‘You were supposed to be keeping an eye on her.’

Ivy crosses one long leg over the other, drawing my focus to her silky tanned skin.

Dermot catches me looking. I avert my eyes rapidly, but not quickly enough.

‘Motherfucker!’ He leaps out of his seat, tossing his beer aside. The bottle smashes on the ground.

Samuel and Damon react instantly, grabbing him before he can launch himself at me. Roxy leaps forwards, a low growl rumbling in her throat.

‘You!’ Dermot’s veins pulsate in his temple. ‘Tell me you’re not sleeping with my kid sister.’

I stand and motion for Damon and Samuel to let Dermot go. If he wants to hit me, I won’t stop him.

They loosen their grip, but don’t completely release him.

‘Answer me, Caelon. Fucking answer me,’ Dermot snarls, beet-red and panting. ‘Are you sleeping with my sister? Is she the woman you were talking about in the club?’

Ivy stands and attempts to placate her brother, placing her palm on his bicep, but he shrugs her off. The dog positions herself between Ivy and Dermot. Maybe she’s not so bad after all.

‘Yes.’ I nod for Damon to release Dermot. He pauses for a split second and waits for Ivy to step back. It gives me three seconds to prepare myself. When Dermot’s fist hits my jaw, I barely even feel it. I grab his wrist tightly, despite his efforts to keep swinging punches. ‘Dermot, I’m in love with your sister,’ I announce, not caring that half my security team is witnessing my declaration.

‘Love?’ he splutters. ‘Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night? How would you feel if I was fucking your kid sister?’

I open my mouth to answer, but Ivy beats me to it. ‘Dermot, I’m not a kid anymore. Caelon and I are in love. We’re together, whether you like it or not.’

‘Like it? I fucking hate it. I trusted you,’ he spits. ‘I trusted you with my sister. I told you her last boss came on to her, and you did the same thing. You took advantage of her while she was under your roof.’

‘He didn’t, Dermot.’ Ivy steps forwards, waving her hands like a white flag, with Roxy at her side. Yep, the damn dog can stay, drool and all. ‘If anything, I pursued him . I know what I’m doing. I know what I want. It’s my life. Let me live it.’

‘You know nothing. He’s not the right man for you, Ivy. He’s not good enough.’

I wince, but Dermot has a point. Ivy is so sunny, so selfless, so good, and I am tortured, after all.

‘He’s the best man I’ve ever met.’ Ivy steps closer to me, folding her arms over her chest.

‘He’s still in love with Isabella.’ Dermot’s gaze blazes to the wedding ring on my finger, but I told myself I wouldn’t take it off until I’ve had justice. ‘You need to give him a wide berth. You have no idea what he’s capable of.’ Dermot’s rage has him practically foaming at the mouth.

Ivy’s jaw ticks. ‘I know exactly what he’s capable of.’

The fight evaporates slowly from Dermot. ‘Fine. Do what you want. It’s your life. Just don’t expect me to sit around and watch you make a car crash out of it.’ Dermot stalks away without looking back.

Of all the metaphors, he chose the one that strikes the hardest.

He’s right. I’m not good enough for Ivy. But as long as she wants me, I’m hers.

I’m going to Hell. But I accepted that a long time ago.