Page 9 of Stronger Than Love

That hurt more than I cared to admit. “I tried to reach you, but you didn’t reply to my letters.”

She turned around to face out the window, leaving me with a view of her unruly hair that had always felt like silk running through my fingers.

“Look, I know we haven’t seen each other in years, but—”

Oonagh cut me off with an angry wave of her hand as she spun around to face me. Her eyes blazed like burning sapphires. “Stop, just stop. There is nothing left between us. Anything I felt for you died when you walked away without a backward glance.”

My body stilled as coldness settled in my bones. Every emotion drained from my face to leave me impassive under her scrutiny.

Her body stiffened, her hand gripping the window frame to steady herself. “I went to your house to find you, but your neighbours kindly informed me that I’d been nothing more than a distraction for you and that you’d gone to join Callum in the city for some real fun.”

My feet were stuck to the ground and the dryness of the Sahara settled in my mouth.

“I may have been clueless back then, but I’m not that girl anymore and no man will ever make a fool of me again. They laughed in my face as they told me you only used me for my parents’ money and because I was an easy lay.”

Cold fury that would freeze the depths of hell emanated from my stomach to spread through me. There were many things I could be accused of, but every accusation that fell from her lips was wrong. The girls who lived next door to us when we were little hated us because we never gave them any attention. Plus, our dad had been having an affair with their mum for years.

“Have you finished?” I grated out in a tone that would freeze her mother’s pond outside.

“Just go, Liam. There’s nothing more to say.”

“You seemed to have plenty to say, Oonagh. Maybe you should have checked your facts before you decided to accuse an innocent man. I’ve spent years in love with a memory to find it was nothing more than the stupid dream of a boy. Have a nice life.”

Her gasp followed me out of the room.

In my childhood, I hadn’t possessed much, but I’d had a strong sense of pride that never left me. I’d given her everything that was precious to me, and now I found she’d walked away because she’d listened to worthless gossip.

“You going?” Niall called over as I stalked down the steps.

“Yeah, got a text. Business calls. I’ll catch up with you later.” I never stopped walking, the need to punch somethingpulsing inside me, strengthening with every step. My bike was parked near the bottom of the drive, and I flung my leg over it and dragged my helmet onto my head before roaring the beast to life.

The adrenaline junkie who lost himself on the waves still lived inside me, but my highs came from bigger sources nowadays. Every time one of the demons from my past came back to haunt me, I did something new. Last time had been throwing myself out of a plane in South America.

The wind battered my body as I took the corners at speed, finally coming to rest where our old house used to be. It was one of the first redevelopments I’d carried out through my own company. Callum was a builder; he’d left school early and worked long hours on construction sites learning his trade. He insisted I finish my degree when Mrs. Munroe swept in to save us from a fate of separation, fostering some of my brothers.

I won a few awards and gained enough commissions to launch our own business. Each brother was trained in a different area of the business and we all worked together.

The memory of Callum and me standing here as the bulldozer demolished these cottages replayed through my mind. There was nothing we wanted to save from the old house. The only thing we took with us were memories. We’d buried our parents years before in the small graveyard beside the church at the edge of the beach.

“We have each other,” Callum had said.

Back then, I’d had a dream as well. A stupid pie in the sky dream that had just come crashing down around me.

A small café sat where our childhood home once resided. I didn’t want anyone to ever live there in case the horrific memories of our past infiltrated their lives. Callum dealt with most of the running of our businesses; our brother Finn, the accountant, ensured everything was above board. My only stipulation had been that there were always cupcakes in the café.

The urge to tear that house down again brick by brick burned through me, accompanied by nausea. The house belonging to the gossips was long gone as well.

Tell her the truth…A small voice inside me urged. If Oonagh cared for me even a fraction of what I did for her, I didn’t need to explain anything. She would already know that I would never walk away from her or be the man she suggested. Although, the ignoring my letters finally made sense.

Snapping my visor down again, I kicked my bike off and drove round the peninsula until my demons were lost somewhere in the hedgerow.

The Doherty boys had a new family home, one designed by me and built by Callum. It overlooked the point and the old lighthouse. I’d picked this place because it held so many memories of my childhood spent with Oonagh. The way I felt tonight, though, I wanted to transport it far away to somewhere else.

The tempting aroma of food wafted through the house, telling me that Declan was home. He was the best cook between all of us and couldn’t wait to hit the kitchen when he got home.

Kicking my boots off at the door, I stomped through the house until I reached the fridge dedicated to bottles of beer. Callum sat at the island in the kitchen, so I grabbed three and popped the lids.

“Are you not meant to be at a party?” Callum asked.

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