Page 18 of Declan

The smile instantly falls from my face. “Don’t you dare.”

“What secret?” Carolina asks. “Do you mean the fact that he’s in love with her? Because I don’t think that’s much of a secret.”

“More like the fact that he has cameras on every property she owns so he can spy on her whenever he feels like it.”

Carolina gasps, her eyes widening as she looks at me in horror. “Declan! How could you?”

“Quite easily,” I reply evenly. “All it took was one call to Matt, and then he had it all situated in less than a day. Amazing work he does.”

Carolina’s gaze flies to Tony, and she asks, “Did you know about this?”

“Of course, I knew about it,” Tony replies, the bland expression on his face making him seem rather bored. “But he had good reason for it, so we allowed it.”

Both women cross their arms over their chests at the same time, their lips pressing together into a line as they slowly shake their heads and glare at the men. Then Antoinette turns her attention to me as she asks, “Are you playing peeping Tom with her, Declan?”

I’m momentarily taken aback by her question, but I recover quickly and exclaim, “No! Never! I didn’t put cameras in her houses to try to catch her naked. I prefer to get her naked in person, like a gentleman.”

Carolina snorts. “A gentleman. For fuck sake, Declan. A gentleman doesn’t put up surveillance on the properties of the woman he loves.”

Tony and Dare give each other a look, and Dare lifts his shoulder slightly, smiling a bit sheepishly. Antoinette sighs loudly, then turns to Carolina and says, “How did we end up with this band of overbearing, misguided, potentially delusional men?”

Carolina snorts again, shaking her head as she responds, “Fuck if I know, Net. But here we are.”

Antoinette nods in agreement, but she’s staring at me with raised eyebrows, and I stare back, waiting for her to speak because she obviously has something to say. After a few moments, she states, “I’m going to ignore your blatant invasion of her privacy based on my belief that you’re doing so tastefully.”

Dare and Tony laugh, and then Tony says, “So, now you’re saying there’s a type of stalking that is tasteful? Is this the same idea as Dare’s distant admirer theory?”

“Come on now, Tony,” Dare interjects. “Let’s not forget I had legitimate reasons for being all up in Antoinette’s business at the time—“

“Pretty sure that’s still called stalking,” Carolina interrupts.

Antoinette shakes her head as she says, “You guys are not helping Declan’s case here at all.”

“Yeah, you guys need to tone it down before I end up in trouble for all of your sins.”

They appear as if they want to say more, but instead, they sit back and remain silent. Then Antoinette continues, “I don’t think it will be too difficult to lure that blowhard into a nice quiet corner to teach him a lesson. I highly doubt it’ll make a difference with him, though. He’s a snake with more than one head, so your best bet is to cut him off at the neck.”

“There’s not a chance in hell that guy would meet me in a dark corner intentionally,” I reply. “It’s probably easier for me to have someone snatch him off the street and bring him where I want him.”

“I bet Nettie and I can get him to meet us wherever we want,” Carolina says. “He’s stupid enough to think he’d have a chance with both of us.”

“Oh, here we go again,” Tony sputters as he turns to Dare and asks, “Are we gonna have a new set of murder twins here or what?”

Dare smiles, his gaze heated as he looks at Antoinette. “We could only hope.”

Carolina frowns and replies, “I’m not gonna kill anybody.”

Tony leans forward, staring at Carolina as he asks, “So you’re saying if there’s proof that Bobby has spent the last few years using and abusing Issa that you wouldn’t consider sticking a knife in him?”

Her eyes flash, and her eyelid twitches as her lip curls slightly, but she says nothing. Tony laughs and sits back in his chair. “That’s what I thought.”

“If you wouldn’t slash your friend’s abusive partner, are you even their friend?” Antoinette mutters seriously. “If you’re gonna get your hands dirty, you should get your hands dirty for someone you love.”

“I had forgotten that you’re all crazy,” I say with a laugh. They all stare at me silently for a few long moments until, finally, I laugh again. “I wasn’t saying that I’m not crazy. But if there’s a method to your madness, does that even mean you’re mad?”

“Our ability to rationalize pretty much any potentially questionable behavior indicates that we may have a bit of a mental disorder. Not that I care,” Tony retorts. “It’s not so much knowing what’s right from wrong as understanding when ignoring the societal norms is appropriate.”

“So, which societal norm shall we stretch today?” Antoinette asks. “If we’re gonna make a move, we need to do it soon because, in a few more days, they’re gonna be married, and though that won’t make anything impossible, it certainly will make it a little more difficult.”

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