Page 60 of Dangers of Love

“Then let’s get going.”

I laughed and smoothed down my dress. “That sounds good to me.”

* * *

We’d been at my parents’house for a while, and things had been a little strained, but everyone had been polite so far. Mom and Dad had been surprised that I’d brought Eoin, but the only slightly awkward thing either of them had said was when Dad had mentioned that they were glad to finally meet him. But then Mom had shifted the conversation to whether or not Eoin had any food allergies, and everything had gone fine from there.

Well, mostly fine.

Freedom might not have been outright rude to Eoin, but a coolness existed in my sister’s attitude toward him, which meant that things were even more tense between us, but neither of us addressed the issue. I assumed her reason was the same as mine: not wanting to ruin the holiday for our parents, especially after the difficult year we’d had.

Much of the small talk had centered around Eoin’s family, and since he had such a large one, my parents had been able to find enough questions to get us through the meal and to our gift exchange. I’d been pleased to find that Eoin had, unbeknownst to me, purchased gifts for both my parents and Freedom.

Since he hadn’t known them well enough to have found anything personal, he’d gone with gift baskets with various coffees and teas with a few different types of chocolate and snacks. The fact that the one he’d given my parents contained delicacies my dad could still eat with his dietary restrictions had meant as much to me as the necklace around my neck.

Now that the gifts had all been opened, the five of us were sitting in the front room with the Christmas tree and all the decorations I’d grown up with. Eoin’s arm was around my shoulders in a way that looked as casual as his tone, but he still felt stiff and unnatural in his dress slacks and shirt. The tension in him increased when Mom turned the discussion from Freedom’s recent interactions with Dr. Ipres to something that none of us had talked about yet.

“Perhaps this should have been something that we said as soon as you arrived, but Gerard and I need to thank you for what you did for Aline.” She glanced at Freedom, then at me, before turning back to Eoin. “The girls haven’t given us many details because they’re trying to protect us, but we know that the situation you put yourself into was a dangerous one. You and the other people in your group risked a lot to save our daughter, and we owe you far more thanks than we can ever say.”

Eoin’s scar stood out, a stark white against the flush of his cheeks. I was taken off-guard as much as he was, and it wasn’t as if my parents were accusing him of something, but he clearly wasn’t comfortable with their gratitude.

After a couple seconds of silence, he cleared his throat. “I really don’t know how to respond to that.You’re welcomeseems corny, and not like it’s enough because I got something out of it too.” He glanced at me, our eyes locking for a single heated moment. “I’m thankful every day that I was on the team that went after her.”

I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I am too.”

He moved his arm from around me to take my hand in his. I ignored Freedom’s glare and focused my attention on our parents. This seemed like a good time to make our excuses and leave. My parents were happy, even if they weren’t completely informed of what was going on between Eoin and me, and I was unsure that Freedom could keep quiet much longer. Her disapproval was like a palpablethingpushing at me.

“It’s getting late,” I said as I stood up. Our linked hands brought Eoin up too when he didn’t let go. “I’m going to get some things from my room, and then we’ll be leaving.”

Both of my parents’ expressions fell, but they quickly recovered. I didn’t know if Eoin had even seen it.

“You’re planning on continuing to stay with Martina then?” Mom asked, a forced brightness in her question.

I was just trying to decide the best way to answer the question when Freedom spoke up, and everything went to hell.

“We can pack your things in the car tonight, and then I’ll pick you up at her place tomorrow morning for us to head back to Stanford. I was going to spend tomorrow here too, but it’s been a while since you’ve been home, so we’ll leave early.”

Dammit.

“I’m not going back to Stanford,” I said, my grip on Eoin’s hand tightening. “I’ll be staying in L.A., and after the first of the year, I’ll start looking into the local school systems in the area.”

“Then why do you need your things if you’re going to be here?” Freedom practically demanded.

“I’m not stayinghere,” I said, fighting to keep my voice even. “I’m staying in L.A., not with Mom and Dad.”

My sister crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t want to live in L.A.”

“I’m not asking you to.”

This was not the way I’d wanted this visit to go, and I silently begged Freedom to just let things go, put off the discussion until the two of us could have a private conversation.

Instead, she let out the sort of exasperated sigh that one normally associated with children. “So, you’re just going to have some tiny room in Martina’s apartment?”

“No.”

“You’re going to get a place of your own?” She barked a bitter laugh. “You’ve never lived a day on your own.”

My control snapped. “I can take care of myself, but for your information, I won’t be alone. I’m living with Eoin.”

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