Page 16 of Revived
“Yeah. Sorry Dec.” I bring my eyes up from my plate, where I was keeping my focus, to his emerald stare.
“It’s no problem. We don’t want to rehash anything. At least, I don’t. I just want to spend the evening with you while watching Flynn knock some heads around. Think we can manage that?”
“Yeah, I can get onboard with that. How’s CHFD doing?”
That’s all it takes for us to fall into easy conversation about Declan’s job. It eventually merges into talks of the spouses and kids. Rhett’s twelve now, so that’s where Rowan’s grey hair must be coming from. To hear Rowan tell it, the teen boy phase is in full effect. Maeve is five and just starting Kindergarten, apparently she has three boyfriends currently, and now Roe’s talking nonsense about those small children.Lorcan is now three. Our tiny but mighty baby is now what Kieran calls a ‘threenager’. He’s huge now, standing as tall as Maeve, but what do you expect when his dad stands at six and a half feet tall.
Mac announces that Clara has offered to be his and Lee’s surrogate, which almost brings tears to my eyes. Mac’s wife was sold into a child trafficking ring when they were seven. She was highly abused and tortured until she was saved as a teenager. The damage to her body as well as other health issues that emerged from being poked with dirty needles while she was captive led to her being unable to carry children. The fact that Clara is willing and ready to give them what they’ve wanted for years just shows how selfless and amazing she really is.
I love my family, really I do. I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but I’m just guarding myself from getting swept up in all that comes with loving the Byrnes. Well, not just me… more like myself, Elle, and Flynn.
Once dinner is over, Kieran begins to fill us in on tonight's ‘plan’. Which is just a fancy way of saying he’s about to annoy me because I don’t need security like they do.
“So, we’re all going to take the Tahoes out back over to the rink. They’re plenty protected. We’ll enter through the back of the building to the employee elevator and take it up to our suite, which is fully tinted and reinforced with bulletproof glass. No one will be able to see inside of it. They won’t even know we’re there.”
“Okay, cool. We’ll meet you guys in the suite.” I turn to leave when Mac’s voice stops me.
“You misunderstand, Sullivan. He meant all of us.” His tone is harsh, and I know if I turn around I’ll see the tension lining his shoulders.
“No.” I turn around to face all of them, except for Elle, who, like always, is by my side. “I thinkyoumisunderstand. I am not anywhereclose to that life anymore. I have worked my ass off to be so far removed from it that it’s damn near impossible to connect me to you guys. I’m in no danger, nor is Elena. We will be taking my Bronco like we do multiple times a week. We’ll enter through the front doors, again, like we do multiple times a week. And we will meet you guys at the suite. No one is trailing the two of us. Hell, most people don’t even know Elle’s real last name. We’re fine, and you guys need to chill out. I love you all, but damn you make it hard to.”
Without another word, Elle and I leave and hop into the Bronco to head over to the rink. The ride is silent, but her hand never leaves mine. She knows I’m barely holding on, and she’s giving me the strength to get through. Once we’re in the parking garage and I shut the vehicle off, Elle turns to look at me.
“I know this is bad timing and everything, but do you ever think about that day? Before everything went to shit?”
I can’t help but chuckle. “Do I think about it? Baby girl, I could be eighty-seven with severe Alzheimer’s, and the only thing I’ll remember is the feel of your lips on mine that day. I know we can’t do this, but dammit does my soul ache and my blood sing at just the thought of that kiss.”
Chapter six
Sullivan Byrne
Three years ago
Iwatch in horror as my older brothers and their troops make their way to the front of our house at an alarming rate. Flynn and I along with the spouses, Jake and Lee’s family, and my best friends are hiding in our bunker. Declan’s ex fuck buddy has lost her damn mind and is now trying to kill everyone and make Declan marry her. My attention is pulled toward the monitor that shows the view of the driveway and front of the house. Tires squeal on the driveway, and immediately gunshots follow. The click of two guns at once makes adrenaline pump through my veins . What the hell are my brothers doing?
I have about seven seconds to make a decision, and when I turn my panicked eyes to Flynn and he nods his agreement, I know exactly what we’re going to do.
“Lee. Run the cameras. You guys don’t leave here until a Byrne comes and gets you or you watch Natasha die.” I say in a monotone voice as I secure my gun back into the holster at the back of my pants before pulling another and checking it. It’s robotic at this point; my limbs move on instinct alone without my brain having to tell it to.
“Absolutely not! What if you get hurt?” Lee’s eyes flash between mine and Flynn’s, panic clear in her tone.
“What if they do? If we go down, we’re all going down together. Don’t even try to stop us. Every single one of you would do the same for your families. Also, don’t you dare say a word to anyone outside of this room.”Flynn says as he stands up while also checking his weapons. It’s clear that he means Elle and Annie, even if no one says it directly.
Stopping us would be a moot point. We may be a hockey player and a firefighter to the naked eye, but we’re motherfucking Byrnes through and through. Declan’s going to kill Jake for not stopping us, but nothing short of a kill shot would stop us from getting to our brothers right now. We both turn our backs on everyone occupying the control room and head toward our last stops before making a decision we may never come back from. Gone are the men who chose different paths in life, and all that’s left of us is two men who were highly trained by the most feared men in the country.
Flynn goes in search of Annie, while I turn in the opposite direction to find my girl. I find Elena in one of the rooms with Clara and the kids. Waiting until she looks up at me, I listen in on their conversation about Maeve’s sleeping habits and Rhett’s recent award he won at school.
Of course he did. He’s a Byrne after all.
Tilting my head towards the hallway, when she looks up at me, she gives me a perplexed look, but stands and walks towards me anyway. I let Clara know she’ll be right back, and she just gives us a knowing smile. I take Elle’s hand and pull her from the room she was in and into the hallway.
My heart is beating out of my chest. We’re best friends, and only best friends. I’ve fought the urge to kiss her every day since we were eight, but if this is my last day, then dammit, I’m living it to the fullest. I wrap her up in my arms and gaze into her perfect emerald eyes for just a few seconds. Then in the next moment I dip her slightly and seal my lips over hers. It takes her just a few seconds before her lips start to move against mine. She opens up on a quiet moan, and that’s all the permission I need to swipe my tongue out against hers.
Elle tastes like the most decadent dessert. Her lips, along with her in my arms, feel like that moment when everything just clicks into place. It’s like the world went from black and white to screaming color. She’s mine, and I’m hers. I’ll get out of this, and when I come back to her, I’ll marry her and be the biggest HAB (it’s like a WAG but for dudes… I think) until she’s ready to retire from gymnastics. Then I’ll keep her happy and pregnant for years to come. We’ll rock our babies on the front porch, and then we’ll blink too soon, and it’ll be our grandbabies.
She fists my shirt and pulls me in impossibly closer when I nip at her bottom lip, causing a groan to work up from the depth of my chest. This kiss is anything but soft and sweet. It’s a declaration of love and devotion. It’s a promise to come back to her and start our lives together once and for all. When I finally pull away, she whimpers quietly against my mouth. It’s enough to make a lesser man cave and devour her lips again, but I have something to say and brothers to go help. I have to get this out and break away from her before I say “BOCG who?” and leave it all behind to get lost in her.
“I’m a patient man, Boo. But I’m almost at the end of my rope here. I love you.”
