Chapter 56

Under exactly what circumstances did we think that me being a catcher for a professional pitcher was a good idea?” I demanded. Shifting my weight, I put the glove out in front of me and waited for hell to rain down on me.

“Oh, we don’t.” Declan chuckled. “This is purely for my entertainment.”

“Fuck you and your goddamn birthday,” I grumbled. My chest fucking tightened as Cade stared me down with the utmost concentration, glove and ball in hand. I was going to die. The fucker was going to kill me. Hit me right in the fucking head with a baseball. Jesus fucking Christ. Screw Declan and his goddamn birthday. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Stop being so dramatic,” he retorted.

And then that fucker threw the goddamn ball. Every snide remark I’d ever made about his stats came back on me. I didn’t see the fucking ball. I didn’t hear the fucking ball. It just hit my fucking glove and knocked my sorry ass back into the dirt. My fucking palm.

“Did you just fucking squeal?” Cade exclaimed, laughing.

“Not a fucking chance!” I snapped back. Holy hell, my hand was on fire. I ripped the glove off and shook out my hand.

“You did,” Declan said. I was about to wipe that stupid ass grin off his goddamn face. Except when I glared at him, his smile only widened. “You don’t scare me, Wilbur.”

“Oh, fuck you!” Did he break my fucking hand? I flexed my fingers.

“Language!” Mom shouted from her back door, making Declan laugh.

“Motherfucker,” I muttered.

“Killian Donovan Byrne,” she warned.

“I’ll make him behave,” Declan called back, grinning like a fucking idiot. He grabbed me by the shoulders as I stood.

“Son, you must think I’m an idiot if you think I don’t know the things you say,” she replied. “Nolan left his notebook—”

“Nolan!” he yelled. It was my turn to laugh—yeah, I was going to live this shit up while I could.

“That’s where I left it?” Nolan chimed in, and Finn tipped back in his chair next to him, giggling. The absolute look of innocence on the kid’s face was impressive, but I knew better. Nolan acted innocent, but he was a devious little dramatic fuck under it all. I wouldn’t have put it past him to casually leave that fucking notebook out for Mom to see just to make Declan’s birthday party all the more interesting.

“I told you to burn the notebook!” Declan hollered.

“It’s for research!”

“Yeah, Dec, it’s for research,” I said all too happily.

“Do I want to know about the notebook?” Cade jogged over to join us.

“Depends on how you feel about kinky things and Raven.”

“The woman has no filter, and we belonged to the same adult club,” he said.

“Oh?” I raised a brow. Not what I expected. “What one?”

“Potentia. They have one in Chicago.”

“And in Olympia,” I murmured. I didn’t tell him that Genevieve and I belonged to the same fucking club. Why I still paid the yearly fee was beyond me. Did she know I still paid the fee? It wasn’t exactly like I could call her to ask.

Fuck, my mood was slipping.

Days. Fucking days were passing and nothing. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to storm over to our house, break down the goddamn door, and make her see fucking reason. This blocking me shit—yeah, I wasn’t going to stand for it for long.

It was one step forward, two steps back, and I wasn’t having it.

I pushed the thoughts aside the best I could. Declan deserved my full attention for his birthday party—I’d missed the last three after all. Spending the afternoon with my brothers, Raven, and Cade at Mom’s house was a much-needed distraction. I wrapped an arm around his shoulders and dragged him close.

“You’re lucky it’s your birthday,” I taunted, “or I’d kick your—”

“Finish that sentence, Killian,” Mom growled.

“Please, finish that sentence.” Declan laughed. “Watching her take you out would be a fantastic present.”

“I’ll just return the expensive ass drafting table I bought you and go toe-to-toe with Mom for you,” I said. “Man, you’re easy to please.”

“You got me a drafting table?” he asked.

“Yeah, you said you were going into the house designing business,” I answered flippantly. “Seems like a drafting table is needed.”

“But I could’ve just built one.”

“This one has all the gizmos… and jingle-jangle things—I don’t know! It was a nice one. The guy said it was the best one I could get you.”

“They’re expensive, Killian!” Declan protested because of course he would. The man didn’t know how to accept nice things. If he could build it, why bother buying it?

“Please,” I scoffed. “You have no idea how much chasing down crazy magical shits pays me. This is nothing. Take the gift, smile, and do great things.”

“Chasing down what?” he demanded, but I just grinned and shrugged. “One of these days I’m going to find out what exactly you do for your job.”

Head tipped back and hand to my chest, I fucking clung to Declan’s shoulder as I laughed so hard I couldn’t breathe. Finn and Lucas regaled us with the story about the time Declan got locked in the Brooklyn house with a horde of chickens. The way they told it was all wrong—I’d been there for that one—but their version was fucking funny as shit. Even Declan was grinning wide and enjoying their rendition.

We had a Byrne brothers birthday tradition. Whoever’s birthday it was, the rest of us tried to outdo the others with the wildest fucking stories about the birthday boy. The stories this time were all the crazier because we had Raven and Cade with us. Their virgin ears to our chaos meant our stories were more insane. However, none of that stopped Raven from chiming in with a very dramatic re-telling of Declan’s first time doing ax-throwing.

“I went to all the county fairs with you growing up,” I whispered, leaning close to my brother. He grunted but said nothing. “Declan, you’ve taken home those stupid blue ribbons every time for ax-throwing.”

“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” he murmured into his beer.

“Seriously? You mean to tell me none of these idiots told her?”

“The only one who ever followed me around the fairs was you,” Declan said. His grin widened. “You tell her and they’ll never find your body.”

“Oh, you adorable little shit,” I replied. God, I was fucking happy he found Raven.

“Every time I sucked, I got some very expressive gestures of sympathy from her,” he told me quietly. Good God, this whole plan started with his dick. “And she was in a tiny little dress. I’d be a damned idiot to turn that down. Besides, I made it up to her by eating goddamn cheese.”

“You ate cheese?” I exclaimed. “Woman, you’re a goddamn miracle worker.”

“We should take him to that cheese bar we went to in New York,” Cade chimed in.

“You mean the one you bribed—”

“I didn’t bribe them!”

“You bribed them!” Raven retorted. “And it was glorious. Bribe them again with your fancy baseball status. We got secret cheese out of it.”

“I don’t need secret cheese.” Declan shook his head.

“Everyone needs secret cheese, Declan,” I said.

“And for the record, I didn’t bribe them,” Cade protested. “It’s not my fault I walk into a room and people know me.”

“Hello!” All of us turned at the new voice. Chuck—I was almost positive his name was Chuck—from the post office rolled a cart up the drive. The longer I stared at our random intruder, the more I wasn’t sure his name was actually Chuck. But I wasn’t Declan. I didn’t memorize anyone outside of the pack if I didn’t need to. I didn’t extend my interest any further than necessary. He gestured to his cart. “I have a bunch of packages for the Byrne family collective.”

The Byrne family collective?What the fuck was that shit?

“How’s it going, Craig?” Declan asked. Fuck, it wasn’t Chuck. “Let me help you with that.”

“No, no.” Craig shook his head. “It’s all right. I need to go through this in a specific order—directions and all. She was thorough.”

“Who was thorough?” Mom chimed in, voicing the question we all had. I had to imagine surprise package drop-offs weren’t that common here.

“Ms. Goodwin,” he said. My heart dropped. No. She wouldn’t. But apparently, I wasn’t the only one as everyone fucking looked at me.

“Don’t ask me about it,” I growled. “I don’t know a damn thing.”

I didn’t. I wished I fucking did, but Jesus fucking Christ, she’d blindsided me with this one. First blocking my calls and now this. I looked to my brothers for some kind of insight as to what might be going on. From the expressions around the fucking table, they knew more than I did—which pissed me the fuck off. She was my wife. If they knew something, they should’ve told me. I could’ve fucking fixed it. Right?

I tuned out the fucking conversations as Craig passed out presents. Fucking presents. That was what she sent. Declan’s birthday present, Christmas presents, a year’s worth of birthday presents, and a wedding present for Raven and Declan.

I was fucking fuming. Absolutely goddamn livid as I watched it all unfold.

“And for you, Mr. Byrne,” Craig began as he looked at me with a certified manilla envelope in hand. My dark mood must’ve shown because he approached me like he was afraid I’d bite. “I need you to sign this.”

I knew—I knew—what was in that goddamn envelope. I didn’t want it. I didn’t want it, but I fucking signed for it. As I dropped it on the table, it fucking jingled. What the fuck did she put in the goddamn thing?

“Thank you, Craig,” Mom said. “We appreciate it.”

“Of course, Mrs. Byrne. Have a great day.”

There was no way anyone was having a great fucking day. Not after this bull shit. No one fucking moved as Craig wheeled his goddamn cart down the driveway and disappeared. No one touched their goddamn presents. No one said a fucking word.

It was just all eyes on me all over again.

“I didn’t have anything to do with this,” I snapped once more. I didn’t need their accusatory shit.

“Yes, you did,” Nolan said. The unforgiving tone in his voice wasn’t lost on me. Neither was his cold expression as he stared at me. Sweet and young fucking Nolan—Nolan who didn’t get mad at fucking anything—was pissed. At me.

“Don’t you start, kid,” I snarled. “You don’t have a goddamn clue—”

“The clueless one is you,” he interrupted. “It’s all about you, you, you. What you want. What you need. What you think. Did you ever stop to think about her? Her pain? Her life? Did you even care?”

“Don’t you fucking go there,” I warned. “You don’t have a goddamn say in any of this. You don’t have a goddamn clue—”

“You didn’t just leave her! You left us too!” Nolan shouted, his hand slamming to the tabletop. His words knocked the fucking wind out of me. I didn’t have a single thing to say to that. What the fuck could I say to that? “Three years! You left! You left us! For three years! We didn’t have a clue! Were you alive? Dead? Did you even care anymore? You left us! Ginny didn’t.”

“Nol…”

“No, don’t you do that,” he shot back. “You don’t get to do that. You left, but she stayed. She ran my store, made sure Declan got his morning coffee and avoided people when he wanted to, helped Finn with his social media and design, ran food to Lucas and did his laundry when his shifts were all messed up, she helped take care of Sam when shit got hard, and she spent time with Mom. She did all that. Not you. She showed up for our family. Not you. No, you couldn’t be bothered with us. With any of us!”

“You can’t really think I didn’t care about you guys,” I said.

“Yeah, we can,” Sam replied with a sigh. When Declan shot him a look, he added, “Look, we said we wouldn’t get involved, and we wouldn’t pick sides, but I think we’re past that. You left us, Killian. She stayed and kept trying, even though it was clear she was hurting.”

“She doesn’t deserve to be shut out,” Lucas stated. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “She’s as much a part of this family as you are. This is bullshit.”

“Fucking noted,” I growled. My gaze flicked down the table to Mom, just waiting for her to chastise me, but she didn’t. Instead, her hands were neatly folded and her eyes were narrowed as she watched us. “Anyone else want to chime in? Throw me under the bus?”

“Stop acting like a child,” Declan said. “We stood by both of you through all of it, and neither of you gave an inch as to what was happening. We respected that. But if I’m being real damn honest right now, you leaving without a word for three years… that I don’t respect. And I don’t respect the way you’ve bulldozed her since you came back.”

“I haven’t fucking bulldozed—”

“The incident at the Stones, the events after the bar fight at the Ironwoods,” he ticked them off on his fingers as he talked, “the t-shirt, the song. But when did you talk to her?”

“I texted her that we need to talk.”

“Before or after you slept with her?” he demanded. Fuck, he wasn’t holding punches. “You bulldozed her. And I have a feeling it wasn’t the first time. I’m not saying you don’t love her, Killian, but I am saying you don’t fucking think about how your actions affect other people.”

“Stop acting like you’re my dad,” I growled.

“No, but I am your mother,” Mom cut in. Fuck, fuck, fuck. “Enough is enough, boys. We’re going to continue celebrating Declan’s birthday.”

“What?” I retorted. “You have nothing to say?”

Yeah, I was poking the bear, but I was fucking pissed. The look Mom leveled on me did nothing to quell that.

“If you want to know what I think, Killian, I think you’re afraid of the pain,” she said. I frowned. “How many times did you give up playing guitar because building the calluses hurt? More times than I can count. And every time I had to coax you back into it and remind you that we have to grow through the pain. You’ve always quit when things hurt, and this is no different. I think you’re afraid to face whatever happened with Genevieve because it’ll hurt. I think she’s hurting too. I can’t help—none of us can—because neither of you will let us. So, I’m going to love you. Both of you. And I’ll hold my tongue because if I’m being honest, baby boy, you couldn’t handle the things I want to say right now. Now, we’re going to finish celebrating your brother’s birthday, and then I’m going to go check on my daughter-in-law because that’s what I do. Do you have any other fights you’d like to pick?”

I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out. My neck burned with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. Jesus fuck. I really was the family fuck up. There was no way around that one.

“No,” I murmured.

“Raven, would you mind helping me get the cake and dishes?” Mom asked. “Cade too, please.”

“Of course,” Raven replied.

“Anything,” Cade agreed.

I rolled my eyes. It was a tactic to leave the six of us alone, which was probably a poor fucking idea.

“You know,” Finn began. There it was. “Whatever happened, we wouldn’t judge.”

“You can’t fucking think I hurt her,” I snapped. I knew what the town fucking thought. “I wouldn’t lay a goddamn hand on her!”

“I don’t doubt that,” Sam said. “We all don’t. But, Killian, something fucking happened between the two of you.”

“If we knew, we could help,” Declan agreed. But he wasn’t the one I was focused on. My gaze settled on Nolan—quiet and in his head again.

“You know, don’t you?” I asked.

“Yeah, she told me,” Nolan whispered. “She got drunk one night and told me.”

“How much does she drink?” I wanted the answer to that fucking question. I knew enough to know it was more than she ever had before, but was it a fucking problem? Nolan glanced away. So did Finn and Lucas while Sam and Declan exchanged silent glances. “Jesus fucking Christ. And none of you thought to get her some fucking help?”

“Don’t you dare,” Nolan snapped. “You don’t have a say in—”

A horribly angry growl tore through our conversation. It rolled across my skin like razors and set my wolf on edge. We all turned.

Raven stood on the bottom of the porch steps with Declan’s birthday cake shaking in her hands. Another growl ripped through her, violent and threatening.

But it wasn’t the growling that worried me.

It was the swirls of purple magic lighting up her eyes and tracking its way through her veins.