He nods. “Sure, sure, but you have to understand that I took care of the situation. Plus, I would have told ya sooner but I got drunk as hell last night, slept at the pub, and was late to work. I’ve been swamped with work all day, and I haven’t had time to get back to you about it. I didn’t want to say this over the phone either.”

I’m irritated by the time he is done talking. “Fuckin’ hell, what?”

He takes a quick drink of his whiskey before meeting my gaze. “Amberlyn apparently called things off with Casey last night.”

He pauses. I’m not sure why that would make me mad but before I can ask him, he says, “And he attacked her.”

I am out of my seat within a second. Leaning on the desk, my arms taut, I ask, “What the fuck? He did what?”

“He got a hold of her, dug his nails in her face, and made her kiss him, I guess. She kneed him in the balls. That’s when I came in, fuckin’ clocked him one, threatened to kill him if he came anywhere near her again, and that was it. She’s all right, a little shook up, but she’s a trooper.”

My nostrils flare as my nails bite into the desk to the point where I am convinced they might just pop off, but I don’t care, I am going to kill Casey fucking Burke.

“Now calm down, Dec. I told you, I took care of it.”

“No, I’m going to fucking kill him,” I say, coming around the desk, but he stops me.

“Won’t do ya any good, I took care of it. He touches her again, you get him then, but now, it won’t do anything but make you look crazy. Let it go.”

I shake my head as I take in a deep, long breath. “I hate him.”

Kane nods. “I know, we both do.”

“Why would he do that to her?”

He shrugs. “He fancies her, I guess.”

“Great way of showing it!”

“She called things off, and he got mad. I don’t get it.”

That doesn’t soothe my anger. “I’ll kill him. I swear to fuckin’ god, he touches her again, I’ll go away for her.”

Kane laughs as he pats my shoulder. “I know it, and I’ll sit right there beside you in the cell.”

That causes a grin to grow on my face. He really is my best friend, but I can’t appreciate that the way I should with the anger still coursing through my veins. I shake my head as I let out a long breath. Looking up at Kane, I ask, “Why didn’t she tell me? I saw her today, I asked about her face, and she didn’t tell me anything about it. Fiona is lying to me too. Why are they lyin’ to me?”

Kane shakes his head. “I don’t know.”

That’s not a good enough answer for me. “Well, I’m going to fuckin’ find out!”

Passing by him, I go out the door and out to where Cathmor is waiting for me by a tree. Kane is running behind me, coming to a halt beside me. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to go see Amberlyn and find out why she lied to me.”

“Now?”

“Seems like as good a time as any,” I reply before I greet my horse.

“Well, it just seems like you’re mad. I think you might want to calm down.”

“Well, it’s either her or Casey. Pick one.”

“Ugh, neither? Let’s get drunk,” he suggests, but I know I can’t do that. If I do, I’m bound to do something stupid. I shake my head, looking back at Kane.

“I’ll calm down before I get there. I need to know why she lied to me. Why she didn’t tell me what was going on. Why doesn’t she trust me?”

I have so many questions but I don’t want to sound like a total eejit, spilling my heart out to my best friend. I feel like I did the day before when she told me she was going out with him, like a failure, something I don’t like. I don’t understand what I have done not to earn her trust. I thought I had been really open with her, but maybe I haven’t. I don’t know, but I know I need answers and I need them now.

Thankfully, Kane doesn’t say anything more and within seconds, Cathmor is carrying me to where I need to be.

And that’s with Amberlyn.

I just want to go back to bed.

My head is pounding, and I just feel empty. Add the stuff that is happening with Casey and Declan to the fact that today is just a ‘bad Mom and Dad day,’ and that means I am just having the worst day ever. I woke up feeling like shit. Utter crap. I miss my mom, I miss my dad, I hate what Casey did, and I hate how things have played out with Declan. The night before has played over and over in my head, and I keep trying to figure out if there was a way I could have prevented it from happening.

Maybe I should’ve never gotten involved with him. Maybe I should have listened to the warning signs when they were flashing in my face. The first time he kissed me without even knowing my name should have told me that he wasn’t the guy I was meant to get involved with. Instead, I used him to distract me from my feelings for Declan, and I can’t believe how utterly stupid that was. I should have just left it alone, and let everything play out. Instead, I made bad choice after bad choice and now, I just feel stupid. Downright dumb. I don’t even know what I was thinking. He isn’t my type, and I still took the risk when it wasn’t the right one to take.

Blah.

I’ve always seen myself with someone like my dad. My dad was so respectful, worked hard to provide for his family, and loved with everything inside of him. There wasn’t a day, and still isn’t one, that I didn’t know he loved me. It was all in his eyes and the things he did. He would buy my mom flowers just because, and he would leave little notes for me. He was never too tired to do things with my mom and me. We were his world, and I always said I would be with someone like him.

The main thing is that I want to be wooed, I want to be wined and dined, and I want the romance that my mom had. What a whirlwind it was! She didn’t like my dad at first, said he was obnoxious, but he wouldn’t give up. He relentlessly showed up wherever she was. He’d sing to her with a whole crowd around them. He’d bring her tokens of his love, little sweet nothings she called them, that made her fall for him completely. He promised her the world and he gave it to her, she said, the day I was born.

Clearing my throat, I look away from the customer talking to me to collect myself. This isn’t the place to reminisce about my family, but I just miss them so much. It seems like I never stop thinking about them. Sometimes I wonder if I would be the same person I am now if I had both of them today. I know I probably wouldn’t be in Ireland, but would I still be the naïve girl that I am? Never been thoroughly kissed by a man, never been in bed with one, or even touched in a sexual way. I don’t know why I am thinking so much about being a virgin but, since last night, that’s the second thing that has been flooding my thoughts.