and trying to figure out what the hell he was supposed to do next.
Chapter 6
It was midday, and Conlan hadn’t slept at all. Like Seamus, he was used to keeping odd hours, what with the humans on the estate mostly keeping to the daylight shift and the vampires operating on a nocturnal schedule. Even so, that wasn’t the reason behind the restlessness that had him outside walking circles around the infirmary.
Maggie and Rose had paid one last visit to their aunt in the wee hours of the morning. They’d arrived bearing a basket of cookies they’d baked with Joss’s help. Granted, a few were a bit burned around the edges, and some of the icing looked as if someone with small fingers had snuck a sample or two, but the girls had been so proud of their wares.
Kat had been suitably grateful for their gift and lavish in her praise. Heck, they’d even brought Conlan his own plateful. He’d consumed enough of the cookies to please both girls and their aunt. At least the smiles he and Kat had exchanged over the heads of the girls had felt genuine.
For the first time since she’d arrived on the estate, Kat had looked animated, even happy, the horror hanging over her banished for the duration of her nieces’ visit. The girls had chattered about Rafferty’s house, how he’d slip in to steal a spoonful of cookie dough whenever Joss turned her back and that he was going to take them riding on a tractor. Even better, they’d each have their own room as soon as Rafferty’s aunts left at the end of the week.
Finally, Maggie had run out of steam, falling apart when it came time to return to Rafferty’s because she had to leave her aunt behind. She’d still been sobbing when Joss had carried her from the room. Rose had followed them out, turning one last time to look at Kat. Her chin had been quivering, her pretty turquoise eyes looking so damned sad.
Kat held up until she was sure the girls were gone and he’d stepped just outside the door. On his way by, she’d asked that he turn off the lights so she could sleep, but he’d heard her sobbing into her pillow.
To keep from hauling her back into his arms and telling her everything was going to be all right, he’d headed outside, needing to put some physical distance between them. Two hours later, his mood hadn’t improved at all.
He’d made a habit of not lying to people, especially himself. Nothing was going to be all right for Kat, that was for sure. Her nieces might eventually adjust to their new lives here on the estate, but they’d carry the scars of everything—and everyone—they’d lost for the rest of their lives.
Looking back, he’d spent most of his adult life searching for the truth in each case he’d been assigned, working hard to put together all the pieces of the puzzle and hoping it all added up to make the course of justice clear. That’s exactly what he’d been trying to do when Kat had bolted on him three years ago. That’s what he’d always told himself. But standing out in the bright light of day, he had to own up to his own truth.
Yes, he’d wanted to clear Kat’s name, but for his own selfish reasons. Maybe if he’d worked harder and faster and kept his emotions out of it, he might have found the answers before it had all gone to hell and imploded. He’d never know for sure. No matter what, he should’ve known the two of them had been on a road headed straight for disaster. The minute he’d realized his feelings for her had careened way past neutral, he should’ve reported the circumstances to Ambrose and asked for the case to be reassigned.
Instead, he’d taken Kat to his bed. He’d known full well it was wrong, but he’d been unable to resist something that felt so damned right. Hell, he’d been almost painfully aware of her from the instant he’d walked into the interview room to meet with her that first time. She’d stared up at him with such desperation, as if he were the salvation she’d been so desperately looking for. It had been more than that, though. They’d connected on a visceral level in a way he’d never experienced before or since. He hadn’t wanted to be her hero; he’d wanted to be hers, period.
After that, there was no way he