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Fiona is the exception, and that’s not because she’s a royal, but because she works in animal rescue and rehabilitation and tangles with people who illegally keep, sell, and transport exotic, endangered animals at times, as well as run-of-the-mill asshole animal abusers. On any given day, she could run into a dangerous dickhead person. Or a dangerous dickhead tiger.
The billionaire playboy, Declan, might also occasionally be at risk of someone wanting to harm him or possibly try to get some ransom for his life. But honestly, he’s pretty fucking charitable,so he’s not angering anyone who might want to retaliate for some terrible environmental harm or anything.
Another billionaire who gets annoyed with Declan making him look bad, a celebrity who loses a girlfriend to Declan, or a politician who doesn’t get a big enough check could all have reason to want to hurt Declan, I suppose. But as for kidnapping him, Declan’s an intimidating son-of-a-bitch, and anyone wanting to keep him captive is going to have to be willing to put up with his broody, asshole, I’m-better-than-you-and-we-both-know-it attitude for an extended period of time. It would take real fortitude to kidnapthat.
“What’s going to happen thenexttime Ruby needs something, Henry?” Iris asks.
I shift uncomfortably, not so much because of the question but because of the sudden softness in Iris’s voice. What the hell?
“I don’t know what you mean. I’ll help her if I can. As I said, she’s Princess Scarlett’s sister.”
Iris sighs. “Knock it off. This isn’t a group call or a group text. You’re in love with her. You know that’s okay, right?”
This softer tone of voice from Iris is making me itchy. She’s a ball-buster, and God knows we need it. She manages us like an older sister. An older sister who pretty much resents all of us being born.
“It’s going to be fine. I can handle it all.”
Iris laughs. “You just abandoned your protectee to fly thousands of miles to be with her the moment you found out shemightbeslightlyat risk.”
I frown. “Jonah’s report sounds like it was unnecessarily wordy.”
“I got all of that when I called him about something else, and Cian answered his phone.”
Oh, boy. Iris doesn’t like when people other than the bodyguards answer their phones. Which Cian knows.
“Look, Ruby is…” I blow out a breath. “She takes care of people. She doesn’t think about herself.” The truth of those words hit me in the center of my chest. “She just needs someone to haveherback once in a while. I knew everyone else was fine.”
“And what happens next time?”
“I’ll…assess the situation and make a decision.” I can’t promise I won’t leave Cian to go to Ruby. That realization is startling. Though it probably shouldn’t be. But this is the first time in more than a decade that I would have even allowed thethoughtof something or someone else being a priority before Cian.
“That sounds exhausting,” Iris says.
Not the reaction I expected. “Maybe. Don’t worry about me.”
She laughs. “My entire job boils down to worrying about you. All of you.”
I open my mouth to say something glib and sarcastic but find I can’t. She’s right, I suppose. We drive Iris crazy, and she doesn’t hesitate to let us know that, but she’s always been there for us, bailing us out, giving us resources, advice, direction, whatever we need, whenever we need it. Even kicks in the ass if that’s what we need. And yes, we do need those. Often.
“Ruby is moving to New Orleans. Soon. I’ll be able to be here fully for Cian, don’t worry.” Goddammit, those words taste awful in my mouth.
“Why is she going to New Orleans?”
“Law school.”
“Ah.” Iris sounds very interested in that. “Why New Orleans?”
“She got in at Loyola two years ago. She’s been deferring her admission to be here for Scarlett. But now, because of Cian and everything, she feels like she can leave.”
“Ah.”
I just wait. Iris is thinking. She’ll tell me if she wants me to know those thoughts.
Finally, she says, “We can get her in at Ohio State.”
Yeah, that was my first thought, too. “No. It needs to be Loyola.”
“It does?”