Page 31 of Beautiful Trauma (The Irish Rogues #5)

A s I stared at the man before me, I fought the urge to pinch myself. This couldn’t be real life. He couldn’t have possibly gone to all this trouble. Especially not for me. When I thought of the money he spent and the effort it had taken, my skin shriveled along my bones.

I didn’t deserve this.

I didn’t deserve him.

Overwhelmed, I didn’t know what to do or say, so I buried my head in my hands. A screech came from the cello before Kellan said, “Can you give us a minute?”

“Of course,” she replied before she eased her instrument down into the case.

Once we were alone, Kellan asked, “Mila, what’s wrong?”

“I just need a minute.”

“Fuck, it’s too over-the-top, isn’t it?”

When I didn’t respond, he sucked in a harsh breath. “It makes you sad because it reminds you too much of your mom, doesn’t it? I’m so sorry.”

I jerked my hands away to glare at him. “Don’t be stupid. You did nothing wrong. This is all too fucking perfect.”

“Then what’s wrong?” he questioned earnestly.

A mirthless laugh bubbled from my lips. “I’ve done a real number on you, haven’t I?”

His brows furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you get it? I don’t deserve this.” I motioned wildly around the room. “And I sure as hell don’t deserve you.”

Kellan closed the gap between us. “I’ve asked you before, and I’ll ask again: who hurt you? Who planted those seeds of doubt in your head that you’re not worthy? Because let me assure you that you are.”

I shook my head forlornly. “I’m not.”

“You are worthy of me and my feelings for you, Mila.”

As I searched his beautiful blue eyes, I saw the burning resolve in them. And within his gaze, I did feel worthy of him and his feelings.

“ Ty muzhchina moyey mechty, ” I murmured.

The corner of Kellan’s lip quirked. “Did you just curse at me in Russian?”

I laughed. “No, I would never do that.”

“Then what did you say?”

“That you’re the man of my dreams.”

He gave me a genuine smile. “And you’re straight out of mine.”

Covering my eyes, I moaned, “I can’t believe I just had a meltdown like that.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. Like, I should try to hide that side of me until a couple of months into the relationship, or you’ll be running for the hills.”

Kellan laughed. “I don’t think so.”

“Yeah, you can say that now. That wasn’t even a full representation of my craziness.”

“We all have our own baggage, Mila. What matters is how you carry it.”

“Could you please stop saying and doing all the right things?” I teased.

“It’s a curse,” he joked with a smile.

“I can live with it.”

Jerking his head at the table, he asked, “Are you hungry?”

“Starved.”

“Then let’s eat.”

When he started to head for the table, I pulled on his sleeve. “First, go tell the cellist she can come back in.”

He cocked his brows at me. “Are you sure it's not too much?”

I grinned at him. “I’ve never had my own private cellist, so it would be a shame to send her away.”

Kellan laughed. “All right.”

While he went to the door, I made my way to the table. At the smell of Thai food, my stomach growled in appreciation.

“How in the hell did he know Thai is my favorite?” I mumbled under my breath.

Kellan came back in and joined me at the table. “Have you been stalking me?” I demanded.

He chuckled. “What do you mean?”

I swept my hand at the food covering the table. “How did you know Thai was my favorite?”

With a secretive smile, he replied, “I did a little research.”

“You mean stalking.”

“If that’s what you would call looking at your social media, then yes, I was stalking.”

When I thought about my Instagram posts, I knew there were a ton of me and Kira at our favorite Thai place.

“Just Instagram, huh? I was thinking you hired a private investigator or put a camera in my apartment.”

As he poured some wine, he mused, “Now why didn’t I think of installing cameras at your place and the gallery?”

“You can put that thought out of your mind right now.”

He eased down in his seat. “I would be going against family tradition if I didn’t install cameras."

“You’re joking.”

Kellan laughed. “Sadly, I” 'm not.”

“You Kavanaugh boys are freaks,” I remarked around the rim of my wine glass.

“In my brothers’ defense, it was out of necessity.”

“Is that how you justify it?” I challenged.

“Isla had been attacked, and Ava had a stalker ex after her. Now that I think of it, Callum didn’t put cameras on Caterina.”

“Good for him.”

He raised his glass with a smile. “He just put a tracking device in her arm while she slept.”

My jaw unhinged at his comment. “Seriously?”

“He was afraid she might run away after he kidnapped her from a convent.”

“A convent?”

“It’s a long story.”

As I slowly shook my head, I asked, “Would you do that?”

“Kidnap you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Put a tracker in me.”

“If I did, I would at least tell you what I was doing.” Wagging his brows, he said, “I'd like to kidnap you tonight and take you back to Boston with me.”

I laughed. “I wouldn’t mind that kind of kidnapping.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

As the cellist started back up, Kellan and I dug into the enormous spread before us. After spooning up some Pad Thai, Kellan said, “I know we said that we would forget about all the problems facing us tonight–”

“Yes, we did.” I gave him a pointed look. “And we are going to keep doing that.”

“Can you just hear me out for a minute?”

With a sigh, I eased back in my chair. “Okay. What?”

“I would like you to get Dima’s medical records for me.”

I blinked at him in disbelief. “Excuse me?”

“I don’t know if I told you, but Callum’s wife, Caterina, is a nurse.”

“The one he kidnapped from a convent?”

With a laugh, Kellan replied, “That’s the one.”

“Does she have experience with spinal injuries?”

“No. But at the hospital where she works, there’s a doctor who’s had amazing results with patients with paralysis.”

“Really?”

Kellan nodded. “I could pull some strings to get him to see Dima.”

I furrowed my brows. “But Boston is enemy territory for him. There’s not only your family, but Father isn’t on good terms with the Bratva leader there.”

“He would need an alias.”

“You think just a change of name will protect Dima in enemy territory?”

“He would be under Kavanaugh protection.”

As I stared at the man before me, I fought to catch my breath. The emotions churning in my chest threatened to explode out of me. “You’d do that for him even though he tried to kill you?”

“Of course, I would.”

“But that could bring a lot of trouble to your doorstep.”

He smiled. “We’re used to trouble.”

“Kellan–”

He reached across the table to take my hand in his. “Let me do this for him.” He squeezed my hand. “And for you.”

Overwhelmed with emotion, I rose out of my chair and scrambled over to close the distance between us. After dropping down in his lap, I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Thank you,” I murmured in his ear.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“But I need to.”

“Then you’re welcome.”

After rising off Kellan’s lap, I went back to my chair with a newfound bounce in my step at the thought of Dima being healed.

“Although you don’t need to thank me, you’re welcome.”

After bestowing a kiss on his cheek, I rose out of his lap and started back to my chair with a newfound bounce in my step for Dima’s healing.