“Enough, you two.” Seamus shoved him toward the back door while Fitz pulled Brendan in the other direction. “Brendan. Go upstairs to your wife and get her to look after those cuts. And Liam, you’d best take Daisy home.”

Outside in the cool air, and away from his hotheaded brother, Liam sat on the front step and took a deep breath. What the hell was Brendan on about? He’d never once stood up to their father. It was Liam who had taken the punches and verbal abuse. Liam who had finally gotten their mother away.

“It sounds like your dad really messed you guys up.” Daisy sat on the front step beside him, a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Liam rested his elbows on his thighs, dropping his hands between his legs. “He started drinking after he turned his back on the distillery to start his car business. Things didn’t go well and he was too proud to ask for help. Money was tight. He didn’t want a second kid. When my mom got pregnant he couldn’t accept that they’d have to go even further in debt, so he accused her of having an affair. That made me a no-good, worthless burden on the family. It didn’t help that I was an energetic kid, always getting into trouble and breaking the rules.”

“I can’t even imagine how hard that must have been.” Daisy pulled a tissue out of her bag and dabbed at the cut on his forehead. “Kids just want to be loved.”

“I just wanted him to stop beating on my mother.” His heart was still pounding, his control fracturing with each dredged-up memory.

Her expression changed, softened. “It sounds like Brendan wanted that, too.”

She was imagining things. This was Brendan, a man who’d watched his dad beat his mom and little brother and never once tried to intervene. “I’ve got good reasons for doing what I’m doing.”

“Wouldn’t he say the same? He wants to sell the land to save his company and preserve what he sees as the family business. Maybe you’re not so different.”

“You don’t know anything about my family. I’m nothing like Brendan.” He needed to leave. Get on his motorcycle and get away from this house. Away from Brendan. Away from the family who turned a blind eye to the abuse. Away from Daisy and her irritating analytical mind. He had too much to risk to let himself slide back into the past.

As if she could read his mind, Daisy pushed to stand. “You seem to be okay,” she said in a clipped tone. “I should get going.”

Fuck. Could he mess this evening up any worse? Life had been easier when he’d kept his distance from his family.

“Daisy. Wait.” He caught up to her just as she reached her Mini, catching her arm before she could slip away. “I’m sorry. It’s just . . .”

She shook off his hand. “I understand, Liam.”

“Let me know when you get home so I know you’re safe.”

“There’s no one here.” She fumbled in her purse for her key. “You don’t have to pretend with me.”

Silence filled the space between them, his anger at Brendan fading beneath the weight of regret. Daisy was the only real thing in his life right now. The one person who made sense. He needed her strength, her calm. He needed her to know how much he cared.

“Do it anyway. Please.”

“Okay. I will.” She opened her car door. Hesitated. “Goodnight, humraaz.”

Warmth rushed through him, filling the black hole in his chest. She wasn’t just his humraaz. She was so much more.

• 17 •

BREATHE. Breathe. Breathe.

Daisy bent over, arms wrapped around her legs, and tried to focus on drawing air into her lungs. Her anxiety had spiraled out of control after her mother’s sudden reappearance years ago and she’d been through three therapists before she found one who was able to help. Focus on the breath. In for four. Hold for four. Out for four.

Max had been unresponsive in his basket when she’d arrived to pick him up. While a panicked Mehar Auntie had searched the house for the source of his illness, Daisy had broken the sound barrier to get to the animal hospital, and the vet had taken him in right away. Mehar Auntie had arrived shortly after to let them know Max had gotten into her baking chocolate. Utterly devastated that he’d made himself sick while she dozed on her couch, she’d stayed to keep Daisy company while the vet pumped Max’s stomach.

Mehar Auntie rubbed her hair. “He’s going to be okay, beta. The doctor said so. Let me take you home, and you can come back in the morning and pick him up.”

Her voice caught, muffled by her lap. “I can’t leave him, Auntie-ji.”

Thick black boots crossed the floor in front of her. She heard the squeak of leather, the groan of the plastic chair beside her, inhaled a whiff of fresh ocean air, and then Liam’s face was down beside hers.

“How’s Max?”

His unexpected appearance startled her out of her breathing rhythm and she shot up to sitting. “What are you doing here?”

“I thought you might need a friend.”

Seven words. They rippled through her body and settled in her soul.

“He’s going to be okay.” She looked over at Mehar Auntie, who was watching them with interest. “This is Liam. We were visiting his family tonight.” After the vet had assured her Max would be okay, she’d somehow managed to send a quick text to Liam, never expecting he’d turn up.

“The fiancé.” Mehar Auntie nodded and introduced herself to Liam. “Who is your family? What do you do? How do you know Daisy?”

Daisy’s chest tightened as her anxiety peaked again, and she tried to squeeze in a few breaths. “This . . . isn’t . . . the time . . . for . . . an . . . interrogation.” She leaned forward and felt a gentle hand circle her neck. Warm and soothing, it made her feel curiously safe.

“I’m sorry,” Liam said. “I shouldn’t have come. I thought you’d be alone. I didn’t mean to cause you more stress.”