Saving a Legend: A Kavanagh Legends Novel

  “She’s studying to be a vet,” Kieran informed Nora before she could ask, surprised at the pride in his voice. He barely knew Clare, but he felt like she was his sister already. He hoped Rory didn’t fuck it up; he wanted Clare to stick around.

  “Yeah, I feel the same way about my independence,” Nora told Clare.

  “Plus, now that my old boss was sacked, it’s so much more fun to work here.” Clare grinned.

  Kieran thought for a moment; he’d been coming to this bar for years. Everyone in Woodlawn went to O’Leary’s. “Oh, yeah, there was a scrawny man who was the general manager when Casey was working here. He was definitely an ass.”

  “Cian was the worst,” Clare exclaimed. “Literally the worst. I wanted to rip his nuts right off during every shift. Casey hated him, too.”

  Nora laughed as she finished her drink. Kieran nodded, remembering the prick. He knew it was very likely Rory had had a hand in the change in management, but he doubted Clare knew that.

  “I’ll need to bring my best friend, Fiona, in here sometime. She reminds me a bit of you, Clare. Same snarky personality that I love,” Nora told her.

  Kieran blew out a large breath. He really didn’t want to think about Fiona right now. He’d been wondering where she was all day, and he felt off without her around. Then he felt even more off because he’d spent an entire day obsessing about the whereabouts of a woman he’d known less than a week. His mind was beyond conflicted, and he didn’t like it.

  “She live around here?” Clare asked.

  “Yep, a few blocks over on the edge of Woodlawn, barely in Woodlawn anymore. She’s my best friend from when we were kids, and she runs that flower shop down the street, Fiona’s Flowers.”

  “Oh, I’ve been there. We go there every week almost. My boyfriend loves that she picks things out for him ahead of time so he isn’t standing there staring at thousands of options with no clue what to choose.”

  “She’s amazing. I swear that woman has a talent for beauty. Ever since we were kids, she’s brought flowers to everything, gives them to everyone. She says that the world is gray, and she wants to bring the color back into it.”

  Kieran thought of the gray prison walls he’d once known so well…Fiona had definitely colored his world just by being in it. She was beauty without even trying, just by being.

  “Wait, Kieran, isn’t that the girl you went on a date with?” Clare asked. Nora went wide-eyed and rotated her stool to face him.

  “Holy shit! You got Fiona to go on a date?” Nora’s jaw practically hit her chest. “Hell, you got her to leave her house for something besides work or Shea? I need to know everything! How did I not hear about this from either one of you?”

  Thankfully, Kane chose that exact moment to walk up behind him and grab his shoulders with a firm squeeze. “K, good to see you out, man. Clare, looking gorgeous as ever.” Kane greeted him by his nickname, but he didn’t seem to notice Nora was part of their group.

  “Hey.” Kieran nodded toward his brother, grateful for his timing. “Nora, this is my twin brother, Kane.”

  Kane peered around him to see the gorgeous, curly blonde, his smile widening to epic proportions when he did.

  Nora’s eyes looked like they were going to fall out of her head. “Oh my God! I can’t believe it. Holy shit, there are two of you. Holy shit, I can’t stop saying holy shit.” Nora babbled on, looking from one brother to the other as she gulped down the remainder of her cocktail. “I’m sorry.”

  “Nothing to be sorry about, baby. I’ve been known to make a lot of women scream out to His Holiness before.” Kane grinned, eyeing Nora up and down. “I’d be more than happy to keep you screaming all night, gorgeous.”

  Nora sighed so loud, you’d think she just found out her puppy died. “Damn, it had to go and speak. And it had been doing so well before it opened its mouth.” She shook her head, making a disgusted face, then turned away from Kane and spoke to Clare once more. “Why do men think it’s okay to talk like that to a woman?”

  “Ouch, kitty’s got claws.” Kane laughed.

  Nora just shrugged, now totally indifferent. “Whatever.”

  Kieran had seen Kane turn off many women before, but this might have been in record time, especially with someone as sweet as Nora, who, from what he had seen, got along with everybody. Until Kane.

  “I don’t get it, either, Nora.” Clare shook her head, smiling before refilling Kieran’s Coke and depositing it on the bar in front of him.

  Kane wasn’t deterred. “We’ve got a real angel here. Tell me, Nora, did it hurt?”

  “Kane, come on, man.” Kieran tried to signal him to stop, but Kane ignored him, and Nora seemed more than fine with taking the bait.

  “Did what hurt? I’ve heard every single one of these lines before. Let me guess—when I fell from heaven?” Nora looked back over her shoulder at Kane, rolling her eyes. “Nope, but my knees got a bit scratched up when I climbed my way out of hell. Just leave me alone.”

  “Damn,” Kane said as he shook his head and turned back to Kieran. “I’m tapping out, bro. Your girl’s got one up on me.”

  “Well, maybe you should leave her alone, then,” Kieran said, wondering why he’d ventured out tonight just to hang around a bunch of grown-up kids.

  “She’s not his girl, either. I already asked.” Clare grinned.

  “Oh, yeah, I knew that. Our man, K, here is stuck on that flower girl,” Kane informed them, and smiles broke out all around. Except on Kieran’s face.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kieran said, despite the gnawing feeling in his gut that this was exactly what was happening.

  Clare laughed at the scene. “Kane, what can I get you?”

  “I’ll take a whiskey neat, and put it on Kieran’s tab. He owes me rent,” Kane said, only partially joking.

  Kieran nodded to her that it was fine, then made a mental note to find a new place to live.

  “I’ll have another vodka cranberry.” Nora pushed her empty glass forward a bit and leaned an elbow on the bar. Kieran could tell she tried not to follow Kane with her gaze, but it stayed on his twin as he moved off to say hello to a couple friends seated nearby.

  “He was only teasing, you know. My brother’s not a bad guy. He just comes on a little strong sometimes,” Kieran tried to assure her, despite Kane not doing him any favors.

  “I’m sure he’s great,” Nora said, tracing the condensation on the side of her glass with her index finger. “I’m just so tired of being hit on like that, as if I’m nothing more than a conquest to be added to his list. For once, I’d just like to meet a guy who treats me like I’m worth more.”

  Kieran frowned and gave her forearm a small squeeze. “Well, on behalf of my stupid brother and every stupid man out there, I’m sorry. You definitely deserve better.”

  “Thanks, that’s really sweet.” Nora smiled, her eyes both sad and warm at the same time. “I’m sure a fun evening out, huh? Do I have you feeling better yet?”

  “Not even close.” If anything, Kieran felt even more restless. “But that’s not your fault. Just too much on my mind today. I think I’m gonna head out.”

  “So I guess you’re not going to be my designated driver, then?” she asked.

  “Shit, I forgot about—”

  “I’ll be more than happy to take you home later, kitty.” Kane grinned, reappearing next to them. “I’m just having the one drink. Promise.”

  Nora eyed him, contemplating what she wanted to do. Narrowing her eyes at Kieran, she huffed. “Last time I go drinking with you.”

  “Sorry.” He smiled sheepishly. “Kane will be a perfect gentleman, I promise.”

  “What? Since when?” Kane whipped his head around to him, clearly not happy about Kieran’s promise. “Dude, way to kill my game.”

  “Perfect gentleman, I promise,” Kieran reiterated to Nora as he smacked Kane upside the back of his head.

  “And where the hell are you going to go?” Kane aske
d. “You live with me, remember?”

  Kieran shrugged. He wasn’t ready to turn in for the night, but he definitely wanted to get out of there and find some peace and quiet. Or find a pretty brunette who always smelled like flowers.

  “Are you going to go see Fiona?” Clare asked with a wide smile and raised eyebrows.

  He shook his head, worry churning in his gut as he was reminded why he was feeling on edge. “I haven’t seen her all day. I’m worried something’s wrong.”

  “So why not go check on her? Give her a call,” Clare suggested.

  “I don’t have her phone number.” He turned to Nora with a hopeful look.

  “Don’t look at me.” Nora shook her index finger no. “Girlfriend 101: Don’t give out your best friend’s phone numbers to random dudes.”

  Kieran frowned. “I’m not a random dude.”

  “No, you’re a random ex-con. So much better.” She rolled her eyes.

  Kieran paused, feeling the sting of her words.

  “Oh shit, sorry,” she said, seeing his expression. “That was insensitive.”

  Kane laughed before clapping a hand on Kieran’s shoulder for support. “Low blow, kitty.”

  “All right, all right, fine. I’ll give you her number, but you’ll have to say you forced it out of me. I had no choice,” she relented dramatically.

  “Sure,” Kieran told her, moving to grab her phone.

  She snatched it first and held a finger up. “Promise me one thing first, though.”

  He tilted his head, waiting for her to continue.

  “Promise me this isn’t a fling. Fiona is my best friend, and she has been for as long as I can remember. I obviously don’t want to see her hurt, but I also know she’ll allow you to do that. If you keep pursuing her and being her knight in shining armor, she’ll fall for you.” Nora chewed the inside of her cheek, looking nervous, before sighing and continuing. “Fiona is not fling material. She has her own mini-family. She needs someone who wants to be part of that permanently or not at all.”

  Kieran stared at her for a moment, absorbing everything she was telling him. If someone had said something like this to him two years ago, he’d never have given it a second thought. The very idea of committing would have had him running in the opposite direction, but now he felt only comfort at the thought.

  He felt as if his life had been on pause for the past two years, and he was now ready to press play; in fact, in a sense he had. Before prison, he hadn’t wanted to give up the chance to be young and wild, to meet women and sleep around. He had quickly realized that not only did that behavior lead him to prison, but prison had taken valuable years away from him.

  Now that he was free, he wasn’t willing to give up any more time. He didn’t exactly know what that meant yet, but he thought Fiona might be the answer. He had a feeling that she could be a game changer for him, and he wanted that.

  He wanted her.

  Clearing his throat, he shook his head. “I don’t know what’s happening between Fiona and me, Nora, but I do know that I care about her. She’s definitely not a fling.”

  Nora studied him for a minute, seemingly deciding if she believed him or not. Finally, she handed him her phone with a nod. Kieran’s grin stretched from ear to ear as he scrolled through her contacts until he found Fiona’s name. Transferring the number to his phone, he quickly typed in a text message to her.

  K: Hey, flower girl, it’s Kieran. Missed my stalker today.

  Feeling relieved, he placed his phone back on the bar and finished his Coke. Just as he was about to check the phone for a response, a middle-aged man walked up and stuck out his hand.

  “Hey, Kieran, it’s been a while. Heard you just got out?”

  Kieran shook the man’s hand and gave him a polite nod. He recognized him as one of his dad’s friends, but Kieran had never really been close to him. Woodlawn was like that: you might recognize everyone, but you didn’t necessarily know them. Or you knew only the gossip about them.

  “That’s right,” he confirmed, not eager to talk about his prison time.

  “Good, that whole sentence was bullshit. You should have been out ages ago. You thinking of getting back into fighting?” the man asked.

  Kieran pondered the question for a minute. “I’m not sure, honestly.”

  “Well, you should think about it. You were amazing, almost as good as Rory was at his peak. You could get back out there, especially since it looks like you’ve put on a lot more muscle.” The man’s encouragement ran deep, and Kieran found himself smiling back at him.

  “You were that good a fighter?” Nora interjected herself into their conversation. “I thought you just did it for fun?”

  “He was fixing to be one of the best,” the man confirmed.

  “I was doing all right there for a while. Not sure it was ever really a passion of mine for a career, though.” Kieran’s phone buzzed, and he excused himself before glancing back down at the screen.

  F: You’re calling me the stalker, yet somehow you seem to have miraculously found my unlisted phone number. Hmmm…

  Grinning, he typed in a quick response. Nora was chatting away with the older man, and Clare was swapping stories with Kane, so he took advantage of the respite.

  K: I have my ways of getting what I want.

  F: Tell Nora she’s in big trouble for breaking girl code.

  K: To her credit, she did try to say no.

  F: Yeah, well, she’s never been good at keeping secrets lol, especially when it comes to setting me up.

  K: Are we being set up?

  F: I’m guessing you’re not texting me to place a flower order.

  K: What if I am?

  F: Then it’s past business hours, shop closed…and disappointed.

  K: Maybe that’s not the reason I’m texting you then.

  F: Go on…:)

  K: I missed seeing you today. Why didn’t Shea come to the center?

  F: She’s sick, so we stayed home.

  K: I hope she feels better soon. Can I see you?

  F: I need to focus on Shea tonight. I don’t date, remember?

  K: I think that ship has sailed, flower girl. We’re dating.

  F: Kieran, I don’t date. I can’t. I have to focus on Shea. I love talking to you, but friendship is all I have to offer.

  Frowning at the screen, he realized that her walls were still up, and he needed a lot more than a text to be able to get them down. Despite her slight flirting here and there, she kept stopping it from going further. When he was standing in front of her, though, he knew she wanted him. Her body couldn’t lie.

  Standing, he pulled some bills out of his pocket and tossed them on the bar. If the only way she’d let down her defenses was when they were face-to-face, then he was going to see her right now.

  “You leaving?” Clare asked, scooping up his empty glass.

  “In a minute. Do you guys serve soup?” he asked.

  Clare frowned, looking confused, but then she nodded. “Yeah, but it’s a bit bland. Want some to go?”

  “Thanks, yeah. That’ll be fine.” He turned to Nora. “Thanks for tonight, I had fun. I needed to get out for once.”

  “Sure, anytime.” Nora smiled and lifted her glass in the air. “But if your brother is anything less than the perfect gentleman, I’m coming after you.”

  “Oh, come on.” Kane rolled his eyes, hearing the last part of the conversation. “I can be a gentleman when I want, kitty.”

  Kieran laughed, then pointed a finger in warning at his brother. “I promise, Nora.”

  Clare returned and handed him a small brown bag. He thanked her and dropped a few more bills on the bar before saying goodbye to everyone. He gave Kane one last strict look, ensuring he understood his promise with regard to Nora.

  He left quickly, eager to find what was hiding behind the beautiful blue eyes that had been dancing around his mind for days.

  Chapter 8

  After parallel parking in front of Fiona’s apartm
ent building, Kieran got out and triple checked the locks on his car. Thankfully, Kane had garaged it the last few years for him, and had kept it in good shape, unlike this neighborhood, which was downright seedy. He worried he’d come back out to find his car up on blocks.

  With one last look around, he climbed the steps to the building and glanced at the buttons for the buzzer. DOHERTY was in big black letters next to the top button, so he clicked it and waited for the beep of the door unlocking. Instead, the intercom scuffled and churned, a voice finally cracking through.

  “Who is it?”

  He recognized Fiona’s voice on the other end, barely. “Kieran. I brought you something.”

  There was silence for a few beats too long, and he grew anxious. He shifted from one foot to the other before pulling his phone out of his pocket and texting her.

  K: I need to see you, flower girl.

  Another few seconds went by before the door finally buzzed and he grabbed it, moved inside, and bounded up the stairs two at a time until he reached the top. The small hallway had four doors in it, leaving him unsure of which was hers until one on the right swung open. Fiona stuck her head out, then stepped fully into the hallway and closed the apartment door behind her.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, glancing around nervously, her voice low. She was trying to smooth her hair, which was in a messy bun at the back of her head. She blushed deeply when she saw him looking, and her bright pink cheeks made her only more attractive to him.

  “I brought some soup for Shea, because you said she was sick. Isn’t that what friends do?” he told her, holding up the bag for her to see.

  “Oh.” She looked hesitant for some reason, maybe even sad, before glancing back toward her closed door.

  He frowned, feeling like he was missing some part of the equation. “Is everything okay?”