Unleashed: Declan & Kara (Unleashed #1-4; Beg for It #1) (73 page)

“One more thing,” I
added, turning to point at the fireplace. “When this is all over,
I’m going to take you back here, make a roaring fire, and fuck you
hard on that rug in front of it.”

She cleared her throat.
“Wow.” She fanned herself. “Better make this a quick lunch!”

Our driver, Vladimir,
took us up Manhattan to the Upper East Side. Along the way, Kara
found a tin of cookies that suited her at a specialty shop. She held
it on her lap and unconsciously drummed on the metal with her
fingertips.

“I can’t believe
your brother’s a rock star.”

“Half-brother,” I
grumbled. “And he’s not going to be at lunch today.” Or at the
holiday party Saturday, if luck went my way. If you believed the
press about him, the guy was a real letch.

“I’ve seen him in
the news lately. I’m trying to remember why?” Kara scratched her
head. “Oh, yeah. He broke that nice girl’s heart.”

“Who?” I had to
admit it, I’d gotten distracted by a text from an investor. He was
expressing concern about a new acquisition. I needed to turn off my
phone.

“The one who was on
American Idol,” Kara continued, clearly on a new conversation path
I hadn’t followed.

“Who are we talking
about?”

“Mandy Monroe, that’s
her name.”

“I’m not
following.”

“Your brother’s
ex-girlfriend!”

“Kara, come on now
with that word ‘brother.’ You’re throwing it around fast and
loose.”

“Brother,” she
taunted me, sticking out her tongue. I gave her a warning look,
licking my lips as I locked in on her tongue. I’d give her
something to do with that tongue. She was good at using it just the
way I liked.

The car stopped. “Here
we are,” my driver announced.

Red-coated doormen
stood underneath an elaborate awning at the Park Avenue address.

“Does she live in a
hotel?” Kara asked me as one of them came to help her out of the
car.

“No, the nicer places
in the city have doormen.”

She whistled as she
looked up at the building in all its restored post-war glory. Up in
an elevator, we were greeted by another man in uniform as the door
opened into a magnificent, high-ceilinged penthouse.

“Hi! I’m Kara.”
Kara shook his gloved hand. I hoped she never stopped greeting the
serving staff. I loved this woman.

An older woman
approached wearing a worsted wool suit, clearly tailored for her
slender frame. Kara had said she was 83, but her posture was as
perfectly erect as a youthful ballet dancer. Her silver hair was
swept into a classic bun neither severe nor untidy.

“Welcome,” she
greeted us warmly, or at least as warmly as a wealthy, elderly
British woman would allow. “Margaret Kavanaugh.” She extended her
hand, the epitome of grace and excellent breeding.

“Oh, hi!” Kara
leaned in and gave her a hug. I noted a look of surprise on
Margaret’s face, but then it melted into a smile.

“Well, hello!” She
took Kara by the shoulders. “Are you Kara, now?”

Kara laughed and
introduced herself with the kind of vivacious ease she alone could
bring. I, of course, stood stiff and gruff.

“Declan.” I stuck
out my hand like a tin soldier. I wasn’t trying to be unfriendly,
but this had to be one of the stranger meetings I’d ever attended.

“Hello.” I met her
eyes and, I have to admit, I was struck by her. The cheekbones. Those
were the cheekbones that looked back at me in the mirror every
morning. Holy shit. This was my grandmother.

And she must have been
struck as well, because I saw her eyes fill. Briefly. Then she
cleared her throat and composed herself.

“I see so much of
your father in you.” She took my hand, clasping it between both of
hers. She felt thin but not frail. “I’m so very glad to meet you.
I’m deeply grateful that you came today. And that you’ll be
joining us on Saturday.”

Kara swept in with
laughter and the tin of sweets and before I knew it the two of them
were linking arms and discussing the best way to care for ferns.
Apparently they were a tricky indoor plant and required a good deal
of talking to. Kara professed that what they most enjoyed was
singing, and Margaret agreed that she’d give it a try.

“Do you ever watch
Downton Abbey
?”
Kara exclaimed as the butler led us into another room with a table
laid out for lunch. “You remind me so much of Maggie Smith!”

From anyone else, it
might not have struck the right chord to say you bore a striking
resemblance to an 80-something actress in a famously stiff and snobby
role. But from Kara it sounded all compliment. Margaret laughed and
promised she’d watch an episode. I had to admit, I saw some
resemblance, too. I’d caught an episode or two when Kara had been
watching it over the past few months. I could see the strand of
pearls Margaret wore looking right at home on the actress in her
role.

“So you’re British,
Declan!” Kara exclaimed as we began our lunch. Literally, finger
sandwiches with the crusts cut off along with a light watercress
salad and what might have been a mushroom soup. Not my idea of a
hearty meal, but I could always get a steak somewhere later on for
dinner.

“May I offer my
congratulations on your marriage.” Margaret beamed at the two of us
with what honestly looked like familial pride. “My son would have
loved meeting you both.” She paused, clearly overcome with emotion,
but she didn’t break. I could tell, she was a tough one. Maybe I’d
inherited that from her as well.

“Thank you so much!”
Kara reached over a hand to hers and held it for a moment. “I am
such a lucky woman. Declan is so amazing. You’re going to love him
when you get to know him.” Looking at me as I sat there scowling
and stiff, she added, “He can be a little gruff sometimes.”

“Oh, my dear, what
man can’t?”

“I hear you.”

I cleared my throat and
gruffly took a bite of a dry cucumber sandwich. I was glad they were
hitting it off. Behind Margaret, I couldn’t help but notice a huge
portrait of men and horses on the hunt. A flash of a fox gleamed from
the corner of it.

I’d always identified
with the fox, the one with the odds against him. The underdog who had
to fight and claw for survival. Now, it turned out I was descended
from the hunters. Looking at that giant painting, it had the look of
an authentic, commissioned piece dating back a couple hundred years.
Those were probably my great, great, great grandfathers.

“Thank you for coming
to lunch, Declan.” Margaret drew my attention to her. “I
understand that this might be somewhat strange for you. But I assure
you, your father very much wanted you to be a part of this family. He
simply was not able to locate you before his untimely passing.”

“I understand.” I
know when I’d first heard that from the Kavanaugh family attorney
six months ago I had snorted and rolled my eyes, my bullshit detector
sounding on high alert. But I’d had my own guy look into it. It
turned out that my mother had used a whole bunch of fake names and
false identities, filling out everything from leases to job
applications at least a dozen different ways. Couple that with the
fact that we’d moved at least every six months, and then my time in
foster care and what you got was a kid that was hard to track down.

Plus, if my late father
hadn’t wanted me to be a part of the family, he could have simply
left me out of his will. He didn’t have to dangle two hundred and
fifty million dollars in front of me. And he could have set out
different provisions for the funds to be disbursed. As it was, all he
required of me to receive the inheritance was meeting my family. Hard
to argue with the wishes of the deceased. He had attached strings to
the money, but they seemed to be the well-meaning kind.

“It certainly seems
as if you’ve accomplished a great deal all on your own,” Margaret
continued. Her grandmotherly praise felt strange but good. “Your
father would have been very proud of you. You should be quite proud
of yourself.”

I grunted. I didn’t
want to be rude, but I really didn’t know what to say.

“See, there’s the
gruff,” Kara explained. “But he means thank you.”

Kara would really piss
me off if she weren’t so wonderful.

“I’m so looking
forward to having you both at our annual holiday party this weekend,”
Margaret exclaimed as a woman in a crisp white shirt and black slacks
whisked away our plates. “Friends and relations will all be in
attendance and it will be a lovely way in which to officially welcome
you into the family.”

“I am just so excited
to meet everyone! And it’s at the Waldorf Astoria!”

There were many reasons
I was grateful for having Kara as my partner in life. Her ability to
talk was one of them.

“We give the party
there every year. It’s always a delight.”

“I love Christmas!”
Kara declared.

“Yes, I imagine that
you do.” Margaret made the observation without sounding
condescending. She actually sounded delighted.

“Oh, I’m so glad
that you’re not horrible.” Had Kara just said that out loud? I
looked at her somewhat sharply, but she kept right on going. “I was
worried you were going to be all fancy and rude. But you’re
lovely!”

“Well, thank you very
much! You’re lovely, too, my dear.”

I didn’t know if it
was just good breeding, but Margaret didn’t look phased at all by
the comment. Maybe I was starting to like her after all.

“Now tell me.” She
leaned in slightly closer to Kara and asked, conspiratorially, “When
are you due?”

“What?!” Kara sat
back in her chair, her cheeks flushing pink, her hand to her belly.
“How did you know?”

“My dear, you’re
positively glowing, as if you have a fabulous surprise that you can’t
wait to share.”

“I do!” Kara burst
out with a laugh, and I couldn’t help but laugh as well. “I’m
not even two months along yet so I know it’s early to be talking
about it, but I’m due in July which is so amazing because Fourth of
July has always been one of my favorite holidays and I can’t help
but wonder what if I had the baby on that day! Then our baby’s
birthday would be the same as America’s birthday!”

“Much as it pains my
English heart, I share in your enthusiasm.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!”
Kara drew back, looking appalled with herself. “I didn’t think
that would offend you!”

“No, my dear.”
Margaret patted her hand. “I’m teasing you. We Brits have
overcome the great disappointment over our tragic loss in 1776.”
Looking up at me, she smiled. “Declan, you’ve made me so happy.
This will be my first great grandchild, you know.”

“I didn’t know
that.” I found myself smiling back at her. And just like that,
things clicked into place. What did it matter, the past? So, I had a
few issues to work out. My mother had dragged me around and my father
had been absent and all that.

But now, I was about to
become a father. And I wanted my child to know the family.

“We’ll have to come
visit with the baby,” I said, inspiring a quick burst of a
delighted hug from Kara.

“I would love that.”
This time, my grandmother’s voice did break, but only a little and
very briefly. She dabbed at her bright eyes with the corner of a
linen napkin, then sniffed and drew her shoulders back up, posture
erect. “You’ll have to come out to Yorkshire,” she declared.
“This city air is no good for babies.”

“I absolutely agree,”
Kara concurred.

“I have to say,
you’ve really set the tone, Declan. As my eldest grandchild, I’m
quite pleased. You’ve done so well for yourself. You married a
lovely woman. You’re starting a family. Now we just have to see to
it that your brothers and sister follow suit.”

“Ooh!” Kara clapped
her hands together. “Project!”

“I’m in my 80s now,
you see, and it’s absolute nonsense to wait much longer. I intend
to see all of them married within the next five years.”

I chuckled, already
seeing the writing on the wall for the rest of this Kavanaugh clan I
had yet to meet. They might not know it yet, but if our grandmother
had decreed it to be so, I bet there’d be wedding bells pealing out
before long for every last one of them.

They might come along
kicking and screaming. Lord knows I had. But as I watched my
beautiful wife chat away with my grandmother, I knew deep in my heart
that sometimes what we feared the most was what ultimately brought us
the greatest joy.

Kara

“OK, so I’ve been
trying to memorize everyone’s names. I’m so excited to meet the
family!”

“Yes, well.”
Margaret cleared her throat and took a sip of tea. Even through my
exuberance, I could tell she felt slightly uncomfortable. “May I
speak with you candidly, my dear?”

“Oh, of course!”

“They may not all be
equally delighted to meet you.”

“I knew it.” Declan
growled by my side, wrapping a protective arm around my waist. “I’m
not going to expose Kara to that.”

“Now, wait a moment,
please.” Margaret held up a slender finger and much to my surprise,
Declan waited a moment. I’d have to ask her her secret for taming
the beast. “I’m not attempting to dissuade you from attending our
fete. Far from it. I’d very much like you to come as my honored
guests. It was your late father’s dearest wish.”

She took a sip of her
sparkling water, then added, “However, I do think it’s always in
one’s best interest to be thoroughly prepared. Don’t you agree?”

“That’s why I’ve
been studying the dossier!” I exclaimed. “I want to know
everything about everyone!”

“And that’s what
I’d like to share with you today. The kind of information that you
won’t find in a dossier from an attorney. It will help everything
go smoothly. Do you understand?”

She cocked her head and
looked at Declan as she asked. He gave a quick nod of assent.