Decipher (Declan Reede: The Untold Story #3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

own vomit after passing out from a drinking binge?” I challenged, seeing the real reason she’d put her trust in Eden. It was the lesser of two evils. But I wondered whether she’d admit the direction of her thoughts out loud.
    “Something like that,” she said, stepping back and linking her fingers with mine. The shy apprehension on her face as she continued made it impossible for me to feel even slightly upset with her words. “I’m sorry. I tried to have faith, I really did, but . . . I couldn’t be sure. And if something had happened, I didn’t want Phoebe to see.” She frowned, no doubt recalling the situation in London when I’d passed out and cut my arm badly enough to need stitches. “I didn’t want her to have that memory seared into her mind.”
    I sighed. “I don’t blame you. Not really. It was a close one, Lys. Even I wasn’t sure I could resist.”
    “But you did?” She beamed at me, already guessing my answer.
    With a smile lifting my lips because of her confidence—even if it was tentative—I shook my head. “I couldn’t do it.”
    She brought our linked hands to her mouth and kissed mine softly.
    “I love you,” she whispered.
    “I love you, too,” I said, shifting my hands so my palms caressed her face. I met her gaze and refused to break our stare until I knew she understood not only the truth in my words, but the depth of my love.  “Now, let’s go get Phoebe. I need to see her too.”
    Hope, happiness, and love filled the void I’d felt since climbing onto the plane to come back to Sydney. I refused to release Alyssa’s hand as we walked to the front door. Together: the way we would be doing everything now.
    “How did you get in anyway?” I asked.
    “Have you forgotten already?” She laughed before holding up the three-hundred-dollar key ring I’d given to her with my house keys dangling from it.
    I smiled in wonder at the amazing woman who’d blessed me with her love.
    As I walked out the door, Phoebe threw herself at me. “Daddy!”
    I let go of Alyssa’s hands just in time to catch Phoebe. Alyssa wrapped her arm around my waist as I stood back up holding Phoebe.
    “Is this your castle, Daddy?”
    I looked back at my house and tried to see it through the eyes of a three-year-old. The two-and-a-half story building was huge, especially compared to the three-bedroom house she and Alyssa lived in. It was easy to indulge her. “It sure is, sweetie. And you know what? It’ll be your castle too very soon.”
    It wasn’t until after the words had left me that I wondered whether Alyssa might not want Phoebe to know that just yet, but it was too late to reel the statement back in.
    “Declan.” Eden’s voice reminded me of her presence. 
    “Eden,” I greeted semiformally. Despite the fact she’d tried to warn me and had helped Alyssa out, I wasn’t sure where things stood between us. She was Sinclair through and through, even more than I’d ever been. Now that I’d been sacked, I worried she might consider it a reason to end our friendship.
    “Wow, this”—she indicated Phoebe and Alyssa—“really suits you.”
    “Thanks.” I couldn’t meet her eye. She’d read the magazine. Considering we’d been linked as an item, she had to know it was mostly bullshit, but did she believe any of it?
    She tickled the back of Phoebe’s neck before resting her hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry about Danny,” she whispered. “I tried to convince him to let you stay, or to at least give you a chance to explain. I told him that there was a lot of BS in the article and the rest was probably a misunderstanding too, or flat-out lies, but he just wouldn’t listen. You know him. He’s so old-fashioned sometimes. Loyalty is the thing he values above all else. I guess he felt betrayed by the stuff with Wood.”
    “It’s okay, Edie.” It wasn’t. I was putting on a brave face, but still there was some truth to my words because I had Alyssa and Phoebe. Nothing else