Page 21 of While You Sleep

Would Cillian be here? He’d left after I ran upstairs. I saw him through the window, while I was contemplating throwing myself out of it, or at least shimmying down the drainpipe. I’d checked several times afterward, but he hadn’t come back.

Part of me wanted him to be here, so he could watch. So he could see what he helped do to me. So he could watch me marry a complete stranger and witness the destruction of my life. But another part of me knew he wouldn’t care. A man like that felt nothing. When he’d looked at me last night, after he’d let his Dean mask drop, there’d been…nothing.

Tommy poked his head around the door. “Dad said you have to come down now.”

I forced a smile. For him, I’d be strong. I wouldn’t let him see the horror that consumed every inch of me.

“Doesn’t she look pretty, Tomo?” Celeste said.

He nodded and made a face. “She looks like a girly marshmallow.” Then he cracked up and ran back downstairs.

“We better head down,” she said, but when I didn’t immediately follow, she turned back with a sigh. “Sophia, we don’t have time for your tantrums.”

“I’m doing this, I’m marrying that creep, giving up my life, for Tommy. Only him.” Celeste had made my life a living hell when I lived here, and my father hadn’t cared. He’d never cared. I held her narrowed gaze. “Dad’s throwing me to the wolves today, throwing me away to save his own ass. You need to know, if anything happens to Tommy, if you fail him, if you don’t protect him and something…happens to him, I will find a way to escape the O’Rourkes, and whatever it takes, I will destroy you and my father both.”

“Sophia—”

“I don’t want to hear it. Protect him, Celeste, with your life, because if you don’t, yours won’t be worth living. I’ll make sure of it.” My voice trembled with rage.

She stared at me, her shock obvious. I’d never spoken to her like that before. I’d never spoken to anyone like that before. She waited for me to retreat, to take it back, but when I didn’t, the truth of my words clear in my eyes, her shock turned to fury. It rolled off her in waves. She didn’t go on the attack, though, she didn’t need to, she’d already won.

“Give me your word,” I said, pushing, not backing down.

“Tommy’s my son, of course I’ll protect him,” she said, as if it were obvious.

It wasn’t. She put herself before everyone, always, even Tommy. I headed for the door. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Sophia?”

I turned back, and something glittered in her eyes. “I know you don’t have much experience with men, but I want to warn you, Adam O’Rourke has a…reputation. He gets a little rough with his women.” Faux concern transformed her plastic face. “I think…no, I’m sure, a few of them actually went missing. But I’m sure if you do as he says tonight, don’t cry or make a fuss, you should get through it all right.”

My heart slammed into my throat. “My father knows this?”

False sympathy rearranged her face. “Of course. Everyone knows.” She strode toward me and fussed with my hair, then smiled like a shark. The real Celeste was now coming out in all her glory, the side of herself she hid more often than not when my father was around because he preferred his women to be soft and sweet and docile. “You’ll be sore in the morning. A warm bath might help.” Then she looped her arm through mine and said with a smile, “We better get going. We don’t want to piss off your future husband. It could make for a very unpleasant wedding night.”

Stunned, I let her lead me out the door and down the hall toward the stairs. I was on autopilot, too wounded to do anything else.

What would Adam do when he realized his new wife was broken? What would he do when I woke up screaming and thrashing, when I kicked and punched him in my sleep?

We stopped at the top of the staircase. My father stood at the bottom, waiting. I gripped the railing, straightened my spine, and headed down. “Where are we doing this?” I said when I reached the bottom.

Worry creased his brow. “They’re not here yet. Seamus said they’d be here at seven. I’ve tried calling, but Adam’s not picking up.”

They were an hour late. Maybe Adam didn’t want to go through with this either. Had he refused to marry me? A kernel of hope bloomed. “Maybe they’ve changed their minds—”

The front door opened, and we all turned.

Cillian O’Rourke strode in like he owned the world and everyone in it. Tall, strong, handsome—and utterly twisted. He had a handful of men with him, all armed, and through the open door I could see there were more outside. He didn’t so much as glance at me, his gaze was on my father.

“Where’s Seamus? When’s Adam getting here?” Dad demanded.

Cillian wore a black suit, a white shirt underneath. He stood tall, imposing. The suit should make him look more civilized, but the tattoos on his hands and above his collar told a different story. They let everyone know what he really was, and as much as I hated him, my body remembered all too well the way he’d made me feel.

“Seamus has taken a turn. He needed urgent medical care. As for Adam? He won’t be coming,” Cillian said.

I locked my knees, the force of my relief making them weak.

“He’s calling off the wedding?” my father said, and he wasn’t happy about it, worried only about what it meant for him.

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