Page 19 of Ruthless

“He’s in Dad’s office,” he offers as the phone starts to ring. “Hold up. I want to watch this.”

“You’re an idiot.” I shake my head at him, but he isn’t done getting under my skin.

He slides over the counter to answer the phone, knocking all the papers to the floor and making an even bigger mess. “What?” he snaps into the receiver.

“Keegan! That’s not how you answer the phone.” I throw my hands up at him and ignore Connor’s laughter from behind me. He’s enjoying this too much, and I’m going to pay them back for this later. If I weren’t feeling queasy, I’d hop over that counter and start with Keegan.

“It’s fine. Nothing’s broken.” He brushes me off and goes back to talking on the phone like he didn’t make a huge fucking mess.

“I’ll deal with this later.” One problem at a time. “I’m going to go talk to Dad.”

My feet are moving before I have time to think better of it or what I’m even going to say, for that matter. I’ve never openly defied my father before, and I’m not sure what to expect from him now.

Connor follows behind me as I pass through the rows of machinery, ignoring my tired reflection on the wall of mirrors, and around the corner, past the boxing area to the door of my dad’s office. I square my shoulders, suck in a deep breath, hold my hand up and do the last thing I want to do—knock.

“Come in.” My dad’s firm baritone voice reverberates from behind the door.

The second I twist the knob and walk in, my eyes do a quick scan of the room. At least my brothers managed not to destroy anything in here. It’s an average size office. Nothing as upscale as my dad’s home office, but his taste is still littered throughout it. A couple of dark green chairs line the wall closest to me. The walls are plain white except for a few black and white pictures of old boxers. Rory sits in a green chair next to my dad with his legs stretched out. Teegan is seated in the other one opposite the desk, near the wall. They are dressed in their Morrigan’s shirts and jeans, looking like they’d rather be anywhere else than in here.

Then I take in my dad. He’s dressed from head to toe in a black pinstripe suit. There’s a snuffed-out cigar in an ashtray next to his right. My friends always said he reminded them more of a nineteen-twenties gangster than anything else.

He’s on the phone, but the moment he sees me, the tight lines around his face soften into a smile. One that he only reserves for me. “I’ll have to call ye back, Patrick.”

My spine stiffens at the mention of Fiona’s dad, and the urge to kick Teegan’s ass fades. At the same time, Connor grunts behind me, and when I glance over my shoulder at him, a muscle jerks in his cheek, and his fists clench at his sides. I want to ask him about it, but he gives me a slight shake of his head before I can. I’m pretty sure that if we weren’t in the room, he’d be having it out with our dad.

“There’s me,a stóirín.” Hearing my dad call me daughter has my attention shifting back to him and why I’m here. When I turn back around, he’s watching me.

“Are we interrupting?” My voice cracks. Since we left for Vegas, this is the first time that I’ve felt the full consequences of what I’ve done. No matter what, being in my dad’s presence always makes me feel like a small child.

“Never.” His lips press into a thin smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. I have a feeling that we did interrupt something, but he’s not going to admit to it. At least not in front of us.

My dad tilts his head to the side, takes in my stance, and then his eyes narrow. “Come here,a stóirín.” He gestures with his head for me to go to him as he stands to his feet.

On a sigh, I cross the room to meet him halfway, and he wraps me up in his arms the second I’m within reach. My body relaxes into his familiar warmth, and just for a split second, I’m a little girl all over again. I wasn’t expecting him to be so calm about this.

He eases back, doing a head-to-toe scan of my appearance, and I have to bite my tongue so hard I feel blood fill my mouth. “Are ye okay?”

“I was a little sick earlier, but I’m better now.” I nod and plaster a smile on my face as my hand rests on my lower stomach. It seems just the mention of being nauseous is enough for the feelings to return.

My dad’s dark eyebrows pinch together the longer he studies me. It wasn’t easy for him to raise the five of us as a single parent, but he’s never made us feel like he didn’t have time for us. Next to his business, the family has always been the most important thing to Finn Donnelly. After our mother was murdered, he made it his mission to be there for us in every way.

“But ye’re all better now?”

“So far.” I offer him an even bigger smile.

Satisfied with that, his gaze drops from my face to where my hand rests. A muscle jerks in his cheek, and I realize what he’s glaring at—my wedding ring. The diamond suddenly feels like an anchor weighing me down into a bed of quicksand. It’s the only sign he shows on what he thinks of this situation.

“Where’s yer newhusband?” My dad’s voice drops on that last word and there’s no missing the discontent he feels for Zane.

“He’s at home doing family stuff. I told him I needed to come in and catch up on my work here.” At least that’s the story I’m going to stick with because if he hears any different, my child will be fatherless.

“And thank fuck for that,” Teegan chimes in, reminding me of the other reason I came in here—to bust his ass.

“Speaking of.” I turn to face my younger brother and plant my hands on my hips. “What the hell did you do to all of my paperwork?”

“Me? That was all Keegan.” Teegan shakes his head, and I want to scream at him. I should have known better. The two of them are constantly blaming the other to avoid any of us kicking their asses.

“Do you have any idea how long that took me to do?”

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