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Darren dropped his head in his hands. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “Me too.”

6

I’m Not a Liar

Johnny

I had been lured into a false sense of security yesterday by the very people that had brought me into this world with promises of action. However, the minute I was helped back into my bed and the nurse was called, it became pretty clear to me that I had been duped. It became even clearer when I was told that a good night’s sleep in my own bed would clear my crazy thoughts.

Fuckers.

Sleep didn’t ease a damn thing in my mind. When I woke up this morning, it was to thoughts of Shannon and a rage so hot in my stomach that I was sure I would develop an ulcer.

My body was restless, my mind shot to hell the entire drive home from Dublin. When we finally crossed the border and reentered Cork, I swear I had never been happier to return to the Rebel County, which was beyond ironic considering I’d spent the last seven years plotting and scheming to get out of this place.

But things were different now.Iwas different. I had people to see and shit to attend to.

My first priority being Shannon.

In the past twenty-four hours, I had called the local Garda station in Ballylaggin more times than I could count. After the seventh or eighth phone call with zero information being sent my way, relations had broken down between myself and Garda Daly, who had warned me that I was “skating on thin ice” and to “call one more time if I wanted to spend the night in the barracks.”

I had plenty I wanted to say right back to him but my parents had confiscated both my and Gibsie’s phones before I could cause any more damage.

Nobody was telling me a damn thing, and that was the problem. All they had to say was “We checked on her and she’s fine.” That’s it. That’s all I wanted to hear and I would have been appeased. Instead, I received the standard “We’re looking into it,” and “I’m afraid we’re not at liberty to discuss this with you” over and over again.

It was complete bullshit.

“This is bullshit!” I verbalized my feelings aloud when my father pulled the Mercedes up outside our house—andnotShannon’s like I had been promised—before killing the engine. I should have known better than to trust a lawyer, especially when said lawyer dropped Gibsie home and then proceeded to take the back road to our house andnotthe main road to Ballylaggin town. “I need to see her.”

“No,” Mam answered for him as she turned in the passenger seat to give me a stern look. “You need to lie down and rest. Doctor’s orders.”

Resisting the urge to roar, I gripped the leather interior beneath me and hissed, “I’m fine.”

“And we want you to stay that way,” Mam agreed, “which is why you’re heading straight to bed.”

“You’re not listening to me.” Scrubbing my face with my hands, I shook my head and looked out the window at the rain hammering down outside. “Why is nobody fucking listening to me?”

“Because you’ve been under the world of stress, Johnny,” Dad explained calmly. “Not to mention the world of medication.”

“Exactly.” Smiling sympathetically at me, Mam added, “You’ve had a terrible setback with the rugby, love. It’s okay if you’re not feeling yourself right now.”

“I know what I’m saying,” I shot back, furious. “I know he’s hurting her.”

Mam groaned loudly and Dad turned in his seat, leveling me with a hard look. “Johnny, you’re throwing a lot of accusations around, and you need to settle down before you get yourself into trouble.”

“They’re not accusations when there’s proof,” I spat out, glaring back at him. “I have proof.”

My father rolled his eyes—literally fucking rolled his eyes at me. “Friday night, you were so delirious that you were convinced Pat Kenny was in the room with you. Saturday night, it was the Russian from the Rocky film.”

“Sunday night, you accused the nurses of trying to poison you,” Mam offered with a grimace.

“Now, it’s Shannon’s father?” Dad finished and expelled a frustrated breath. “What are we supposed to believe?”

“You’re supposed tobelieve me,” I growled. “Because I’m telling the bleeding truth, Da.”

Dad arched a disbelieving brow.

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