Page 32 of Forbidden Vows

“I expect Eileen Donovan,” he replies with a casual smile.

“I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean.”

“Eileen, this is the best decision we can make out of a bad situation,” my father says. He gently touches my shoulder, but I yank away, unwilling to relent any more than I already have. “I’ll go sign your release papers, and we’ll get you home.”

“Maybe put a padlock on my bedroom door once we get there,” I mutter, sulking like an ill-tempered child. “Ciara might sneak in and smother me with a pillow in my sleep.”

Anton joins my father outside my private hospital room while I’m left chewing things over.

I’ve kept my chin up throughout all of this, and I’ll keep it up going forward.

If my father wants me to act like a true Donovan, that’s exactly what I’ll do.

Chapter 11

Eileen

There are two sides of me fighting ferociously with every breath I take. And I don’t see a resolution to the conflict anywhere in sight. The look on Ciara’s face as I walk into the tearoom tells me it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

“I owe you an apology.”

“You’re a fucking snake,” Ciara snarls as soon as she sees me.

For a moment, I look at the teapot and cups on the table, just within her reach. My stepsister seems furious enough to hurl one or all of them at my head, so I keep a reasonable distance just in case.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” I say.

“Eileen Fiona Donovan, you’re a snake.”

“Yeah, I heard you the first time. Will you just let me explain?”

She throws her hands up in the air, sheer exasperation coming off her in waves that practically ripple across the room. “What’s there to explain? You lied to my face! You stole my fucking fiancé away from me!”

“It’s not like that, I swear.”

“What’s it like, then? You saw my man, you knew you’d never get a prime piece like Anton Karpov on your own, so you decided to pull your father into the middle! Taking advantage of the fact that you’re the true, blood-born Donovan!”

“Oh, my God, Ciara, no, I promise it was nothing like that! I don’t even want to—”

“A fat bitch like you could never get a man like mine. So what did you do, exactly? What happened that night? Did you roofie him? How’d you get him to put a baby in you?”

My blood runs cold.

As I stare at Ciara in heavy silence, trying to wrap my head around how one person can be so mean, entitled, and hurtful, all the common sense that I’ve held on to for so long shatters into bits and pieces.

Judging by the look on her face, I think even she realizes that she’s gone too far this time.

“I didn’t know who Anton was when I slept with him. But I do know that my father told you what happened that night, just as both Anton and I described it. He saved my life. What happened at his place afterward, well, it happened. I asked him his name several times, but he wouldn’t tell me. Had I known who he was, I never would’ve let it happen.

“Blood or not, we’re still family. We grew up in the same house, under the same roof, following the same rules, and abiding by the same traditions. And, yes, we’ve had plenty of disagreements, and your mouth often gets the better of you—”

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah, you heard me. You can be so incredibly mean, though all I ever did was support you,” I snap. “Well, this time, shit happened. But I swear to you on my mother’s grave that I would’ve never allowed that night with Anton to end the way it did had I known who he was.”

“Bullshit,” Ciara spits and crosses her arms, slowly moving closer to the window. “You’ve always been jealous.”

“I’m pregnant with his kid,” I say.

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