Page 152 of Bound By Darkness

The momentthe door clicks shut behind Aoife and Eamon, Bridget turns on me.Her arms are crossed, her jaw tight, and her eyes blazing with something that looks like betrayal wrapped in heartbreak.

"Are you out of your mind?"she snaps."You’re offering her a position in the Syndicate?After everything she did to you?"

"I get it.You’re angry.I am, too.Part of me, anyway.But if I’d kept my word to her.”I exhale slowly, trying to keep my voice level.“If I’d given her the place she rightfully deserved, none of this would’ve happened."

She shakes her head, eyes filling with tears."You don’t get it.You weren’t here."She begins to pace.

"I begged her to help find you.I told her how scared I was.How lost I felt.I bared my soul to her, and the entire time, she was lying.She knew exactly where you were.Aoife was the reason you were missing."

Bridget’s voice cracks and I feel the sharp twist of guilt slice through my chest.

"Even when I told her I was pregnant," she whispers, "she still didn’t tell me the truth."

Everything in me stills."You’re pregnant?"

Bridget turns her face away, blinking hard."I found out a few days before you disappeared.I was planning to tell you when you came back from meeting with Aoife, but you never came home."

My breath leaves me like a punch to the ribs."Jesus, Bridget."I lift my hand, gesturing for her to come closer.She hesitates, only for a heartbeat, then crosses the room and climbs onto the bed.

She curls into me like she always does.Her head finds its place on my chest, and I wrap my arms around her, holding her close, breathing her in.Grounding myself in the fact that she’s here, that we’re both here.

That we survived this.

"How did you end up at the castle?"I ask.

She shifts, her cheek brushing against my chest."I went to your office."Her voice is quiet."I didn’t know what I was looking for.Maybe just a place where I could still feel you.But Ronan was there."

My entire body goes rigid.

"He didn’t see me," she continues."The door was open just enough.He was on the phone.I don’t know who he was talking to, but I heard enough to make my blood run cold."

She pauses.

"He was talking about working with Cian on some plan to take you out so he could run the Syndicate.But then he said Cian was a reckless idiot who didn’t deserve to lead anything.He told whoever he was speaking to that he had his own agenda.Ronan’s plan was to kill Cian, Eamon, and Aoife."

A cold, bitter chill slices through me.

"How did you find out about the castle?"

“Ronan mentioned they were supposed to meet Aoife at a castle in Dublin that belonged to Eamon.He gave all the details, including how many of Eamon’s guards he’d have to pay off to leave.That’s when I left."

She pulls back just enough to meet my eyes.

"I called in a favor with Malachy Flynn.He was the only person I could think of,” she says quietly.“I asked him to find the location."

I exhale, stunned."You went there thinking Aoife was walking into a trap?"

"Yes.”She nods before continuing, “I didn’t know you were there.I thought maybe I could stop them," she says, voice trembling again."Maybe I could keep Aoife alive.If I’d known she was the one who orchestrated your disappearance—” She swallows hard."I don’t know if I would’ve spared her when I pulled the trigger."

"I’m so sorry you went through that alone.I can’t imagine what it felt like.But I need you to believe me.Aoife didn’t mean to hurt you like that,” I say, my voice low and steady, even if I don’t fully trust it myself.

“I find that hard to believe,” she says, her words sharp enough to sting, even through the tears.“Why didn’t she tell you?Why not come clean and let you handle it?"

"Because she felt that she needed to prove her worth to me.That if she had come to me for help, I would’ve seen her as incapable.And honestly, she might’ve been right.I was too busy treating her like a child.Like she didn’t belong."

I pause, brushing her hair back gently.

"What she pulled off.The risks she took.Aoife proved she’s strong enough.Smart enough.And the Syndicate?It matters to her as much as it matters to me.That’s why I offered her the place she rightfully deserves."

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