Page 33 of Irish Daddies
I blink at her and pull Joshua to me until I’m holding one of each of my boys’ arms in my hands. “Boys, are you hungry?” They nod hard, their little heads wobbling. “How about you go into that room over there with my friends and ask for something to eat?”
I pat their bottoms as I push them into the room and stand up to face Alaina, making sure that my children are still in my sight.
Rian takes charge, taking a hand of each of the boys and asking, “Do you guys like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?”
They nod shyly, and he says, “Okay, and maybe a glass of milk with that?”
“Do you have chocolate milk?” Joshua asks.
“We have chocolate syrup, so you can make it yourself,gasúr,” Kellan says eagerly, and then whispers, “And I’ll even let you have a spoonful of it by itself.”
Venom catches in my throat, the sight of them in this space, Kellan using a nickname with my kid. It’s not right. It’s sickening.
Alaina steps closer to me, her brown eyes fiery, her mouth a straight line. She whispers, “You want to tell me what the hell is going on? That guy that took you out—Paul—told me you had a family emergency. That you had to fly out last minute.” Her voice is low. “Said you were fine. Said not to call. Asked me to watch the boys.”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
She takes a step closer, her voice sharp. “So I tracked your location. You shared it with me when you went on the date, remember? In case he was a weirdo. I kept thinking something wasn’t right about it, Caroline, that something was up. So I left my kids with James and brought yours to you, and what do you know? You’re right here, in a fuckingnightie, looking just fine, and no dying family members around that I can see.”
My heart hammers in my chest, the urge to confess so strong that my mouth is dry. I don’t know how I can convince Alaina to leave me here when she looks as angry as she does right now. “It’s not like that,” I manage to whisper.
Alaina looks around the entryway. The high ceilings, the polished floors, the air of restrained violence that somehow permeates every inch of this house. “Then what is it like? Those men that let me in…I recognize Paul. But his accent’s different, and he’s going by Rian? Please, Caroline, are they hurting you?” She leans in and whispers, “Just nod if they are. You don’t have to say a word.”
I want to tell her everything. About the club. About the masks. About Rian—Paul—and Kellan and Declan and what I saw and what I lived through. About the way my body still remembers every mouth, every hand, every lie.
But the boys are here.
And so are the men.
So I swallow the truth and offer her a brittle smile. “I’m okay. I’m safe.”
Alaina rubs her hands over her face, then drops them. “So you really do have a family emergency?”
I nod.Of sorts.
Alaina doesn’t believe me. I can see it in the way her jaw tightens, the way her eyes flick over my body like she’s checking for bruises.
I don’t blame her. If our places were reversed, I’d be dragging her out by the hair.
But she doesn’t make a scene. She just exhales hard through her nose and mutters, “I’m staying. Until I know what’s going on, I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“I’m not alone,” I say quietly.
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
We stand in silence for a moment, staring down the hallway where my sons disappeared. Her fingers twitch at her sides like she’s fighting the urge to snatch them up and bolt.
But then I hear Isaac’s laugh—high-pitched and innocent. I move toward the sound, and Alaina follows.
The living room is massive, open and sunlit, with tall windows and heavy furniture that looks like it costs more than my yearly salary. Kellan is kneeling beside Joshua, showing him how to stack the decorative rocks in a coffee table centerpiece. Isaac is halfway into Rian’s lap, triceratops in one hand, the other pointing at a scar along Rian’s forearm.
“What happened to you?” he asks, curious and utterly unafraid.
“Shark bite,” Rian deadpans, raising an eyebrow at me like he’s daring me to contradict him.
Isaac’s eyes go wide. “Whoa.”
“I was there,” Kellan adds with a wink. “It bit his whole arm off. He had to grow a new one.”
