Page 44 of Stolen Mafia Vows
Ha! Too late for that. Now, he’s left with the son he forgot to train to be the next Boss, and I’m left to make sure that my brother’s killers pay for tearing our family apart.
Which is why I must make sure that Emily is safe. Maybe one day, I’ll be able to tell her what I’m about to do, but for now, I need her family to step up, open her eyes to what they are, and double whatever protection I can put around her.
Fuck that! They can triple the protection to keep their baby safe. It isn’t a lot to ask.
“How are you feeling?”
I didn’t realize that Emily was awake and watching me closely until she strokes my cheek lightly with her fingertip.
“Better.” I smile. “Thanks to you, mo chroi.”
I lean closer and kiss her on the lips, but her eyes remain locked onto mine. She’s still worried about me, and who can blame her? I can barely recall anything between answering my father’s phone call and waking up this morning.
“I’m sorry.” I raise her shoulders, slip an arm around her, and pull her onto my chest. I trace circles with my thumb roundand around her upper arm. Her heartbeat syncs with mine, and I kiss the top of her head.
“Sorry for what?” she murmurs against my chest.
For freaking you out by withdrawing into my own head. For not telling you what was going on and leaving you to figure it out for yourself. For not protecting you.
“Making you drive back to Ireland.” I stare at the ceiling, imprinting the feel of Emily’s body against mine behind my eyelids. “It was supposed to be the happiest day of your life. I never meant for it to end that way.”
She props herself on one elbow and rests her chin on my chest. “Itwasthe happiest day of my life.” Her eyes search mine, looking for answers that I’m stalling giving her.
“Sienna,” I remind her. “She was in labor. Is she alright?”
“I-I don’t know.” Her response is hesitant. “My phone died. I didn’t charge it when we got back.”
I grip her arms and sit upright, pulling her up with me. “Charge your phone and make sure she’s okay, Emily. I don’t want to come between you and your family.”
“You’re my family now, Eoghan. Yesterday, you were more important to me.”
She took control when I needed her, but I’m back now. We’re doing this my way because it’s the only way that I can keep her safe.
“I’m truly grateful, Emily, and I promise it will never happen again. I was in shock. I needed time to process things.”
“That’s what your gran said.”
“My gran?”Fuck!I don’t remember speaking to my gran when we got back. “What did she say?”
“Nothing. Just that you were in shock. She wanted to make you a cup of tea with half a bowl of sugar in it.” She attempts a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Eoghan, what happened to Ruairi?”
My thumb stops circling on her arm, momentarily, and starts up again. She needs to know the truth if she’s going to understand the implications for us. For both of us. “He’s dead.”
She blinks slowly, like she might bring me back into focus and hear something else, a sentence that doesn’t add up to the fact that my brother is never coming home.
“Dead?” Her voice cracks, and her eyes grow large with tears. “Oh, Eoghan.” She kisses my lips so gently, it’s like a dandelion seed brushing past me on the breeze. “I’m so sorry. Do you know what happened?”
“I don’t know the details.” I replay the conversation in my head. “I’ll find out. But first, I want you to get dressed and go to Sienna. She needs you too.”
She pushes herself away from me, and it takes all my willpower not to pull her back into my arms and stay locked in her embrace until this is all over.
“What about you? Will you come with me?” The look in her eyes says that she already knows the answer.
“I should stay here, speak to my father. There will be stuff to sort on this end before he gets back.”With my brother’s body. “Go celebrate the new baby with your family, Emily. I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I’ll still be here when you get back.”
When she charges her phone, and the text messages come pouring in, Emily agrees to visit Sienna and Kyle in the hospital. The baby arrived safely the day before. A boy. They’ve named him Skye.
I try to share her excitement, but it’s hard when my future is painted in colors that I can’t yet comprehend. Her driver, Billy, comes to collect her, and she waves to me through the rear window of the car like this is goodbye. Like we’re never going to see each other again. Like all my promises to take care of her have been futile.
