Page 29 of Orange Spell
“But if you’re going to keep it, you’ll need to tell the other father,” Birch continued.“I know it’s none of my business, but I want to help.Besides, that baby is going to be my niece or nephew.”
Curran screwed his eyes shut for a second.He should’ve known Birch wouldn’t let it go.
He turned to Killian.“So what am I supposed to do about Pearl again?”
Killian looked amused, but thankfully, he didn’t call Curran out on what he was doing.“I think we need to wait and see what happens next.For now, she hasn’t done anything she shouldn’t have.I’m sure that if we confronted her, she’d say she was just worried about a fellow clan member.You and Birch were fighting in a public area.I wasn’t there, and knowing you and Birch, I’m sure the fight wasn’t that bad, but she could say that anyone would have stepped in.”
“Do you think she’ll approach me again?”
“If she has a plan, and I’m sure she does, she will.This was just her first step.She probably wanted to see how you were going to react.”
Curran’s stomach sank.He didn’t want anything to do with Pearl, but if she was up to something, he wanted Killian to know what that something was.Running straight to the king might have ruined that.“I came to you.She probably had someone following me, and I came straight to you.”
“You didn’t,” Marlin said.“You came to me.”
“And you’re one of Killian’s bodyguards.”
“I’m also someone you’ve known since you were very young.If you had a problem with Birch, it would make sense for you to come to me.”
“If someone is following me, they could have followed me here, too,” Curran pointed out.
“Or maybe they saw where you went and left.We can’t know for sure, but Killian is right.We need to wait and see what she does next.That’ll tell us what she saw today.”
Curran wasn’t looking forward to having to wait.He was anxious enough as it was without adding Pearl and whatever she was up to.Unfortunately, it didn’t look like he was going to have a choice.
“Why did you go to Marlin?”Birch piped up.“You should’ve come to me.”
“I just fought with you.Do you really think I wanted to talk to you so soon after I told you to fuck off?”
“Maybe not, but still.You know how dangerous Pearl is.I’m your brother.”
“So?”
“We’re family,” Birch insisted.“But you won’t even tell me who the baby’s other father is.Why are you hiding that from me?Is there something about it that I shouldn’t know?Did you sleep with someone who’s already in a relationship?”He paused.“Did someone take advantage of you?Curran, if that’s what happened, I need to know.”
Curran had had enough.“I’m leaving,” he told Killian.
Killian nodded, but of course, things couldn’t be that simple.
Birch caught Curran’s wrist before he could go anywhere.“What happened?”he asked again.“Who did this to you?If they hurt you, I’ll swear—”
“Oh my god, he didn’t hurt me,” Curran snapped.“It’s Marlin, okay?The baby’s other father is Marlin.”
Well, shit.Curran really hadn’t meant to do that.
