Page 34 of Toxic

"Sean, stop!" Fiona cries out.

He spins toward her. "They aren't stopping us from seeing our blood any longer!"

"You're making it worse. Killian and Arianna will be here in a few hours. Don't ruin it," she begs.

"Ruin it? They've tried to destroy our relationship with our family. They don't get to make choices for us anymore."

"You talk about things you have no knowledge of," Dad states. He may not know the truth, but he always had my back, until he made that deal with Killian. He still tries to maintain it. He knows how much I love my kids. I don't understand why he did what he did. He had no right. So for the first time in forty-two years, I'm at odds with my father, too. The loving home I've tried to create for my children no longer exists. It's a daily battlefield. Dad continues, "And while you're in my home—"

"You think I want to be here?" Sean roars.

Dad lowers his voice, but there's a threat to it. "You're pushing it, Sean."

"You're such a hypocrite," Sean snarls.

"Sean! Stop!" I plead. Before this happened, my son was never disrespectful. He was just like his father and always tried to protect Fiona and me, even though he's only sixteen. He loved my father. Now, his hurt controls his actions, and I'm not sure what to do.

I'm afraid my children will never forgive me, but most of all, I'm petrified of who might come after them. My father agreed to put extra security on them, but even that makes me nervous.

Since we moved here, I've insisted their guards are blood only. My first cousins, Zayden and Kian, are assigned to Sean. Dallan and Nevan watch over Fiona. All four of their security details have reasons to hate the Baileys and Rossis. It helps me sleep better at night, but I still watch them closely. The kids are angry about that as well, but I'm not budging. I'mneverletting my guard down again. I curse myself too many times a day for being so naive while in Chicago.

Over the years, my father has found traitors in his clan. It always happens when I feel weak. The longing for my dead husband never goes away. Every time I have to lie about his family, I feel sick. I know he would hate what I'm doing. Family was everything to him—to us.

Then the flashbacks of that night will hit me out of the blue. Someone will walk by with lavender scent on their clothes, or I'll hear the name Bailey or Rossi, or we'll be in the car and headlights will shine at us. All I can see is Sean tied to the hood. It pushes me closer to breaking down and telling my father the truth. My moment of weakness always appears when another traitor in his clan pops up. It makes me keep my secrets in the vault I created.

"If you do anything to fuck up our night with Killian and Arianna, you'll pay," Sean warns, his green eyes darkening.

"Are you threatening me?" Dad huffs.

"Stop! Both of you, stop! Dad, go," I order.

Now my father is pissed at me, too. His leer turns toward me. "He will not continue to disrespect us in this house."

"Please, go," I implore through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, return to ordering your thugs around," Sean taunts.

"Sean! Stop it!" Fiona shouts.

I push my father out of the room, just wanting this to end. I slam the door shut behind me.

"This needs to end, Bridget," Dad states.

I wipe my face and accuse, "This is your fault. You made a deal you had no right to make."

His face hardens, and he glances at the ceiling. In a cold voice, he replies, "They'll be here in under two hours. It's time to face the music and put this behind us, Bridget."

A new panic sweeps through me. I need to get out of here. There's no way I can face Killian or Arianna.

She and I had lunch a few weeks before she got married. The charity I work for wanted her on the committee. I've stayed away from the Marinos and their parties since Sean died, not wanting to see Dante. I was too afraid the same urge to tell him everything would pop up like the last time I saw him after Sean died. And I'm embarrassed by what I said to him. He was a good friend to me—to Sean and the kids. The more time that passed, the harder it became to show my face.

The minute I learned Arianna was marrying Killian, I felt the thread start to unravel. There was no way Killian and the kids' paths weren't going to intersect. It was only a matter of time, and I didn't know what to do.

My father insisted Sean and Fiona went with him to the Christmas parties and were here when he hosted them. But I always leave the night events are at our house.

It's been five years since I saw Dante or any other Marino. So when Susan on the committee said, "Bridget, you know Arianna, correct?" I had to face it and reach out to her.

All our lunch did was remind me how much I missed her and the Marinos. But something about them feels too much like the O'Malleys. They have a close-knit family, and I don't think I can handle the reminder of all I've lost. I realized after my lunch with Arianna, it's another reason I stayed away.

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