Page 72 of Shattered Union

Denis

Michael's silent, which is unusual. The man always has something to say. I glance at my kids who are in the back seat, Chloe's in the middle, keeping the other two calm by talking to them.

"What's eating you?" I ask him low, so the kids can't hear.

"You've finally got rid of the viper. Made it in a way that you and Callie can be together. What if it's too late?"

Ah, not him too? I've had this conversation twice already today. First Holly and Melissa voiced it, then Malcolm and Raylee.

I'll tell him what I told my children. "She's pregnant with my kids, Mike. I've got the rest of my fucking life to make her see that she's mine."

He nods. "I suppose when you put it that way, she doesn't really have much of a choice." He aims his grin at the windscreen as he pulls into Callie's driveway.

I instantly notice there's four cars parked out front. Great, so much for it being just her and Maverick.

"Need a hand?" Michael asks as he pulls to a stop. I nod and slide out of the car.

I open the back door, and Mary gives me a toothy smile as she lifts her arms out for me to hold her. Once I’ve closed the door, Michael’s there with Gareth in his arms.

“I’ll call you when we’re done,” I tell him, and he smirks. No doubt the arsehole’s going to find a woman.

"Da, have you been inside before?" Chloe asks once we're walking up the steps to the house.

"Yeah," I reply, unable to keep the bite out of my tone. The last time I was inside of this house, I found out Callie’s pregnant and she'd been beaten to shit because of Zoe. "This is their family home."

She nods. "Oh yeah, I forgot," she mumbles. "Callie told me this was her grandparents’ house, they all use it now whenever they need to."

Before I can knock on the door, it opens. A man dressed in a suit that's two sizes too small for him stands there with his arms crossed over his chest, causing the jacket to stretch even further than it already is. "Kitchen," he grunts.

I raise a brow, and the fucker bows his head. Ignorant prick.

"What the fuck?" I hear Maverick's angry growl. "Want to explain that to me again?"

"Want to take that stick out of your arse?" Callie retorts, and just hearing her voice is like a fucking balm to my anger.

"You called him, Callie. Him."

I step into the kitchen to see Maverick and Callie standing off against each other. Ava's sitting at the island sipping on a drink while Freddie Kinnock and Stephen Maguire are sitting opposite her eating breakfast.

"Why the hell are we having this conversation?" Callie questions, not yet seeing us standing here.

"Because you didn't call me," he roars in her face. "Why?"

"I didn't want you to find me dead," she shouts back, her entire body shaking. "I didn't know what was going to happen once I passed out. So, I called Stephen, because if I was dead, he'd be able to deal with it better than you. I didn't want you to find me like that."

Silence falls over the kitchen. I'm unable to pull my gaze from the beautiful woman who's standing glaring at her brother. She’s wearing black jeans and a white tank top, it’s tight across her abdomen and showcases her small, neat bump.

A bump where my children are resting. Fuck. She’s never looked as beautiful as she does at this moment.

"It was bad," Freddie says and I turn my attention toward him. "She was completely covered in blood, her eyes were closed and her chest wasn't rising. I honestly thought she was dead."

"It was a close call," Stephen snarls. "Her pulse was dropping. If she hadn't called me, she would have been dead. Now can we stop talking about this shit?"

My stomach drops, fuck. I didn’t realise just how fucking close I came to losing her… them.

Callie smiles at the psycho. "Aww, you love me."

Stephen rolls his eyes. "I'm only here for breakfast."

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