Page 120 of Merciless Desires

He opens the SUV door and helps me out. In front of the house, a man lingers on the porch, and Darragh’s guard goes up.

“Wait here.” He sprints up the steps to his front door.

The man looks hostile toward him. A dark-haired woman comes out of the house, and there appears to be a three-way argument. Darragh’s body turns to stone as the woman and the man hurry down the steps to leave.

The driver puts Cormac’s duffle bag filled with my clothes on the curb and leaves. Darragh disappears inside the house. Slowly, I walk up the eight wooden steps. The front door is open, and my senses lock in on something fresh out of the oven. That’s how hungry I am.

“Daddy!” A little girl is in his arms, but she’s crying.

“Is everything all right?” I ask, coming up behind them.

“It’s fine.” Darragh turns toward me, holding the girl, cradling her head, and the scene weakens me. It’s so touching. He stands with his daughter’s head resting on his shoulder. Nodding, he waves me inside with a free hand.

I’m shot into another dimension, a scene of Cormac with our baby. Anger fires through me. No, he planned to drop our baby off at a firehouse.

That bastard took everything from me. My money, my dignity, and almost my baby.

“Who’s that, Daddy?” Sophie asks, all sniffly.

Darragh smiles. “That’s an old friend of mine.”

CHAPTER 6

Darragh

“Old? She doesn’t look old.” Sophie wiggles to get out of my arms to stand on her own, confusion on her little face.

Fuck, I want to throw up at what she just witnessed with her nanny. Olivia’s boyfriend showed up and accused me of sleeping with her.

“Yeah, Daddy. What do you mean old?” Stasia looks annoyed.

I move to close the front door and feel massively outnumbered by these two females. I don’t know who to address first.

Sophie comes first… Always.

As I open my mouth to address my daughter, Stasia beats me to it.

“Hi, Sophie. I’m Ana.” She narrows her eyes at me, signaling that’s the name she wants to be called.

Smart, protecting my daughter, who can say the name Stasia to who the hell knows, sending an army to my front door.

But I only think of her as Stasia, the missing Bratva princess. Maybe if I see her as Ana Michaels, a woman who escaped her father’s cruelty, like I left my family behind, I’ll feel differently about her.

“Hi.” Sophie squeaks cautiously. “Whoa… Are you having a baby?”

“I sure am.” She smiles at me, and I quickly shake my head, hoping she doesn’t mention Cormac. “That’s why I’m here. I’m a friend of your dad’s. He helped me out of some trouble. That’s where he was. I’m sorry I took him away from you.”

Sophie scratches her head. “Where’s Uncle Cormac? Is he okay, Daddy?”

I now regret telling her about Cormac’s accident. I just had no idea what kind of mess I was walking into. “Yes, honey. He’s fine. He’s… Still in Vegas.”

“Okay.” Sophie shrugs, then turns sad eyes to me. “Where did Olivia go?”

I resist an eye roll.

“Yes, where’s Olivia?” Ana asks.

“She had to quit, honey. I’m sorry. I’ll explain more tomorrow.” I crouch in front of my daughter, feeling Ana near me. “Are you hungry? Did you eat?”

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