Page 164 of Merciless Desires

“You here to fuck her some more, brother?” Cormac digs the blade into my throat, dragging me off the bed with him. “If you told me you wanted this princess, too, I would have shared her with you. Like the old days.”

“Those days have been over for a long time.” Darragh closes the bedroom door, his eyes furious. “Put the fucking knife down, Cormac.”

His brother laughs and holds it firmly, the blade stinging my skin. “Everyone thinks she’s dead, anyway.”

“Her father might think that. But our brothers know she’s here. With me.” Darragh raises the gun until it’s trained on Cormac’s head. “You’re supposed to be in California. In a secure rehab.”

Cormac barks a laugh. “I’m an O’Rourke. I know how to game the system.”

“They put you in that place for your own good.”

“My own good? So you can fuck my girlfriend?” Cormac’s brogue sounds thick and gritty.

Darragh’s eyes turn into beady slits, the green melting into blackened shadows. “Yes, I’m fucking her. And she loves it. Know what else I’m doing? I’m treating her like a queen. Like she should be treated. I’m crazy about her, and she’s crazy about me.” His brogue explodes, too. “Now drop the fucking knife. Don’t make me shoot you.”

Cormac’s shaking hands have me at his mercy. He came here to kill me.

All my senses sharpen, and I feel his muscles tense. He’s going to slit my throat. I release my grip on his arms and ram him in the stomach with my left elbow. He grunts and doubles over. Then I punch his nut sack with my right fist.

The knife comes loose and drops to the floor. I snatch it up and point it at him.

My father never showed me how to use a knife or a gun. I realize now how irresponsible that was. My horrible father kept me helpless. He knew he’d go back on Mother’s word. He didn’t want me to know how to fight back.

My Koslov Bratva blood sizzles in my veins. I know what to do, anyway. Like maybe my brothers are channeling me. I lunge at Cormac, aiming for his heart, but a searing pain low in my abdomen cripples me, sending me to the carpet, crying out.

Darragh throws himself in front of me and retrieves the loose knife. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Cormac? That is your child inside her. You want them both dead?”

It sounds so off for Darragh to acknowledge my baby is really Cormac’s, but I get what he’s doing.

“Her father will kill me.” Fear laces Cormac’s tone as he steps toward the window.

“I’m putting my name on that birth certificate,” Darragh says. “I’m raising this baby as my own. You can walk away.”

“If that’s the case…” Cormac laughs sickeningly. “You go, and let her murdering father believe you did this to her, Dar.”

“I’d be more afraid of Lachlan if I were you. He will find you,” Darragh taunts. “Kieran wants you home. He’s in charge. You fucked up your freedom. The freedom I worked to keep for you. Do you know how many lies I told for you? How I covered for you and your drug issues, and your gambling, and your debts?” He takes a breath. “No more. My daughter is in this house. How dare you break in here? We’re through, Cormac. And if you think because you’re blood, our brothers will go easy on you, you’re mistaken.”

Darragh and Cormac are more than blood. They’re identical. They shared a womb, did everything together. Undergrad, medical school, their residencies. They only had each other for so long, and now Darragh is pushing him away.

For me.

“Then I’ll work harder not to be found.” Cormac laughs.

“With what?”

Cormac doesn’t answer, and I wonder how the hell he got here from Southern California. How did he get money? And where will he go?

The only thing I know is he doesn’t want my baby.

Cormac sticks his foot on the sill to climb out the window. “Forget about me, brother.”

Seconds later, he’s gone.

“Fuck,” Darragh says and rushes to the window.

He closes and locks it as I rock on the floor, pain radiating through me. Cormac wanted to kill me. The father of my baby. Tears roll down my face, processing that one.

“Are you okay?” Darragh tosses the gun and the knife on the bed to check my neck. “Thank God. It’s just a scrape.”

---