Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Piper
I wake to the sound of car doors slamming shut below my window, and it takes a moment to remember where I am and why. Waking up in three different bedrooms in four days is disorienting.
Without my phone, there’s no way to know what time it is, but by the angle and color of the light shining through the window, it’s mid to late morning.
I’m not usually such a sleeper. Healing really takes it out of me.
Flipping back the covers, I visit the bathroom for a quick refresh, and then I’m padding down the hall.
I meet Doc Kelvin coming out of Sean’s room. He closes the door behind him and gestures for me to walk with him down the hall. “I gave him something for the pain, but he’ll need food in his belly, or the medication will make him sick. Can I leave that with you?”
“Aye, I’ll make sure he eats. Is there anything in particular he should have?”
We descend the stairs together, and Kelvin stops at the bottom. “It might be good to stay away from fried foods for the morning, but other than that, whatever you can get him to eat is fine.”
The two of us part when he heads to the front entrance, and I strike off to get food for Sean.
I do my best to backtrack the path I took with Laine to the kitchen yesterday, but Quinn Castle is big and has a maze of rooms and corridors. Between the main house and the two wings on opposite ends, it takes a bit of exploring and a couple of turnarounds, but I end up finding my way.
In the kitchen, I find a silver-haired woman wearing the traditional uniform of house staff. She’s shuffling around behind a wide, marble island, taking the stainless-steel lids off serving platters.
She must sense my presence because she looks up and smiles. “Good morning. You must be Piper. I’m Cora. You missed the sit-down for breakfast, I’m afraid, but make yourself a plate and I’ll heat it for you.”
“Thank you. I’m actually here to make a plate for Sean. The doctor asked that I get him to eat, so his medication doesn’t make him sick.”
Cora grabs two clean plates from a stack by the sink and holds one out to me. “Perfect, then I’ll make a plate with all Sean’s favorites, and you make one for yourself.”
That works for me.
Cora gestures to the serving platters, and I make my selections while she hums a cheerful tune and fills a plate for Sean. She skips over some dishes and scoops twice from others, being selective of what she chooses.
“How long have you been cooking for the Quinn family, Cora?”
“Och, going on thirty-five years now. Cormack hired me when he first got married.”
“So, you’ve watched the boys grow up.”
“Aye, I have at that. Been one of life’s greatest joys for me and my man, Connor. We couldn’t have kids of our own, so caring for these five has been good for our souls.”
I finish my breakfast selections and hand her my plate to warm with Sean’s. My brothers and I had a dozen different governesses and housekeepers over our lifetimes. None of them stayed long. I always figured they couldn’t take my brothers misbehaving, but now I’m wondering if it was more about working for my parents.
Perspectives change as we get older and wiser.
“Good morning, ladies.” Laine joins us, carrying a tea tray and a plate with a chocolate-covered croissant and a bowl of cut fruit.
“Och, lass, you must eat,” Cora says.
Laine shrugs. “The peppermint tea is doing its job. I’ll be able to keep things down in a few hours.”
“Are you pregnant?”
My question seems to catch them off-guard, but Laine waves away Cora’s concerned expression. “Barely. It’s too soon to make plans or talk about it.”
Cora scoffs. “Quinn babies are strong and determined. This babe will grow to run the halls and be a terror to us all, just like his Da and his uncles. You’ll see.”
Laine grins. “From your lips, Cora.”
When a timer goes off, Cora sets both plates onto the tray Laine returned. Once she covers each of them and adds a couple of cloth napkins wrapped around cutlery, coffee, and two glasses of juice, she gives me the go-ahead. “There now. That should fill you both up.”
“Is that for you and Sean?” Laine asks.
“Aye, Doc Kelvin asked that I get him something to eat so his medication doesn’t turn his stomach.”
“Excellent. I’ll walk you up. Tag asked me to make sure he was taken care of, but if you’ve got things in hand, I’m going to lie down for a mid-morning rest.”
“Is the wee one keeping you up, luv?” Cora asks.
“No. Nothing like that. Tag’s phone started ringing around four this morning and didn’t stop. He and the boys have gone to handle things, so I’ll take advantage of the house being quiet.”
“Aye, do that. I’ll plan for a light lunch then, shall I?”
Laine nods. “I’m happy to heat some of the soup you made yesterday. No need to go to any trouble.”
“What about you, Piper?” Cora asks. “What do you fancy?”
I glance down at the tray of food in my hands and chuckle. “I doubt I’ll be hungry anytime soon. If I am, I’m happy to warm up the soup, too. Thank you.”
Laine walks with me, and with her guiding our path, I don’t get lost and need to backtrack.
We arrive at the staircase without incident and before I know it, we’re upstairs and she’s turning the doorknob for Sean’s room. “You two enjoy your breakfasts and take it easy. I’m going to lie down, but if you need me, don’t hesitate to come find me.”
“Thanks, Laine.” When she steps into the hall, she closes the door behind her.
Being alone with Sean seems to settle the chaos warring inside me, and I take the tray over to set it on the dresser beside his bed.
“You clean up good, kitten.”
I glance down at the sundress I’m wearing. “Laine is taller than me and a few sizes bigger, so finding outfits for me was tricky. Still, it’s good to wear something that wasn’t meant for men after a workout.”
He lets out a long breath and looks sad. “I was worried you were going to bolt last night.”
I remove the two covers and hand our plates to Sean before coming back for the cutlery and drinks. “I almost did.”
“What stopped you?”
“Laine reminded me that Ryan’s wake won’t be for a few days, and that we both could use that time to heal and get stronger before facing the world.”
“Laine’s a smart woman.”
I sit sideways on the bed to face him and reach for my plate. “She’s also very nice.”
“That’s what the boys say.” Sean hands me my breakfast and both of us start digging in. “Honestly, I haven’t spent much time with her, but she brought Tag back to us and my younger brothers adore her, so that’s good enough for me.”
“What was wrong with Tag?”
Sean shrugs, pushing food around his plate. “Losing Da was hard on all of us, but having to take his place and fill his shoes every day was hard on Tag.”
I can imagine.
Knowing that Declan and Ryan are dead hurts my heart and we weren’t close. From what I gather, the Quinn brothers and their father were all very close.
How would I feel if my father was gone?
If I asked myself that a week ago, my answer would’ve been very different from what it is now.
“Wow, Cora is one hell of a cook.”
Sean still isn’t eating much. It’s definitely not because of the food. That’s for sure.
“What’s wrong?”
He arches an ebony brow at me. “What’s right? Your life is a mess. I’m down for at least a few days. There’s shit going on with Tag and the business. And you’re planning to go home because my brother killed your brother.”
I take another bite of the breakfast casserole. “Granted, our lives have been a series of disastrous events for the past four days, but hey, we’re still on the sunny side of the daisies, right?”
“That’s true.”
“And as long as we’re still breathing, there’s time to turn it around, isn’t there?”
The smirk he gives me as he rolls his eyes feels like a win. “I suppose that’s also true.”
“So, eat. We both need to gird our loins and get ready for the next clusterfuck.”
That earns me a full belly laugh. “Gird our loins? I don’t think you have the loins in question, P.”
I don’t even care. The dark storm that was brewing behind his eyes when I got here a few minutes ago is gone. Now the spark of the warrior in him is back.
“I hate that you got hurt.”
Sean makes a non-committal grunt and puts a forkful of food into his mouth. “It’s not the first time and it sure as shit won’t be the last.”
“And as much as I hate that it came down to you or Ryan, I want you to know that I don’t blame you or Tag for fighting to be the ones to survive.”
Sean pegs me with an intense stare. “You sure about that? Last night, it felt like you might be worried that you’re on the wrong side of the fight.”
“Loyalty is a tricky thing.”
“Aye, it is at that.”
We both eat the rest of our breakfast without saying much more. What is there to say? My family wants his family wiped out. They have a stronger moral center and are trying to prevent a war from overtaking Dublin.
I admire what the Quinns are fighting for, but don’t want my family wiped out, either. Rory and Brody aren’t much older than me and haven’t been involved in the business long. Do they deserve to die because of my father’s greed and ambitions?
I don’t want to see that happen.
Brody and Rory are the two brothers I’m closest to. If something were to happen to them, I would be devastated. The three of us have always been tight.
Sean’s phone buzzes with an incoming text. He checks it and then sets it face down on the sheets. “How are you feeling today?”
“Better every day.”
“Did you take your pain meds this morning?”
“No. I didn’t think of it. I was more worried about you. Doc Kelvin asked me to get you food, so the pills wouldn’t turn your stomach.”
He pauses, with his fork hovering in front of his mouth. “Off you go. Get your pills.”
“Seriously? Bossy much?”
He arches a brow. “Oh, kitten, you don’t know the half of it. Where did you leave them? You remembered to bring them from the safe house, didn’t you?”
“I did. They’re in my room down the hall.”
“Then off you go. They’re to be taken morning and night. It won’t be morning much longer.”
I bite my bottom lip. “And what if I don’t do as I’m told, Mr. Quinn?”
He sets his fork onto his plate and his plate on the bed beside his leg. “If we weren’t injured, I’d show you, but since neither of us are up for any Dom discipline, I’ll have to use emotional blackmail and refuse to eat.”
I meet his stubborn smirk and chuckle. “Seriously? You’re calling a hunger strike if I don’t do as I’m told?”
Sean winks. “Be a good girl and humor me. I promise, I’ll reward you for good behavior.”
The electrical charge in the air between us crackles with sexual energy. And just like that, I’m ready to melt into a horny puddle. Until I take in the freshly changed bandages wrapping his torso.
“You’re in no shape to make promises, Mr. Quinn.”
He lowers the sheets, exposing his black boxers and how the cotton knit is straining to contain his stiff cock. “What’s that, kitten?”
I shake my head. “There is no way Doc Kelvin would approve of us having sex with you like this.”
Sean runs his thumbs under the elastic waistband and pulls the front of his boxers down to spring his cock free. “Never count me out of the game. Around you, I am always ready and willing. Now, go grab your pain pills. The sooner I see you take one, the sooner we can move from pain to pleasure.”
It’s emotional blackmail, but it’s effective because before I can think of all the reasons it’s a bad idea for us to have sex in his family home and in his condition, I’m rushing toward the hall to get my bottle of painkillers.
“That’s my good girl.”