25. Twenty-Four
Twenty-Four
Kayleigh
E rik wanted to leave after he got back from killing Andrew, but I told him he could go, but I’m staying for a few more days. I wanted some extra time with my family. He tried to argue with me, but it was not going to do him any good. Rowan said he could stay behind if Erik needed to go back to Scottland. Erik snarled at him and said he will never be that far away from me ever again.
“One more week, then regardless of whether you want to or not, your ass will be on our plane. Even if I have to carry you on it kicking and screaming.”
That was four days ago. I’ve been spending as much time with my family as possible because I know Mr. Over-the-top Protective will not allow me to stay here much longer. Knowing him, he is probably trying to find a way to lock me in a tower where no one can see me.
“Hi, Erin. Hi, Charlie Boy,” I say when they walk into the playroom where Bia and Conon have been playing with me.
“Hi, Kayleigh,” Erin says when Charlie runs up and gives me a hug around my waist. I bend down and kiss his cheek before he runs off to go play with Conon.
“How are you feeling?” Erin asks as she sits next to me.
“Tender but it’s not too bad. You would think I had my whole stomach cut open the way Erik acts though,” I say rolling my eyes.
“And the pregnancy? Any problems?”
“No, but I’m worried about it turning into a high-risk pregnancy.”
“The best thing to do if it ends up being a high-risk pregnancy is to listen to your doctor,” Bia says. She should know. She was on bedrest the last couple of months of her pregnancy. Not that Cillian would have let her move a finger anyway. Not with how protective he is.
“I know and I will. But part of me feels bad because I had an abortion with my last pregnancy but am keeping this baby,” I say in a thick voice as I’m trying to hold back the tears.
Bia wraps me in a hug. “Don’t feel bad. You made what you thought was the best decision for you. To be honest, if Tristan had gotten me pregnant, I probably would have done the same thing. It would have been harder on you seeing parts of him when you looked at your child.”
“I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to love them because of who their father was and what he did to me.”
“You made the choice that was best for you. If you didn’t and you did treat the child less than you think they deserve, you would have felt even more guilty.”
“Yeah, it would have eaten me up.”
“You saved an innocent child from feeling unloved due to something out of their control.”
“I still feel guilty about how excited I am for this baby.”
“It’s because you and Erik love each other and want this baby.” I scoff at that, and she asks, “What, does he not want this baby?”
“Oh no, he does. We haven’t said we love each other though.”
“Okay… how do you feel about him?”
“Depends on the moment,” I joke which makes us both laugh. “I don’t want anything to happen to him, but I’m hesitant to let him in my heart. He claims he wants me and not his ex-wife, but he pushed me away once and I don’t want to deal with that again. This time it is not just me I’m worried about; it’s also my baby. I feel like before I can tell him how I feel, he needs to prove that he means what he says.”
“Actions do speak louder than words. It took me time to discuss my feelings with Cillian after everything we went through.”
“Yeah,” I say. Then we start making small talk about other things. Erin comes back in with snacks and drinks for all of us. I stay and play with my nephews for a while. I missed this so much when I was under Andrew’s control; just sitting on the ground playing with them helps heal something inside me that I didn’t know I needed.
After about two hours, both boys have had lunch and are ready to take a nap. I decide to hunt down my wild-child sister and see why her wild streak has become more reckless than normal. I find her down in the weapons room, throwing axes.
“Well, damn. You should go work with Oscar with an arm like that,” I yell over the music she has blaring. She turns around, grabs her phone, and in seconds the volume turns down to a level that isn’t going to make my ears bleed.
“Should you even be out of bed?”
“I’m fine to be walking around. So, what happened that you needed to take your anger out on the poor target over there?” I say pointing to the wooden target that looks like she has been down here for a couple hours; and seeing the way her face has a layer of sweat all over it, I’m sure she has.
“Nothing you would understand.”
“How am I supposed to tell you if I do or don’t if you won’t tell me what’s wrong?”
“You have never broken the rules.”
“You sure about that?”
“I was just better about not getting caught, or I just blamed it on Oscar,” I say with a chuckle.
“Really?”
“Yes, even though he is a bit older than me, he was more mischievous, and if I was caught, good chance Oscar was involved or did something else. But I’m not saying to blame Riley.”
“Like anyone would believe Riley would do anything wrong.”
“She is a bookworm,” I say, chuckling, but she isn’t as completely innocent as she claims. I have seen some of the books on her Kindle. Luckily her dirty romance is only a bit dirty.
“I just feel confined by being Peter O’Sullivan’s daughter.” I bring her with me to sit on a bench.
“It’s hard at times. You are still in college and want to spread your wings, but with our enemies, it’s like you can only spread your wings halfway in fear that, if you fully extend them, our enemies will get you.”
“Yeah, and it sucks.”
“It does. I can promise you though, they are not doing it to be mean.”
“I know they aren’t, it’s just an issue I have to deal with.”
“Maybe talk to Daid to see if you can spend one of your school breaks in Italy with Emilia. Plus, she is probably one of the best people to help you learn how to deal with all your anger and frustration who won’t baby you either.”
“Do you think she would? I don’t want to impose on her.”
“She would love to. She has always said any of us are welcome.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Okay good. Try to keep the craziness to a minimum in the meantime.”
“I’ll try.”
“Alright. Let me get out of here before I have an angry Scottish asshole hunting me down.”
“I’ll walk with you; I need to take a shower before I go to class anyway.”
Erik
“We need intel on what the Blakewells are planning,” Cillian demands. We are in a meeting in his office. Peter, Oscar, Cillian, Rowan, Darius, and I are here in person, while Mateo De Luca, Jose Garcia, and Leonidas Vasileious are on the phone.
“But how can we get it when they keep everyone so tight lipped? The only thing we know about them is they have a hand in the skin trade,” I say, rubbing my hand down my face.
“We need someone to get on the inside, or at very least, turn someone on the inside to help us,” Cillian says.
“Wait. Didn’t Andrew say something about a niece? What if one of us proposes an arranged marriage with them, that way we could get access and be able to bring them down from the inside?” I ask.
“But who would do that?” Mateo asks.
“Not sure. Maybe we all could talk to our high-ranking men and see who is willing.”
“Something to think about,” Jose states.
“Okay, for now we will talk to our men. If we can’t come up with anything else, we will have another meeting to find another idea,” Peter states.
“Now that we have a plan for that, Peter, how are you feeling about Erik calling you Dad?” Mateo asks while laughing.
“I’m going to shoot you when I see you,” Peter snarls. I have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing, especially with the glares I’m getting. Me laughing right now wouldn’t be in my best interest.
“What? He is the father of your grandbaby.”
“You just wait until boys start sniffing around Alessia.”
Mateo growls, “I will be killing any of them that try to come to close to her. I’m still trying to convince Emilia that we should homeschool our kids, but no. She says they need to be around other kids.”
“It is good for them to have friends,” Peter says.
“I can find them friends who I know won’t hurt them.”
“You can’t put them in a bubble for the rest of their lives.”
“Watch me.” We all bust out laughing. When Alessia finds someone, I’m going to feel sorry for them. They will have to deal with having Mateo as a father-in-law and all the other overprotective De Luca men. Granted, if this child is a girl, she won’t have it any easier as she will have my family plus the O’Sullivan men.
And if she is a girl, I’m locking her in a tower and throwing away the key so no boys can get close to her.