Chapter Twenty-Three
Dublin, Ireland
At the feel of someone shaking me, I recognized those tiny hands immediately. “A few more minutes, baby,” I said to Ciara.
“We’re here, Mommy,” she said, placing extra emphasis on my name as she did.
Here? What is she talking about? I slowly opened my eyes, then saw that we were not in our Queens loft, but instead on a plane. And, a private one at that. Bolting upright, I had to blink a few times as I tried catching my bearings. In that moment, the whole unfortunate mess came rushing back.
Pulling Ciara close to me, I clutched her against my chest as I looked around the space. Right now, we were the only ones here, but if my memory was correct, that meant...
“You’re awake, Sleeping Beauty,” I heard, and looked at the man who’d just emerged from behind the curtain.
“Cillian,” I said, a bit more breathless than I’d planned.
My worst nightmare had come to life, and there was nowhere I could run.
There was no escape from him. My mother and twin had died at the hands of his family, and now my daughter and I might inherit the same fate.
I began to shake, but if my daughter caught on to my distress, she said nothing.
In fact, she turned in my arms and placed a wet kiss on my cheek.
“We’re in Ir...Iah—”
“Ireland,” Cillian answered.
“There,” she said before turning toward him and smiling.
The very gesture broke my heart for more reasons than the obvious one.
Our daughter had no idea that this man was her father, yet it was as if she instinctively knew as she stared at him with the kind of adoration a child would have for a parent.
Regret...Shame...Terror...I felt a gamut of emotions in that moment.
“Please,” I said, hoping he would understand what I was now pleading for. “It’s not too late to let us go back to America.”
There was a large bump, then I heard the sound of the plane as it sped down the runway.
We’d landed, and I could feel the enclosed space of this aircraft as it fully closed in around me.
If it wouldn’t scare my daughter, I might’ve even started to hyperventilate.
All the careful planning I’d put in over the years was essentially ruined, and I now might not live to come up with a different plan.
So many mistakes I’d made over the years came rushing back.
Obviously, if I had never gotten together with Cillian, we wouldn’t be in this situation, but there had been all the things I did and didn’t do when it all fell apart.
Staying in New York had been my biggest mistake.
I’d actually thought that the Big Apple would’ve been crowded and large enough to where I would never be found, but I had, and now it was the beginning of the end.
“I have a car waiting on us,” Cillian said before stepping away from us.
I watched him as he walked over to the flight attendant and proceeded to discuss something with her. The night before, I had been too shocked and terrified to fully look at him. While I still felt those things and more, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the sight of him.
The years had been very good to him. Cillian had not only filled out his frame, but he had gotten even more devastatingly handsome than ever before.
He still had the same familiar mop of blonde hair and those piercing blue eyes, but his cheeks and jawline had become chiseled as if from stone.
He was also possibly an inch or so taller, or maybe it had been all the added muscle that he’d put on that made him seem even larger than life.
“I’m so excited, Mommy,” Ciara said to me, and I turned my focus back to her.
She was smiling from ear to ear. She had no idea the danger we were in, and I couldn’t tell her, either. She was six years old, so this seemed like a fun adventure for her. If being honest with myself, I would’ve been acting the same had this happened to me at that age.
I couldn’t frighten her, so I had to force myself to look calm, cool, and collected.
Ciara was very intuitive, even for her age, and any further sign of distress from me would only upset her.
She and I needed to keep out of Cillian’s way until I found a way to rectify this situation.
I could try to beg him to let us go, possibly by trying to appeal to the love he’d once had for me, but I doubted it would be successful.
After all, if he had loved me enough, my mother and sister would still be here.
No, the best defense I had was a steady offense, so I would pretend as if I wasn’t scared out of my mind, and that I was willing to see this out.
He would let his guard down, then we could escape to a place where we would never be found.
I had no idea where this destination would be, but it would be so far away from him that I would never have to see his face again.
“We’ve arrived. I live about twenty-five minutes from the airport.”
“And it’s in Dublin?” I asked him.
“Ballsbridge, to be exact. I believe the two of you will be very comfortable there.”
That was doubtful, and I sighed. There was no need to hash this out now. My life in New York City was over. I’d likely lose my job and the loft I’d worked so hard to procure, and all for a man who’d constantly uprooted my life every chance he got.
“Mommy,” Ciara said once more to me.
“Yes, baby?”
“You look sad. I don’t want you to cry.”
Cillian narrowed his eyes at me, and I gulped hard. “No, I’m just tired. I’m not sad,” I lied.
“You’ll feel better when we get to our place. You can rest there.” Cillian then pulled Ciara from my arms and swept her up into his.
Once or twice in the past, I’d have nightmares of him finding us, then stealing her from me.
It was crazy how realistic those dreams had been, especially as this one seemed to be ripped straight from one.
Immediately moving to my feet, I didn’t care that my hair was tousled or that my shirt was crooked.
He would be going nowhere with my daughter that didn’t include me.
After following him off the plane, we moved immediately into a dark SUV. I couldn’t help but notice the way that he looked around as he rushed from the aircraft to the vehicle, which made me even more nervous. I quickly followed them, and soon we were on our way.
Cillian pointed out a few things in the city centre, mostly to Ciara, and I could see how enamored she was with the entire city.
It hurt physically to watch them both talk, laugh, and joke with one another as if they’d known each other their entire lives.
Granted, Ciara had never met a stranger she couldn’t charm, but seeing Cillian be so hands on with his daughter was like a knife to the chest.
This was supposed to have been our life.
And I had dreamed about moments like this in our future when the two of us would be so in love with another, and have children to spread that affection amongst. I’d pictured walks in the park, splashing in the ocean, scenic drives through the countryside.
I’d also imagined other things, mostly things we’d talked about while lying satiated in each other’s arms. We’d talked about a life where we could be together, openly and publicly.
One where we wouldn’t have to hide our love under a pier, in the woods, or in the dead of the night.
Just under a half hour later, the driver pulled into a private parking garage, which had several expensive vehicles parked throughout the space.
Of course, Cillian would live near others with as much money as his family, and likely as much influence.
For all I knew, this building might even be owned by a Brannington.
The very name had been enough to elicit fear in me for years. Every time I’d seen or heard their name in passing, it would send shivers racing down my spine. I couldn’t do this. There was no way. After everyone got out of the vehicle, I stayed rooted in my seat. I wanted to move, but I couldn’t.
Was I encased in cement? Quicksand? It didn’t matter what because I was glued to this seat. Cillian and Ciara popped their heads into the vehicle, and my daughter started to pull at my hand.
“C’mon, Mommy.”
“I can’t,” I said, and heard the slight growl from Cillian. He then looked over his shoulder at one of his men, then motioned them over. I saw him nudge Ciara toward one, and I shook my head. “Noooo,” I cried out.
“You can come or you can go, but just know that Ciara stays with me.”
He said nothing else as he turned and walked toward Ciara and his men.
With no other choice, I forced my limbs to move, nearly stumbling as I exited the vehicle.
My body pitched forward as my mind was racing faster than my body could react.
Cillian said nothing, nor did he even acknowledge my partial surrender.
He opened the door and ushered the others inside.
I had just barely made it there before it closed, which would’ve kept me out for as long as he wanted.
It’s not me that he wants.
No matter how many times I tried telling myself that, what he did want was even more terrifying.
There was no way I would let him steal my daughter.
..our daughter...so I quickened my steps and eventually caught up with them both.
Soon, he opened the door to his place, then stepped aside so we could enter.
Once I did, all I could do was stand there as my eyes were immediately drawn to the large floor-to-ceiling windows that made up one entire wall.