Chapter Seven #2
Marlin understood where his best friend was coming from. It was a miracle that no one had noticed yet, especially Birch, who’d talked to Curran just now.
Marlin raised his hand. “Pearl approached Curran,” he declared to get Birch’s attention.
For a moment, everyone in the office was silent. Curran leaned sideways until he was so close to Marlin that their arms brushed together. It was almost as if he needed protection, but no one in the room right now would even think about hurting him.
“What did my sister want?” Killian asked.
Curran cleared his throat and glanced at Marlin, who nodded at him.
He could tell Killian everything Curran had told him, but it would be better coming from Curran.
He might remember something he hadn’t told Marlin yet, and even if he didn’t, Killian would have questions that Marlin couldn’t answer.
“She heard me fighting with Birch in the dining hall. When he left, she approached me and acted worried about me.” Curran recounted everything that had happened with Pearl again. Marlin listened, but Curran didn’t say anything new.
“It sounds like she thinks you’re afraid of or intimidated by your brother,” Killian said as he leaned back in his chair.
“She made it sound like I was afraid Birch would hurt me. As if I would let him,” Curran said, sounding annoyed.
“If one of my bodyguards and closest friends is a violent person, it wouldn’t reflect well on me,” Killian said. “It might even make some people think that I’m just as violent as Birch.”
“Can we not talk as if I regularly beat my little brother?” Birch asked.
“Pearl doesn’t actually think I hurt Curran.
She’s just fishing and trying to find an in.
She can’t come to me or Marlin, obviously, so what’s the next best thing?
Hedley’s out of reach, as are your kids.
That leaves our families. Aaron would never listen to her, and she knows better than to try approaching our parents, but Curran? He’s young. He’s impressionable.”
“He’s going to kick your ass,” Curran grumbled.
“No, you’re not because you’re freaking pregnant,” Birch snapped at him.
Marlin could see where this was going, and they didn’t have time for it. “What Pearl thinks doesn’t matter. What she’s trying to do does, though.”
“Well, I’m not going to let her get close to Killian,” Curran said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “She can fuck off if she thinks I’d hurt my brother or the king.”
Marlin agreed, but he was wary. “But she thinks she has something. That means she’s not going to let this go.”
“I’ll just ignore her. It’s not like we see each other often, anyway.”
“Do you really think you can ignore Pearl?”
“I can try. She’ll get the message eventually.”
Marlin wanted to kiss Curran. He knew how scared he had to be, yet he was willing to tell a powerful dragon to fuck off for his brother and his king.
It was no wonder that Marlin had fallen in love with him.
* * * *
CURRAN JUST WANTED to go home. He didn’t want to think about Pearl or to have anything to do with her. Was that too much to ask?
Clearly, it was. He could tell he wouldn’t be able to get out of this mess, and not because the people in the room with him didn’t want him to.
Hell, Curran could see from Birch’s expression that he wanted nothing more than to grab him and drag him back to their mothers so they could never let him out of their sight again.
No, Birch, Marlin, and Killian weren’t the problem. The problem was Pearl.
She wanted something from Curran. Curran had no idea why she’d decided that she would get it from him of all people, but she had, and he doubted she’d leave him alone. She’d taken the first step. More steps would come, and Curran would need to be prepared.
He wasn’t sure he could be.
He cleared his throat. “Well, I told you what happened, and you don’t need me anymore. I’m going to go home.”
He prayed that the three were too busy thinking about Pearl and what she was up to to try and stop him, but he should’ve known better. He did know better. Killian might have let him go, but Birch and Marlin? There was no way they’d let Curran go anywhere without talking to him first.
“Tell me about the baby,” Birch ordered.
Curran made sure not to look in Marlin’s direction.
He might not be able to continue lying about the baby, but he could avoid telling Birch who the other father was for a while longer.
He and Marlin hadn’t even talked about what all of this meant.
They needed a little time, and he didn’t think it was too much to ask.
“What do you want me to say? As you can see, I’m pregnant.”
“When did it happen? And please don’t tell me it was the night of the party.”
Curran stared at Birch without saying anything. Birch waited, tapping his foot.
“Well?” he asked eventually.
“You told me not to tell you it was the night of the party, so I didn’t say anything,” Curran said.
Birch groaned. “Really? You knew better, Curran. You knew better, and I told you to be careful. What the fuck were you thinking?”
Curran grinned. “I don’t think I was thinking, if you know what I’m saying.”
Birch groaned. “I don’t want to know what you’re saying. I don’t want to think of you in that position.”
“Well, you can’t really avoid it, can you? It’s pretty obvious what I did when you look at my stomach.”
“Who is it? When I left you, you were alone.” Birch frowned. “Wait, that’s not right. When I left you, you were with Marlin.”
“Yes, I was there, so I remember,” Curran quickly said. “And I still maintain that I don’t need either of you to protect me.”
“This shows otherwise.”
“No, it doesn’t. I knew what I was doing.
What happened was my fault, and nothing you or Marlin could have said or done would’ve changed the decisions I made that night.
You’re going to have to accept that even though I’ll always be your little brother, I’m an adult and can make my own decisions and mistakes. ”
“I’m not saying this is a mistake. It will change your life, though.”
“Maybe I wanted to change my life.”
“So you’re keeping the baby?”
“I am. I talked to Palmer about the options, and even though I’m terrified, I want to keep it.”
“Good. You’ve always wanted to be a dad.”
Curran was still not looking in Marlin’s direction. He didn’t want to see Marlin’s expression.
“But if you’re going to keep it, you’ll need to tell the other father,” Birch continued. “I know it’s none of my business, but I want to help. Besides, that baby is going to be my niece or nephew.”
Curran screwed his eyes shut for a second. He should’ve known Birch wouldn’t let it go.
He turned to Killian. “So what am I supposed to do about Pearl again?”
Killian looked amused, but thankfully, he didn’t call Curran out on what he was doing.
“I think we need to wait and see what happens next. For now, she hasn’t done anything she shouldn’t have.
I’m sure that if we confronted her, she’d say she was just worried about a fellow clan member.
You and Birch were fighting in a public area.
I wasn’t there, and knowing you and Birch, I’m sure the fight wasn’t that bad, but she could say that anyone would have stepped in. ”
“Do you think she’ll approach me again?”
“If she has a plan, and I’m sure she does, she will. This was just her first step. She probably wanted to see how you were going to react.”
Curran’s stomach sank. He didn’t want anything to do with Pearl, but if she was up to something, he wanted Killian to know what that something was. Running straight to the king might have ruined that. “I came to you. She probably had someone following me, and I came straight to you.”
“You didn’t,” Marlin said. “You came to me.”
“And you’re one of Killian’s bodyguards.”
“I’m also someone you’ve known since you were very young. If you had a problem with Birch, it would make sense for you to come to me.”
“If someone is following me, they could have followed me here, too,” Curran pointed out.
“Or maybe they saw where you went and left. We can’t know for sure, but Killian is right. We need to wait and see what she does next. That’ll tell us what she saw today.”
Curran wasn’t looking forward to having to wait. He was anxious enough as it was without adding Pearl and whatever she was up to. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like he was going to have a choice.
“Why did you go to Marlin?” Birch piped up. “You should’ve come to me.”
“I just fought with you. Do you really think I wanted to talk to you so soon after I told you to fuck off?”
“Maybe not, but still. You know how dangerous Pearl is. I’m your brother.”
“So?”
“We’re family,” Birch insisted. “But you won’t even tell me who the baby’s other father is.
Why are you hiding that from me? Is there something about it that I shouldn’t know?
Did you sleep with someone who’s already in a relationship?
” He paused. “Did someone take advantage of you? Curran, if that’s what happened, I need to know. ”
Curran had had enough. “I’m leaving,” he told Killian.
Killian nodded, but of course, things couldn’t be that simple.
Birch caught Curran’s wrist before he could go anywhere. “What happened?” he asked again. “Who did this to you? If they hurt you, I’ll swear—”
“Oh my god, he didn’t hurt me,” Curran snapped. “It’s Marlin, okay? The baby’s other father is Marlin.”
Well, shit. Curran really hadn’t meant to do that.