Chapter Three
Mac
My eyes squint to focus on the beautiful woman in front of me.
She’s about five foot eight or so if I had to guess.
Her deep maroon dress clings to her luscious curves, making my mouth water on instinct.
Her dark brown hair is extremely curly, and her deep green eyes nervously look around the crowd until she sees Jakob fucking Fischer come to her side.
She visibly relaxes at his closeness, causing what can only be described as a growl to rumble up from my chest.
I have so many questions, but none about her identity.
That is one hundred percent, without a shadow of a doubt, Riley Rossi.
The same girl that I was told just a year ago was dead.
The same girl who was kidnapped on the way to my house when she was seven.
The same girl who, according to Nix, was trafficked along with her in Ohio throughout childhood.
But now here she is, seemingly unharmed, with Jakob Fischer standing slightly in front of her in a protective stance.
“Fischer, what the fuck is this?” My blood pressure has rocketed, and I don’t have nearly enough whiskey in my system for this shit thanks to playing good boy for my brothers.
“What the fuck is what, Byrne? We were invited, me in place of my father, and Lee with her own invitation from Phoenix and Kieran.”
Lee? There’s no way. That woman is Riley Rossi.
She can’t be Lee. Lee is the woman I’ve been working against and then with for years.
The only other person in the world who can challenge my brain on a work and personal level.
Lee’s my friend, sometimes she’s a woman I flirt with over text. She can’t- this can’t be right.
“That’s my daughter you have your hands on. Remove them immediately before I remove them for you.” Rossi sneers from beside me.
“You’re losing your marbles, old man. This is my sister.” Fischer drops the bomb that has us all freezing. No way, I call bullshit. Why is she not telling us who she is?
Turning to her I plead, “Riley.”
A look of devastation, followed by what seems to be confusion covers her too-pretty face. She would get away with the clueless act if I were anyone else, but I notice the flicker of panic in her eyes.
“I’m sorry. I’m not- my name is Lelonie Dorthea Fischer.
Check my license if you want, or call my Papa.
I’m sorry there must be some sort of confusion.
” She looks over at Phoenix and addresses solely her and Kieran, “I’m so sorry.
I came to see you and congratulate you two.
Not to start a ruckus at your wedding. Jakob and I will head out now, but call me when you get home from your honeymoon.
I’d love to set up a girls day.” She smiles for them, but the sadness shines bright through her eyes.
“Lee, don’t. Please stay.” Kieran reaches out to her, squeezing her hand reassuringly.
“Theo and Mac were mistaken. They’ll be cool.
Right, guys?” Kieran shoots daggers over at Rossi and I.
We both narrow our eyes but begrudgingly agree.
She brings her eyes back to the man protecting her and he gives her a subtle nod.
I’m getting to the bottom of this shit just as soon as the girls are out of earshot.
“One hour, Lelonie.” Jakob commands. She nods in agreement as Pigeon squeals like a teenage girl and drags her over to where Clara is.
I take a moment to watch them. The girls huddle around each other like they’ve all been friends for years instead of Clara and ‘Lee’ just meeting each other for the first time. Lee shakes her head as Clara offers her a glass of wine and instead takes a bottle of water from her. Interesting.
They’re lost in conversation when Jakob and Kieran’s voices pull my attention back to the people surrounding me. They’re laughing about something, like nothing here is amiss. What the fuck, Kie? Way to be a damn traitor.
Elle has tears in her eyes, and Sullivan rubs soothing circles on her back as a way to comfort her. They’re best friends first, even if they are secretly in love.
“She doesn’t remember us?” She looks around our group in shock, like she can’t believe what she’s seeing.
Take a number sister, I’m right there with you.
“There’s nothing to remember, that’s my little sister.” Jakob barks out with a barely contained rage simmering just below the surface.
“Oh, cut the shit, Fischer. Have you seen yourself? You guys don’t look anything alike. However, she looks like what I’m assuming I will look like when I’m a few years older.”
Jakob scoffs at Elle, causing Sully and Theo to bristle, “You haven’t seen our other sister or Mama. She looks like them. Dieter and I look like our Papa. It’s called genetics, Elle. I’d assume a smart Princeton girl like yourself would know how a Punnett square works.”
“Watch your fucking mouth, Fischer.” Sully puts himself in front of Elle.
I note that Theo just stands back and lets Sully stand up for Elle.
He’s actually not saying much since the initial claim that Lee was his kid.
I shake off the strange feeling just as Jakob puffs his chest out, his body fills with adrenaline, and it should.
He’s surrounded by Byrne men and their associates. He’s the odd man out here.
“Then back off my fucking sister, Byrne.” He grounds out.
Rowan steps between them, placing his hands on each man’s chest. Luckily everyone else is mingling and having a great time. If you aren’t standing in our group, you have no idea what’s happening.
“Both of you calm the fuck down, or you can both leave.” He looks at Jake, “You cool, Fischer?”
His jaw clenches like he wants to argue but must think better of it because he just nods.
Roe turns his attention to our baby brother next, “Sully?” His voice brokers no arguments.
“I’m fine.” He practically snarls just as Jakob turns and pushes away from the crowd. No doubt finding somewhere quiet to wait until his ‘sister’ is ready to go.
“Yeah, it sounds that way.” Rowan lets out a humorless laugh. “Elle, sweetheart, can you two go find Flynn and the rest of your motley crew? I saw them sneaking to the side of the house earlier, and only God knows what they’re up to.”
Elle’s smile is light and genuine as she answers him, “I’m on it, Roe. You know I’ll keep them in line. Come on, monster.” She drags my brother, who practically doubles her in size, by the hand, and just like every other time, Sully follows Boo wherever she may lead him.
“First off, what the fuck was that fucking host of the year bullshit act?” I sneer at Kieran, turning my aggression on him.
“It’s my wedding, I’m not feeling stabby today. Don’t push it, Mac. I’d hate to get twitchy with you for ruining my day.”
I roll my eyes at him, “You’re not going to stab me, asshole.”
“And you’re not going to ruin my wedding by showing your ass over a girl you don’t know but think you do.” Ah, there it is. He’s blind if he doesn’t see it.
“You’re going to look me in the eyes after looking at Elle and seriously tell me you don’t believe that’s Riley?” I snap at Kieran.
“Does she bear a resemblance to Elle? Yes, she does. But does she look identical to her? No. She looks just as much like Fischer as she does Elle. You know what we know. I know it’s hard to grasp, but Riley’s gone.
You have to process and accept that.” He’s practically pleading with me, but I don’t care. I don’t have to accept shit.
Why the fuck is Rossi staying silent still?
I look over at him and see he’s so engrossed in watching her that I don’t think he would have heard a bomb drop right next to him.
Looking around to everyone else who remains, I can’t help the burning desire to get out of here and away from my brothers and the woman who claims she isn’t the best friend I lost fifteen years ago, even though every atom that makes me up tells me that’s bullshit.
I give everyone a mock salute as I begin to walk away, “I’m out of here.” I can feel their eyes burning holes into my back as I swipe a brand new bottle of my favorite whiskey and head upstairs to my room.
I look cool, calm, and collected from the outside. But inside I feel like my lungs have shriveled to the size of grapes. I’m fighting hard just to breathe. I feel like the air has been sucked out of this space. I can’t do this anymore.
Making my way to my favorite place to drink by myself, my ass falls to the ground and my back leans against the side of the tub.
Tipping up the bottle, I take a few swallows before bringing it down.
My pistol digs into my back so I take it out and hold it in my hands.
Taking another few drinks from the bottle, I turn the gun over in my hand, examining it as my mind races.
It’d be so easy to just pull the trigger and end it all.
Then I could be with Riley again. They say she isn’t the woman downstairs, which means she’s really dead.
I’ve done this same routine countless times at this point.
Always so close to pulling it, but never quite having the balls to.
Right as I make the decision to finally go through with it after all these years of thinking about it, the bathroom door bursts open and my nephew barges in.
Rhett’s six years old. His brown curly hair is as long as mine, and his inquisitive hazel eyes are a perfect mix between his mom’s and my brother’s. Quickly shoving the gun behind my back like a teenager who just got caught with his first beer, Rhett’s eyes study me.
“What are you doing Uncle Mac?” His hands move in time with his words. Rhett was born deaf. He has cochlear implants now, but years of using ASL means he still signs as he talks.
Freeing my hands to do the same, I answer him. “I’m just sad, Little Bear. I like to come here to think when I’m really sad.”
Rhett thinks that over for a second before moving over to me and getting in my lap.
“I like to hide when I’m sad too. Can I hide with you?”
“What are you sad for?” I’ll slay any and everything that causes him an ounce of sadness.
“Well, I’m sad because you’re sad, of course.” Fuck, way to make me hate myself more than I already do, Bear.
Wrapping my arms around his small frame, I bury my face in his soft hair and inhale.
He’s so empathetic and sweet. He gets that from his mama.
Rocking him gently side to side, I wait until his breath evens out.
I can’t do this to him. If he had been thirty seconds later, he would have been the one to find me.
That can’t be a part of his story. I may not be able to stop drinking for him, but I can stay alive for him.
It would absolutely destroy him to lose one of us, and I can’t be the one to do that to him.
I won’t be another topic he has to discuss in therapy one day.
* * *
“Mac… Mac, get up.” Forcing my eyes open, I find Declan standing beside my bed, pissed. I can feel Rhett snuggled tight into my side and sound asleep. Looking at the table beside Dec, my eyes catch on his processors, so I know we took them off when I brought him in here.
“What? What’s the problem?” My voice sounds slurred even to my own ears.
Before he has a chance to answer, Rowan and Clara, both panicked, burst into my room. The breath rushes out of their lungs. Rowan rushes out, “Holy shit. He’s here. He’s asleep.”
“Anyone want to tell me what’s going on?” I look over all three of the intruders and their doubles interrupting my sleep.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone Rhett was with you?” Declan barks out. “We’ve been on a manhunt for him for the past fifteen minutes.”
“Shitty manhunt if you didn’t check all his family members first. I came up here after the Lee thing, he wandered up here later on and found me.
Then we fell asleep. I was unaware I had to notify anyone.
” My head’s killing me, the room is spinning, and I just want to go back to sleep so my anger bubbles up to the surface.
“Is he okay here, or do you want to move him?”
“We’ll take him. You need to sleep it off. It reeks like a fucking distillery in here.” Rowan storms over and lifts Rhett up so he buries his little face into his Da’s neck. He grabs Rhett’s processors before looking at me in disappointment and leaving the room with his wife and son.
That look stings more than it should. I’m Rowan’s ‘bad kid’, the cause of all his stress, so it seems. It hasn’t always been like this. The past year has really done a number on me, and in turn it’s put them through a lot as well. Declan sits on the ground and leans back against my bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Making sure you don’t die in your sleep. Go to bed.”
I want to roll my eyes and tell him he’s being dramatic, but he isn’t.
Rowan looking at me like I’m a disappointment was more than I could handle.
I’m the quiet one, the one everyone has always come to when they need steady and calm.
That me doesn’t exist anymore, or at least he hasn’t for the past year.
I don’t like being the one to worry them.
So I make the decision right here to go back to hiding my demons.
They don’t need to see this. They have far too much to worry about without me adding to their plates.
“Thank you.”
“Any time, baby brother. Go to sleep, I’ll be right here.”
Dammit, I really don’t deserve any of them.