Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
AISLING
What feels like someone banging against my temples pulls me out of my sleep. My eyes slowly flutter open but quickly shut, the light being too much to take.
Oh my God, I feel like I’m dying.
I roll over, chasing my favorite smell of weed, motor oil, and cedar but quickly realizing my mistake as pain radiates through my cheek, making me cry out.
The bedroom door bursts open. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Hash’s frantic voice sounds throughout the room as everything from the night before comes back to me.
“Where is Cormac?” I ask through the pain.
He better be okay.
“He’s right here, baby doll. He’s still sleeping. He had a long night.” Hash sits next to me on the bed, his hand coming to rest on my upper thigh. “How’s your head feeling?”
I force my eyes open and make myself sit up on my elbows as I look to the side of me, seeing Cormac, who looks untouched, passed out in his pack n play.
Thank God.
Thank God my baby is okay.
“Like someone ran me over with their car,” I tell him, my voice sounding scratchy from my dry throat.
Hash leans over and grabs a bottle of water off the nightstand, twists the cap off and hands it to me.
“Thank you.”
Hash’s eyes roam my face as I down half the bottle of water, locking in on my cheek, making his jaw tense.
“I know you’re probably not feeling up to talking right now, but I need to know what happened.” Hash’s voice is low, making sure not to wake Cormac but no less lethal.
I’m worried that if I tell him what happened and how I was feeling weird all yesterday and didn’t tell him, he’s going to be mad at me. Realistically, the two probably have nothing to do with each other, but on the other hand, I’ve never been one to believe in coincidences like that.
“About the guy coming in?” I ask stupidly before realizing what I said.
“Yeah.” Hash’s gaze narrows. “What else happened yesterday?”
Shit.
“Well…” I trail off, internally kicking myself for walking right into this.
“Aisling,” Hash warns. “I’m trying very hard to be patient, baby doll, but I’m hanging on by a thread here. Cut me some slack and tell me everything that fucking happened.”
“It was probably nothing. Just a weird coincidence.” At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
“Let me be the judge of that, yeah?” Hash squeezes my thigh.
I sigh. He will not let up.
“All day long yesterday I felt off. And I know you’re going to ask me what I mean by that.
” I pause as I shoot him a look. “But I can’t explain it.
It was the weirdest thing. I felt unsettled and a little antsy.
Frankie thought it might have been because I had a crazy weekend, and I thought she was right until… ”
“Until what?” Hash presses.
“Until you left.” Hash’s nostrils flare as his hand flexes on my thigh. “Don’t lose it. It’s not your fault. You understand that, don’t you?”
“Why don’t you just tell me what happened, and I’ll worry about that.”
“Hash.”
“Aisling.”
“Lachlan.” I scold, pulling out his government name.
“Aisling, I’m not fucking around. Spit it out.”
“After you left, and I was getting ready for bed, I decided I wanted a Diet Coke. When I went to get one, Frigg was sitting on the dining room table just staring at the glass. It was weird because it was pitch black out, so I wasn’t sure what she was even seeing.”
“Could have been her reflection,” Hash says.
“Maybe, but once I finally worked up the balls to turn the lights on outside to see what she was looking at, there wasn’t anything there.
That weird feeling I had been feeling all day increased, though.
It almost felt like someone was out there watching me, but I couldn’t see them, if that makes sense. ”
“It does. Why didn’t you call me?”
“Call you because I had a weird feeling? You would have thought I was fucking crazy.” I even thought I was going crazy for a second.
“I don’t care if you had gotten a paper cut. You fucking call me.” Hash’s voice whips out, making me shudder. “Understood?”
“Understood,” I whisper. I don’t feel like arguing about this with him right now. He’s never going to see my side, and I’m never going to see his.
Hash’s eyes continue to stare into my soul.
“Then what happened?”
“Then I went to bed and woke up to the sound of glass shattering. I freaked out, grabbed my phone and ran into Cormac’s room, and that’s when I called you.”
“What happened between the time I hung up the phone and I got there?” Hash asks, his voice sounding funny.
It’s only then that I realize that he looks like he’s about to explode. The tiny tendon in his neck is straining against his skin from how hard he’s clenching his jaw.
He thinks this is his fault.
As much as it hurts, I push through the pain radiating through my body as I sit up and wrap my arms around his middle, resting my good cheek against his chest.
“You should be lying down and resting,” Hash says, but his arms come around me anyway.
“I am resting,” I murmur.
His arms tighten around me, pressing me against him. We both sit in silence, me basking in the warmth that comes from the comfort of being in his arms and him knowing I made it through.
I’ve seen enough true crime shows to know that break-ins happen. But you never think it’s going to happen to you. I looked it up once, and out of every one thousand houses, nine would get broken into that which is insanely low of it happening to you.
Last night opened my eyes to the reality that you’re never truly safe from it not happening to you.
I don’t know how I’m going to be able to go back to my house after this. The thought of staying alone at night makes my chest feel tight, and it’s almost hard to breathe.
“I know you’re tired, baby doll, but I really need you to tell me what happened after I hung up the phone,” Hash says quietly.
I know he needs to hear it. I just don’t want him to have the rage that comes with it.
“I moved Cormac’s dresser in front of the door because I was afraid he would kick the door in. A lot of good that did since he punched it in any way and climbed over the dresser.”
“What did he look like?”
“I can’t really say. He had a ski mask on. I could see only his eyes and mouth. He had on jeans, boots, and a T-shirt, but that doesn’t really help.”
“Do you remember what color his eyes were?”
“No, I’m sorry. I was too distraught trying to protect Cormac that I didn’t focus on that.” I’m kicking myself for not getting more details. How are we supposed to figure out who did this?
“Don’t apologize. I’m so fucking proud of you for protecting our boy.”
I squeeze him tighter as I watch Cormac’s belly rise and fall as he sleeps.
“I tried.”
“There’s no trying. You did. I’m sorry I didn’t get there faster.”
“You came. That’s what matters,” I say with a yawn.
“Let’s lie down. You need to rest. Take the pain meds on the nightstand. I was supposed to go get Doc when you woke up, but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“Are you going to nap with me?”
“Yeah. I haven’t gone to sleep yet,” Hash says as I leave his embrace and slide over against the wall.
Guilt pangs in my chest.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Hash warns as he slides in next to me.
“Like what?” I ask, playing dumb.
“Like you feel like this is your fault. It’s not. So get that out of your fucking head.”
“I can’t magically stop thinking about it because you told me to,” I say with an eye roll as I rest my head on a pillow. Wait. “When did you get two pillows?”
“I had Evan grab them off your bed when she was packing you a bag. I knew you’d want them, and I didn’t want to hear you bitching about me only having one.”
I snort as something lands on my feet. Looking down my body, slightly alarmed, I see Frigg curling in a ball at the foot of the bed.
“You brought Frigg?” I ask as I swallow, trying to keep the emotions that feel like they’re going to drown me at bay.
“I knew you would be worried about her.”
This gruff looking man has the heart of gold. And that heart belongs to me.
He never wants to admit he did something outright just to be nice.
“Thank you,” I tell him quietly as my arm wraps around his middle and I settle in.
“Don’t mention it,” he mumbles, but I’m already fading out.
I wake with a gasp, feeling like my oxygen is being cut off as I sit straight up. Pain washes over me, making my head throb and my vision go spotty. My hands come up to cradle my head as I wait for my vision to clear.
“What the fuck?” Hash says, his voice gravely with sleep. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
Hash sits up in bed next to me, placing a hand on my back, rubbing small circles.
“I forgot to tell you something.”
“Jesus, take a breath. You don’t need to work yourself up just for forgetting to tell me one thing. Your body doesn’t need the stress, baby doll.”
“It’s not something small, Hash.” I shake my head as I lift it out of my hands and look at him.
His green eyes are staring back at me, full of concern as he waits for me to continue.
“When the guy got into the room with Cormac and I, he threatened me. He told me he was there to deliver a message. A message for you and your club.”
“What did he say?” Hash asks through clenched jaws as he continues to rub my back.
“The Dirty Devils’ days are numbered in Ravenna Heights.” I swallow, trying to hold myself together as a chill runs down my spine. I can still hear his voice in my head.
Hash’s hand jerks on my back.
“I’m going to send Doc in to check up on you. I’m sure he’s been waiting. I need to go talk to Cain.”
I nod.
“Can you hand me Cormac? He’s starting to stir, and I know he has to be hungry.”
Hash climbs out of bed and picks up a half-awake Cormac, who snuggles into him. My ovaries pulse at the sight of him holding our baby close, rocking him in his big, tattooed arms as he places a kiss on top of his head.