Chapter 47
Shannon
“Hey, Shannon.”
She looked up, blinking against the harsh hospital light. A stunning blonde approached with elegant grace, a woman who turned heads without trying.
Shannon frowned. “Hey?”
“I’m Lana.” The woman set a designer duffle bag on the floor and smiled. “Marcus’s fiancée. I’ve come to take you home with me. Marcus is sorting things out with Jamie.”
At the sound of his name, something cracked open in her chest. A weeping ache she’d been keeping in check splintered wide.
“Is he okay?” Shannon asked, sliding her legs off the bed. “Where is he?”
The nurse she’d been talking to before Lana arrived gave her a subtle nod. “Your friend seems like she’ll be a good listener.”
Shannon nodded, a ghost of a smile brushing her lips. “ Yeah, okay, I’ll see you in a few weeks. Thanks for your help.”
When the nurse left, Lana moved further into the room. “Shannon, why are you coming back to the hospital?”
She wore sleek knee-high leather boots, fitted black jeans, and a camel-coloured wool coat that looked softer than cashmere. A woman worthy of the McGrath men.
“Where is he?” Shannon repeated, ignoring the question. “I need to see him.”
No one had told her anything. The female guard who’d stood outside her room gave nothing away, only telling her the brothers had deployed a full team of security to stay with her.
Lana didn’t push for an answer. Instead, she tucked her hand into the crook of Shannon’s elbow and tugged her close, hugging her as if they’d known each other for years.
“He’s with Marcus…and the police,” Lana said, lowering her voice. “Jamie wants me to take you to my place in Fermanagh. He doesn’t want you to be alone.”
Shannon’s heart thumped.
“They’re charging him with murder, aren’t they?” Her voice cracked around the edges, brittle and dry.
“I need to see him,” she whispered. “Please.”
Lana met her gaze, something soft and sorrowful flickering in her blue eyes. Then she walked back to the duffle bag, handed it to and turned away to give her privacy.
“Those are his,” Lana said. “That was his one request…that I bring you his clothes. He said you’d get comfort from them.”
Shannon’s throat tightened as she unzipped the bag, inhaling the clean, woodsy scent, a faint trace of him woven into the cotton.
Flutters burst inside her chest, then died.
She pulled off the thin hospital gown and slipped Jamie’s t-shirt over her head. The fabric swallowed her, soft and warm. Taking a moment, she fisted the hem, holding it to her chest like it could anchor her.
Then she stuffed her legs in oversized sweatpants and sank onto the edge of the bed, clothed in him. Wrapped in the only comfort she had left.
It didn’t make the knots in her chest loosen any. But for the first time in hours, she could breathe again.
“C’mon, Shannon. We’ve got a lot to talk about. Just not here.”
Lana gave a subtle nod to the suited woman tailing behind them as they moved through the hospital corridor and took the elevator to the roof.
Lana’s grip tightened, like she understood the effort it took for Shannon to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Nobody did, though.
“Marcus will bring him home, Shannon,” she said when they burst out into the rainy afternoon. “I promise you.”
“I need to see him,” Shannon whispered, her voice splintering. “Before… ”
Her throat tightened, and she stared at the waiting helicopter. “I have to tell him something.”
The thought of Jamie locked away and punished for what Niall had done, for what she’d brought into his life, clawed at her insides.
He destroyed a monster to protect her. And now he’d lose it all…
Her stomach churned already queasy from the news the doctor had given her earlier. She hadn’t even had time to process it yet.
Her body had been trying to tell her for weeks.
Now she understood why.
She barely registered the walk to the rooftop helipad. Clambering into helicopters had somehow become a routine since living with Jamie.
Her fingers slid the lightweight headset over her ears and clipped the belt across her lap herself, pained by how Jamie had always taken that role.
“Lana…” she rasped, her voice dry as dust. “Are they really…billionaires?”
The rotors whirred louder. The helicopter lifted from the roof and tilted into the sky. Lana adjusted her headset, nudging the microphone closer to her lips, painted in a perfect shade of blood red.
“The fact you’re asking tells me you didn’t know,” she said. “Yeah. They’ve worked hard. Made sacrifices and now they’re very wealthy.”
“He left that part out.” Shannon stared out at the shrinking skyline. “I mean… I knew he was rich, but he should’ve told me how rich. ”
“Is it a problem?” Lana asked.
Shannon didn’t answer right away. She swallowed hard, trying to push down the knot in her throat. “I told him I needed us to be equals in everything and he made me believe that would be possible. He lied…which makes me wonder what else he’s lied about.”
“Or maybe he didn’t want money to ruin things. Maybe he wanted you to see him , not the empire. They don’t trust people, but he trusts you, Shannon.”
Lana paused, then looked straight ahead as the city unfurled beneath them.
“A woman knows when a man loves her. Not because of what he spends on her, but what he gives her. And Jamie would give you everything. His full attention, his protection…and his freedom. I don’t know why he didn’t tell you, Shannon…but I know he’s struggling with not talking to you.”
Shannon pressed her forehead to the window.
“It doesn’t matter anymore. I’d trade everything I have—everything I am—just to undo what protecting me has cost him.”
The sob escaped before she could swallow it down. Her hand covered her mouth, her shoulders trembling.
“Killing Niall was an accident. No one will miss him.” Shannon shook her head. “And god damn him… Even in death, that bastard still managed to ruin my life.”
She turned to Lana, eyes glassy.
“I’m in love with Jamie, and I don’t know how to do this without him. Even though I’ve lost Harry, the yard, Trixie, and now my career, the pain of losing Jamie… th at’s the worst. I’ve got this hole in my chest and nothing can fill it.”
Lana reached over and took Shannon’s hand, squeezing.
“You haven’t lost your career, or him,” Lana said. “Marcus will handle it. He always comes through for him.”
Shannon shook her head. “He killed Niall, Lana. They’re going to lock him up and throw away the key. And I can’t even ride anymore.”
A ragged sob burst from her chest. She pressed her forehead to Lana’s shoulder, not wanting to break but unable to stop it.
“I need him,” she whispered. “Now more than ever.”
“Marcus will bring him home to you, Shannon. I promise.” Lana hugged her. “Just breathe.”
“If he doesn’t…then I’ll?—”
Her voice broke.
Shannon’s hand drifted to her stomach, instinctive and trembling. She folded forward, cradling herself like a child bracing for a storm, arms wrapping around her body as though she could hold everything together by force alone.
“Shannon.” Lana stroked her back. “What are you not telling me? Why can’t you ride anymore? Are you sick?”
“I’m pregnant.” Shannon didn’t lift her head, her voice a breathy whisper. “Jamie’s gonna be a daddy.”