Chapter 48
Jamie
His security team had dragged him away from the murder scene before he could promise her he’d be there for her until the bitter end.
The blood and dead body he’d left behind were nothing compared to the haunting image burned into his mind.
He left her.
One chopper flew her in the opposite direction toward the hospital, unconscious and cradled by his security team.
While the other whisked him away, fists bloodied, rage simmering beneath his skin.
It had to be that way.
When he arrived at the police station, Marcus was already there, suit pressed, jaw tight, barking down the phone with their legal team.
They spent the entire night behind closed doors. Jamie, Marcus, two lawyers, three detectives, and a weary-looking coroner who did the autopsy on Niall Ross thrashed it out.
Now, hours later, Jamie was a free man. No charges. No cuffs. No fucking regrets.
His conscience was clean. His heart…not so much.
The helicopter landed at the coach house just as the sky lit up in flames, a bold sunset blazing across the hills behind Marcus’s estate.
He turned to his brother and grabbed his arm before getting out.
“Marcus. You’re always there for me, mate. I owe you.”
Marcus shrugged. “You always owe me. I’m your big brother. Saving your ass is a full-time gig.”
But Jamie didn’t laugh. He squeezed tighter.
“No, I mean it. I love you, bro.”
Marcus blinked at him, then smirked.
“You sound like you’re about to write me a poem. You should’ve gone with something more flattering like, ‘Marcus, you’re a fucking god,’ or ‘Marcus, I want to name my firstborn after you.’ ”
Jamie rolled his eyes. “Dead on, mate.”
But the smile didn’t reach his eyes, worry still etched into every line of his face.
“I still can’t believe Bucky spiked the coke with horse tranquilizers,” he muttered. “If security hadn’t caught the exchange on video…”
Marcus shook his head as they stepped down onto the gravel.
“And I still can’t believe you lost your shit, Jamie. You’re lucky it ended with a major heart attack and not a murder charge.”
Jamie didn’t respond. Because Marcus wasn’t wrong.
If Niall hadn’t gone down from a seizure, Jamie would’ve continued to punch the fuck out of him. And fuck, he deserved it.
They stepped inside the Coach House, and Jamie stilled in the hallway.
The scent of home cooking drifted from the kitchen should’ve been comforting. But his stomach dropped.
Shannon didn’t appear…she didn’t run into his arms.
He knew she was here.
“What if she thinks I’m a monster?” Jamie’s voice was raw, barely keeping pace with the chaos behind his ribs. “She didn’t need to see me like that. Yeah, Niall was a fucking bastard, but he wasn’t like Carl Reed.”
A flicker of something cold and violent crossed Marcus’s face. The mention of Carl’s name still opened fresh wounds.
“Niall had a heart attack,” Marcus said, his voice steel. “He was a walking time bomb before you even touched him. If anything, she’ll be relieved you’re free and back where you belong.”
He softened then, stepping closer.
“I’d do anything to protect the people I love, Jamie. And so would you.” He reached up, palm cradling the back of Jamie’s neck, pulling him in. “This is our family now—me, Dad, Lana…you. And Shannon.”
Jamie let himself fall into the rough hug, gripping Marcus just as tight. Marcus slapped his back and grinned.
“I could still take you down, by the way. Even if you think you’re Rocky fucking Balboa now. You know the papers will run with it, right? Jamie McGrath kills man in bare-knuckle brawl. One punch wonder. Shame your big brother had to step in and clean up the mess.”
A breath of laughter cracked through Jamie’s tight chest.
“Marcus,” Lana’s voice floated from the hallway, warm and sweet.
The moment she spotted Jamie, her arms flew around him.
“I’m so glad you’re home, Jamie.” Her embrace squeezed all the air from his lungs. “Are you okay?”
“I will be,” Jamie murmured, “once I’ve seen Shannon. Where is she…is she okay?”
Lana stepped back, her hands slipping from his chest as she tucked herself into Marcus’s side.
“Yes, she’s in the guest room…in bed. Resting.”
His entire body stilled. “What do you mean resting ? Did the hospital run tests? Is she sick?”
“She’s not sick.” Lana gave him a soft smile. “But…she needs to talk to you.”
Jamie’s stomach hollowed. “What do you mean?”
But he didn’t wait for an answer.
Spinning on his heel, he bolted down the hallway, every muscle coiled with urgency. Emotion surged, so strong it made his vision blur.
He didn’t knock. He couldn’t .
When the door flew open, his heart stuttered. There she was, curled on the bed, knees tucked in, hugging a pillow like it was all that tethered her to the earth.
Her face was red, tear-stained. Vulnerable in a way that twisted something fierce and protective within him.
“Shannon?” Jamie’s voice thundered.
He crossed the room in three powerful strides, dropping to his knees in front of her, his hands already reaching. “Talk to me, love…what’s wrong? Did something else happen?—”
His voice cut off when her watery ocean-blue eyes lifted to his.
The worry in his chest caved beneath the troubled shadow behind her eyes. She looked broken. No , not broken…fragile and brave all at once, and it wrecked him.
“Talk to me,” he demanded, his thumb brushing under her eye to catch a tear. “Show me where it hurts. I need to see, love. All of it.”
As she sobbed, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap.
“I’ve got you, love,” he murmured into her hair. “I’m here now. It’s all over.”
He rocked her, one hand firm at her lower back, the other stroking through her hair as she wept into his shoulder.
“I missed you so much…” she whispered.
His voice dropped, husky and sure. “I missed you, too, love. More than you’ll ever know. It’s all over now. I’m home.”
Her fingers fisted in his shirt, yanking him closer. And Jamie let her. Let her cry, let her cling, let her tremble. Because she needed to fall apart, and he needed to be the one who held her through it.
“You don’t have to be strong right now, love,” he whispered. “That’s my job.”
Then her voice, strained and shaking, broke the silence.
“Lana told me everything. That Bucky mixed stuff into the coke. But…you need to know… It wouldn’t have mattered if you’d killed him.” Her breath caught. “Because I love you, Jamie. So damn much it hurts.”
The words fluttered something in him. The storm in his head stilled.
Her puffy, red eyes were a lifeline dragging him from the dark. She sat on his knee, brave, beautiful and fierce, declaring her love with tears streaking her cheeks and a fire still burning in her heart.
And he couldn’t even speak.
Before he could gather a single syllable, she reached for his hand, pulled it toward her, and held it to the soft curve of her belly, letting it rest there.
“We’re having a baby, Jamie.”
His entire bloodstream ignited with a wild rush of adrenaline and disbelief and something fucking holy.
“A…baby?” he echoed, his voice cracking around the word.
His gaze locked onto hers, stunned and raw. “You just said—? Fuck. A baby .”
For a beat, he didn’t move. Just stared at her, like his world had tilted and righted itself all at once .
This wasn’t just love now. It was a legacy . Her and him, building a future, a family.
Holding her on his lap, Jamie’s arms tightened. Then, ever so slowly, he guided her backward onto the mattress, leaned in, and slid his hand over her abdomen.
His fingers flexed like he could shield her from the whole damn world with just that one touch.
“This…” he whispered, voice rough with emotion. “This is ours . You and me, love. And this little one…”
His eyes lifted to hers, glinting with fire. “This baby belongs to me, just like you do. I’m going to protect both of you with everything I’ve got.”
He leaned forward, pressing the softest kiss to her belly, then another, firmer one to her lips.
“You have no idea what you’ve done to me. I knew you were mine the day you made me that damn bacon butty.”
A tear slid down her cheek as she gave a trembling smile. “So… you’re okay with it? With our little bacon bit?”
His laugh broke on a breath. “Okay with it? I’m fucking wrecked with how much I love it already.”
He pressed his lips to the back of her hand, then to her belly.
“How?” he asked. “I mean… I know how, obviously, and it was fucking magnificent, but we used protection.”
She nodded.
“It still happens, Jamie. On the day of the competitions, I’ll be over five months. I can’t ride now. It’s too risky. I have to pull out of the event until after it’s born. ”
His eyes lifted to hers. “Fuck, love. You’ve already sacrificed so much.”
“I haven’t lost anything,” she whispered. “Not if I still have you.”
He cradled her face with both hands. “You do, Shannon. You have all of me. Forever. But I won’t let your dreams take a back seat.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, legs spread wide, forearms braced on his thighs like a man preparing to negotiate a war, not surrender.
“We’ll work it out,” he promised.
His gaze dropped to her belly, and his next words slipped out with a reverent exhale.
“Christ, you’re having my baby.”
This was it. No more secrets.
“I need to tell you something, and you’re going to hear all of it.” His hand covered hers, warm and steady, anchoring them both to the small swell beneath her top.
“Marcus and I…we’re billionaires.” He watched her expression. “I didn’t tell you. Not because I didn’t trust you, but because I just wanted you to give me a chance without thinking I was all about the money.”
She stared at him, but she didn’t speak. Just held on.
“I’ve had women throw themselves at me for a piece of my life—for the name, the power, the money. And then you came along, calling rich men assholes and handing me a bacon butty like I was just a guy in your yard. You saw me without all the extras. And that pulled me in, Shannon. ”
A tear slipped down her cheek, and he caught it with his thumb.
“I should’ve told you sooner. But everything happened so fast. And now that I know you love me—” He thumbed her jaw, tilting her gaze to meet his. “—I won’t hold anything back.”
His tone darkened, dominant, velvet over steel.
“You’re mine. You always were. And this baby? It’s just proof the universe agrees with me.”
She nodded, trembling beneath his touch, and he leaned in, slow, controlled, and all-consuming.
When his mouth met hers, it wasn’t just a kiss. It was a claim. A promise. A vow.
And when her breath hitched and her moan spilled against his lips, it lit a fire in his gut.
“I love you, Shannon,” he growled against her mouth. “And I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure you never doubt that. You, the baby, your career, your future—I’ll be right beside you through everything.”