21. Mary #2
The call dropped and for three seconds there was only rain, rotors, and my own breathing. Then the helicopter landed, and Artem’s guards came from nowhere and surrounded it.
The rotors slowed.
“Mary. I want you to walk calmly to the helicopter so we can have a chat.” My father’s voice boomed over a loudspeaker outside.
I reached for the door handle ready to tell him to fuck off.
Sienna caught my wrist. “No.”
“I want to tell him to his face to get out of my life. He’s in the helicopter. He won’t dare get out.”
“Stay in the car,” Sienna hissed.
“Do you remember what I said he did to me? He sold me. If I had a gun right now, I would shoot him in his wallet.”
“That would certainly hurt him.”
“Money is the only thing that does, Sienna.”
“He’ll take you, and then he’ll sell you again. You’d be handing him everything he ever wanted from you.” She glanced at my stomach. “And more.”
I turned on her, tears stinging my cheeks. “He never loved me.”
“I know how that feels. Don’t give him another chance to hurt you. You have two babies growing inside you and a future. He’ll make it dark again.”
“I need to face him. I need him to see how strong I am.”
“You can face him from here.”
Before I could argue, she reached toward the center console and pressed a button. A small panel lit up. Another opened the car’s speaker system with a faint crackle.
“Armored vehicle loudspeaker,” she said. “Less dramatic than stepping into a landing zone. More difficult to shoot.”
I stared at her. “He wouldn’t shoot me, Sienna.”
“Mary. Alphas like your father don’t lose.”
I gasped as my father’s voice came over the air again. It was smooth beneath the helicopter noise. “Daughter, there’s no need for this foolish display. I only want to talk. Come with me. Let me take you home. Your family misses you.”
My hand shook.
Sienna put her fingers over mine, steadying them near the button. “He can hear you when you press this.”
“I can’t. I feel like I’m going to explode. Family. What a bastard.”
“You can do it. Tell him everything you need to say.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Start with the truth.”
I pressed the button. “I don’t trust you so I’m staying here.” My voice came out through the speaker louder than I expected, thin with fear but there.
The helicopter settled on the gravel.
For a second my father said nothing. Then he laughed softly. I hated that laugh. “Mary, you’re frightened and emotional. You’re surrounded by strangers who don’t understand your family.”
“I have a family and it’s not you,” I said.
“I’m your father.”
My eyes burned.
Sienna’s hand stayed over mine as she whispered, “You’re brave. You’re an omega. You can do this.”
I pressed the button. “Then you should have acted like one, instead of an auctioneer.”
Silence held for one breath before his voice hardened by one careful degree. “Don’t humiliate me in front of Russians and your sister’s hired guards. I can finish you all anytime I want.”
“Who is in charge of you?” Sienna asked quietly.
I looked at her. “What?”
“Who owns you?”
I swallowed. “I don’t know.”
Her gaze held mine. Calm. Omega. Unowned.
“You own you, Mary. I’m an omega, but is an alpha ever going to own me?”
I shook my head.
“Yes, never,” she said. “Now tell your father.”
“I can make this easy for you. Two million pounds, Mary, in your account today. I’ve found a new alpha for you. He’s Italian, titled, civilized, and willing to overlook your disobedience if the terms are favorable.” My father’s voice came through the speaker again.
I wasn’t shocked.
“Ah,” I said, and my voice sounded different even to me. “There he is.”
Sienna’s mouth curved.
I leaned closer to the speaker button. “There’s the true Callum McCarthy.”
“Mary,” he snapped.
“No.” The word came out clean.
I pressed the button harder. “I don’t know who you are. I don’t have a father. There used to be a man in my life I respected and loved, but there’s a hole where he lived.” My voice broke. “Now fly back to Ireland before I get Artem to destroy you.”
My hands stopped shaking.
“You disappoint me, Mary.” My father’s reply came low and vicious.
I laughed, but it was brittle. “And I regret ever believing you did anything good for your daughters.”
My hand slipped from the button. Silence crashed down between us, and then the helicopter rose.
Sienna spoke into her comms. “Yes, we’re holding our position and awaiting the secondary estate team.”
For a second I stayed upright. Then I folded, and Sienna caught me before my head could hit the window. “Breathe,” she said.
“Not you too. I hate that advice. I’d be dead if I weren’t breathing.”
“The most useful advice is always annoying.”
I made a sound that might have been a laugh if it hadn’t broken halfway.
My phone buzzed in my lap. Hudson first, then Lincoln, then Maeve. All three names lit the screen in a row. I stared at them through tears.
Sienna glanced down. “Who do you want first?”
“My sister.”
Sienna nodded and tapped Maeve’s name. The call connected immediately.
“Mary?” Maeve’s voice was sharp with fear and fury. “Are you okay?”
I looked through the rain-streaked window toward the gates of the house my sister had made safe. “We’re just near the gates,” I said, and my voice shook so badly there was no point pretending otherwise. “I told Da to fuck off.”
For one stunned second, Maeve said nothing. Then she laughed. “Good girl,” Maeve said, her voice breaking. “Stay there. We’re coming.”