Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
ROISIN
I come to groggily and blink repeatedly, trying to clear the fog from my vision. The room swims into focus–my bedroom, familiar yet somehow alien. My brothers' voices filter in from the hallway, raised in agitated discussion. I catch snatches of their conversation.
"...can't believe she's..."
“…how the hell did this happen…”
"...have to tell Ma and Da..."
Groaning, I push myself up on my elbows, wincing at the pounding in my head. The events of the past hours come rushing back–the altercation between Dominic and my brothers, the fear-driven panic that they’d kill him, the sound of his pain drifting up from the basement. My hand drifts to my barely-there baby bump. My child. Our child. And I can only pray everything is okay with the little peanut.
The voices outside grow louder, more heated, and I have a dreadful feeling my secret has been discovered. I need to face them, to explain. I also need to find out if Dominic is okay. Although, if they tell me he’s not…
No, I can’t even entertain such a thought, right now.
Taking a deep breath, I swing my legs over the side of the bed. The room tilts alarmingly, so I grip the edge of the mattress, willing the dizziness to pass. One step at a time, I tell myself. Stand up. Walk to the door. Open it.
I've barely made it halfway across the room when my bedroom door bursts open and Emylyah and Maricela rush in. “Roisin, what the heck are you doing? Get into bed, right now,” my friend chides, turning me around and helping me back to where I came from.
“Lyah…” Her name comes out as a croak on my lips and Maricela, herself pregnant with my brother’s child, immediately hurries to fetch me a glass of water.
As soon as I’m situated on my comfy mattress, I take a grateful sip but refuse to let them distract me. “I need to speak to my brothers… explain. Find out if Dominic…” My voice cracks again, but it’s not because I have a dry throat this time.
Maricela's face softens and she perches on the edge of the bed, taking my hand in hers. “The baby is fine, Roisin.” She squeezes my hand. "The doctor says everything seems okay, but he wants you to rest and get a proper check-up tomorrow. As for your brothers..." She trails off, glancing towards the door.
I follow her gaze, my heart racing. "They know, don't they?"
She nods slowly. "The doctor let it slip. I'm sorry, Roisin. They're... processing."
That’s a polite way to put it. I close my eyes, fighting back tears. "I need to talk to them. Explain everything."
"Are you sure you're up for that right now?" Emylyah asks, concern evident in her voice.
I take a deep breath, steeling myself. "I don’t have a choice. If they jump to the wrong conclusions, it’ll only be worse.”
Sighing, Maricella climbs off the bed. “I’ll tell them you’re awake then.”
I fall back against the pillows as I wait for the inevitable.
The door creaks open slowly, and I brace myself for the onslaught. But when Callum and Ciaran enter, their faces are shrouded in worry and confusion. The two of them approach the bed cautiously, as if I might shatter at any moment.
"Roisin," Callum begins, his voice uncharacteristically gentle. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," I lie, forcing a weak smile. "Just a bit dizzy still."
He nods, perching awkwardly on the edge of the bed, and Emylyah moves away, crossing the room to stand with the woman who will be my sister-in-law. There's a long moment of silence before Ciaran speaks. "Is it true? What the doctor said?"
I swallow hard, meeting his gaze, then switching to his twin. "Yes. I'm pregnant."
Ciaran exhales sharply, running a hand through his hair.
“How far along?” Callum demands, his eyes hard, and I know the answer has the potential to start the war I thought we’d managed to dodge.
I move my hand to my baby bump. Both their gazes follow, the realization I’m undoubtedly further along than they expected, and the implications of that, dawning on them.
“Roisin?”
I swallow and stare at my hands. “Twelve weeks,” I whisper, trying not to cringe when I hear their indrawn breaths and the barrage of curse words that follow.
“Do you know who the father is?” Ciaran grates, his tone dangerous.
The words sting, but I bite back my retort. Getting defensive won't help. "Of course I do, Ciaran. It’s not what you think.”
“Tell me who the bastard is so I can castrate the fucker,” Callum bellows, and this time I do flinch at the pure, unadulterated venom in his voice.
I stare at him, my eyes wide and shake my head, my knuckles turning white on the bed covers as I grasp them to me like they might offer some protection. Terror trickles down my spine, and there’s no way I’m saying anything to endanger Dominic while they have him locked up in the basement.
“Excuse me, Sir…” A man I don’t recognize interrupts, and I assume he must be the doctor. Callum looks like he might just murder the man, but Ciaran turns to face him, with what I call his ‘personable’ mask firmly in place.
“Yes, Doctor?”
“Umm, I have some information…” he stammers, looking from me to my brothers. My eyes plead with him not to tell them what I think he’s going to say. “The identity of the baby’s father…”
“You have that?” Callum demands, stalking across the room towards the man.
“Umm, yes. I requested your sister's records and it’s in there.”
“That’s confidential information,” I scream across the room and the man pauses for a moment, but only until Callum grabs him by his tie and pulls him up on his tiptoes. “Who is it?” he snarls.
“D-Dominic Romano,” the doctor stutters before Callum throws him aside and storms towards the door.
“Callum!” I scream, but there’s no stopping him.
“That fucker is dead! But not before I make him hurt in ways he can’t possibly imagine,” he promises.
Ciaran follows and I crawl out of bed, another surge of adrenaline powering my limbs.
“No. Please!” My words fall on deaf ears. I grab hold of the frame of my bedroom door, staring into my living room, where Emylyah is now blocking the entrance to my suite of rooms.
“Get out of the way, Lyah,” Callum spits, and even though I’ve never been afraid of my brothers in the past, right now, they are both downright scary.
Emylyah stands firm though, refusing to budge. “No. You damn well listen to Roisin before you start getting all gung-ho and trigger happy.”
Callum growls and it’s a terrible sound. “Emylyah, I will remove you bodily if you don’t move in the next five seconds.” He reaches out a hand, but before he can touch her, Nikolai detaches himself from the shadows and clamps a firm hand on Callum’s shoulder.
“I strongly suggest you do not lay so much as a finger on my wife,” he says in his very correct, Ukrainian accented English.
“Stay out of this, Niko,” Callum warns, narrowing his eyes at a man he’s always tentatively called a friend.
“I’m afraid that will not be possible while you are threatening my wife,” he says with deceptive mildness.
“Cal…” There’s a warning in Ciaran’s voice and they do that silent conversation thing in place of words.
Callum sucks in a breath that even from the other side of the room I can hear is shaking with barely restrained fury. “Please move out of the way, Emylyah,” he grinds out, his hands fisted at his sides as he tries to keep himself in check.
“No,” Lyah states once again. “Not until you talk to your sister.”
The growl that emanates from deep in Callum’s chest has Nikolai moving to stand in front of his wife. “Tebe nuzhna khoroshaya porka.” Lyah flushes and dips her head as he repeats the same words I’ve heard him say before. I make a mental note to look up what they mean, but to Callum he simply says, “I think you have enough on your plate with the Cosa Nostra, without making more potential enemies. Is it really too much trouble for you to spend a few minutes giving Roisin the courtesy she deserves to hear her out?”
Callum's jaw clenches, his eyes flashing dangerously. For a moment, I think he might actually try to fight his way past Nikolai. But when Maricela aligns herself next to Emylyah and glares, Ciaran places a hand on his shoulder, murmuring something I can't hear. The tension in Callum's body eases slightly, though his fists remain clenched at his sides.
"Fine," he bites out.
I sag against the doorframe in relief, my legs trembling beneath me. Emylyah hurries to my side, supporting me as we make our way back to the bed. I sink onto the mattress, gathering my thoughts. How do I even begin to explain?
“Did he rape you?” Callum grinds out before I can even collect myself.
"What? No!" I gasp, horrified. "God, no. It's nothing like that."
Callum's jaw clenches. "Then what exactly is it like, Roisin? Because from where I'm standing, you were being held captive and that bastard took advantage of you, no matter how you look at it, and I’m going to make him pay."
“He did, didn’t he,” Callum pushes. “The doctor’s report said there were bruises… some of them in ‘intimate places.’ Why the fuck are you protecting him? Is it just because he got you up the duff? You owe him nothing, deirfiúr , but I can make sure he never lays a finger on you again.”
“No! Stop it,” I cry, tears streaming down my face. “He didn’t do anything I didn't want or ask for,” I tell him, hating that I have an audience for this conversation.
“Explain, Roisin,” Ciaran demands, his tone only slightly softer than Callum’s… probably because Maricela is right here in the room, and our circumstances aren’t really so different. Something I won’t hesitate to point out if it comes to it.
I suck in a breath, and try to stop myself from hyperventilating, knowing I need to make them understand, and the only way to do that is to tell them everything. “There was a danger to me after I was abducted,” I finally admit, wringing my hands.
“I fucking knew it,” Callum shouts, turning and punching his fist through the drywall behind him.
“But not from Dominic!” I shout, realizing he’s losing what little control he has left. “The Viper, yes. He assaulted me, tried to… tried to…” I can’t say the words, but I don’t need to, I can see the truth dawning on my brothers’ faces, along with Maricela’s quiet tears.
“I fought him off, that’s how I got the bruises. But Dominic stepped in and protected me,” I hurry to explain, feeling their anger like a living thing invading the room. “He hid me in a room where the Viper couldn’t find me, but I knew I wasn’t safe. Knew if he found me…”
I drag in an uneven breath, remembering how I felt when I thought I’d lose my virginity in an act of violence. “I was a virgin,” I whisper, and even without looking, I hear a yell, another grunt and a smash as my bedroom wall bears the brunt of Callum’s anger once again. I risk a glance to find Ciaran doing his best to calm his twin and decide I need to just pull the band aid off and finish this. “I begged Dominic,” I tell them, my voice surprisingly strong. “I wanted my first experience to be consensual and not the violence I knew I’d receive at the Viper’s hands.”
“He never should have…”
“And he said no!” I shout over Callum’s rage. “I offered myself to the man on a plate, and he denied me, because he said I wasn’t thinking straight and it should be something special.”
My chest is heaving and I can’t seem to stop the tears, but a moment of shock seems to have overcome Callum, bringing a welcome moment of calm to the room.
“So what changed?” Ciaran asks gently, sitting on the side of the bed and taking my hand.
“The Viper had been warned to stay away from me by Mika. He’d assigned Dominic as my protection, but Vito was angry at Mika’s intervention. There was a whole other thing going on there, a clear divide within the ranks, and Vito took no notice. When he got to me the second time… I fought him off, but if it hadn’t been for Dominic hiding me in the staff quarters, the Viper would have continued until he got what he wanted.”
“He really would have,” Maricela whispers brokenly.
I suck in an unsteady breath, hating that I’m having to relive this, yet again, and probably, so is she. Telling my brothers what happened is not at all cathartic.
“Even then his men almost found me. I hid under the bed while they ransacked the room. It was only Dominic’s intervention that stopped them from finding me.” I swipe at my cheeks with the palm of my hand and Emylyah hands me a tissue, which I gratefully accept. “It was only then, and after something he overheard, that he gave me what I’d been constantly begging him for. The right to choose!”
I blow my nose and try to compose myself, clearing my throat before I finish my story. “I think he only conceded because he truly thought the Viper might find me and take something from me I would never be able to give freely ever again. I just wanted one beautiful moment…” My voice breaks and more tears follow. “One time when I could know the pleasure of being a woman before the Viper ruined me forever.”
My brothers, Nikolai, even the doctor, all look incredibly uncomfortable. I might too, if I wasn’t so hell bent on defending Dominic, but if what I say spares him from a fate totally undeserved, so be it. I’d announce it publicly for the world to hear, if I thought it would help him.
“Could have feckin’ used a condom,” Callum growls, though it lacks the heat of his earlier rage.
I shake my head. “He did… I don’t know…” Since it’s something I can’t explain, I just shrug.
“Jaysus, only you could manage to get pregnant after one time.”
I stare at my hands, hoping my red-head blush isn’t giving me away. No way I’m touching that comment, or admitting the relationship Dominic and I fell into. I may have laid myself bare, but there are limits.
“So tell me, honestly, Roisin, had you been with Romano yesterday before we took him down?” Ciaran asks. “One of the men thought they saw you get out of his car and since you weren’t in the spa…”
I nod, since there’s no point in continuing the deception. “I had an ultrasound scan and Dominic took me…”
“He took you to your appointment?” Callum asks, his face a depiction of utter shock.
I scowl at him. “Of course he did. He takes me to all my appointments, and he’s completely prepared to be a father to his child,” I tell him haughtily.
“I don’t understand. How did he even know?” Ciaran asks. “He admitted he was assigned to follow you, but…”
“He gave me his number the day I was released,” I tell him, to cover my surprise that Dominic really was there all those times I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. “But I didn’t use it until I found out for certain I was pregnant. I thought he had a right to know he was going to be a father.”
Understanding dawns on their faces, followed quickly by anger.
“So you've been sneaking around with him since then?" Callum's voice is dangerously low. "Christ, Roisin, do you have any idea how reckless that was? He's the enemy!"
The disgust in his voice when he talks about Dominic makes me see red.
"He's not the enemy!" I snap, my own temper flaring. “Don’t you dare get all holier-than-thou with me, when the situation is no different from what Ciaran did to Maricela. Or are you saying it’s one rule for others and it doesn't apply to you?”
A deathly silence blankets the room, and I regret my words the moment I see the color drain from Ciaran’s face, as he spares an uncomfortable glance at the woman who is pregnant with his child. I hurry to cover it. “Plus…” I suck in a breath and swallow. “… I didn’t know what to do. He helped me. We were just trying to work out how to tell you.”
There’s a pause as pregnant as I am when I finish. Then finally, Ciaran squeezes my hand and shares one of those non-verbal communication looks with Callum. “Well, it looks like we have a lot of things to consider.”
I purse my lips and look from one to the other. “I would very much appreciate it if you didn’t kill the father of my baby.”
They don’t answer and I have no idea whether anything I’ve just said has made the slightest bit of difference.