Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
brIDGET
The last time I was alone with Erin at the McCarthy family home was the day I told her I was pregnant.
This time is different. This time, she is the one with something to tell me, and she has closed the door behind us with both hands, the way she does when she means it.
I already know that whatever comes next is going to change something.
She takes me into another room on the second floor that I’ve never seen before. It’s a sitting room nobody really uses, with pale-blue curtains and a tiny sofa, the kind of room that exists to be empty.
“Who knows you’re pregnant, Bridge?” she says in a whisper. “I brought you here because it’s one of the forgotten rooms, and I know there’s no video surveillance. The bedroom’s off-limits, but there are eyes everywhere and videos in all corridors and entryways. They don’t take their chances.”
“Well, you. Declan.”
She winces when I mention Declan. “How’s Declan?”
Oh no. “He’s alright. Why?” I sit on the sofa.
“Well,” she says hesitantly, “I know Cavin paid him a visit last night. I might’ve told him.”
I sigh and nod. I knew she would, and I didn’t tell her not to. “Well, he didn't say anything about it to me, so I guess he's still standing.”
Erin grimaces. “Aye, Cav said he was fine. He seemed to get it out of his system when he came back. He wants to talk to you, too, though.”
“Aye, of course he does. Am I in for a lecture?”
“Ack, probably. You know how he is.”
I do.
“I’m sorry, Bridget. I shouldn’t have told him. I should’ve warned you or Declan. I—”
“Don’t.” I shake my head. It’s not on her to keep my secrets or Declan’s. “I know why you did, and it’s alright, really.”
She sighs. “Listen, Bronwyn came to me too. She has some theory that Valentina’s an imposter, but we can’t make accusations like that based on a feeling. Believe me, I wish it were true, and we could end the agreement with Espositos.”
I feel cold and hot all at once, knowing Bronwyn shared her theory with Erin too.
“The Espositos came highly recommended to us, and Cavin himself met with Lorenzo Esposito. Seamus had people in New York doing background checks for months before they ever shook hands. You don’t slip a plant past all that.
You can’t.” She pauses, and when she continues, her voice is quieter. I hear her, but I don’t want to.
“And even if she was right,” she says with a sigh. “Which she isn’t. Do you understand what it would mean to say that out loud? To accuse the Espositos of conspiring against us? You know what happened to our parents, Bridget, and I know that was a mercy.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. I don’t want to hear it, but I knew it was too much to hope for.
I stand.
“I have to go,” I tell Erin. “I shouldn't be here.”
“Don't you dare,” she says. “No. We just have to find another way.”
“Another way?” I shake my head. “Erin, you know how they are. It doesn't matter that I'm your sister. You married into this family. You are not McCarthy blood.”
“No,” she says, and her eyes are fiery. “But my baby is.” She straightens. “And no matter what these McCarthy laws say, they govern this baby in my belly too. I can bargain, Bridget. And so can you.”
We pause when we hear footsteps. I fix my eyes on the door and don’t move.
I’m thinking about what it looks like: two Kavanagh girls in a room they were not invited into, having an obviously private discussion.
I’m thinking about what happens if that door opens.
The footsteps slow. For one long, terrible second, I’m absolutely certain they are going to stop.
They pass.
I exhale so hard my shoulders drop. “You go downstairs, get a cup of tea, and pretend nothing's happened.”
Right. Excellent. I open the door and walk down to the kitchen while my head spins. Bronwyn’s theory can’t be right.
Kyla sees me on the landing and smiles. My voice comes out completely normal when I answer her, which is remarkable because I am not completely normal.
She looks up cheerfully, and she is never cheerful. “You alright?”
“Aye. You?”
“Grand.” Then she walks by with a smile on her face. What is making her so happy? Strange.
I walk into the kitchen at the same time as Caitlin. “Ah, Bridget. Just the girl I wanted to see.” She smiles with the same type of smile on her face that Kyla did. I can't quite put my finger on it.
“Oh?” I ask, just as Bronwyn comes out of the pantry.
“We have a very important event happening this evening,” Caitlin says, “and it's crucial that you come, Bridget.”
“What's that?” I ask, helping myself to a biscuit from the plate on the side table. I am very hungry. I’m at the end of my first trimester, and there are only so many fit-and-flare empire-waist dresses I can wear. My days are numbered.
“It's a party,” Bronwyn says, smiling too. “Valentina's family is in town. We're going to toast the engagement. Please say you’ll come. We want you there… I promise.”
I look at Bronwyn for just a second longer than I mean to.
There is something in her face I can’t read.
She has always been kind to me, and I have always trusted that, but she is smiling at me across this kitchen, telling me to come to the party meant to seal Declan's future away from me. I can’t tell whether she knows something or is simply being Bronwyn.
I decide to trust her.
What are they not telling me? I look between the two of them. Do I really trust the McCarthys? Do they know what this evening is? Are they setting me up?
Of course not.
These women love me, don't they?
But why would they think I’d be eager to meet Valentina’s family?
“Come early,” Caitlin says with a smile. “Help us set up. Please.”
I think about what Erin said about our parents, and I wonder whether Caitlin took me in because she was told to or because she actually wants me here.
For just a second, I let myself want him. Not carefully. Not managed. I let the full weight of what he did, what it cost, blossom in my chest. I turn to the side, pretending to tidy a shelf of cookbooks so no one will see my face. I love him so much it’s a physical thing, a tightness in my throat.
Then I put it away.
I turn and nod, and for the first time in my life, I lie to Caitlin McCarthy. “I wouldn't miss it for the world.”