Her sister was downright terrifying at times.“I’m not pretending that Jude isn’t a threat, but he cares about me.”Maybe if she could make her sister understand, Sloan could persuade the others.“He put his plan for revenge on hold.He promised that he wouldn’t hurt Sorcha or Callie.”Unless he’s suddenly changed his mind after what Teague did.“We just wanted nine months to figure out if we could make a life work together.”
“Nine…No.Sloan, tell me you’re not saying what I think you’re saying.”
She hadn’t meant to let that slip.She looked away, and then back, well aware that the truth was written all over her face.“It was an accident.”
Carrigan pinched the bridge of her nose.“Let me get this straight.You are knocked up with a little MacNamara baby, your baby daddy is gunning for the Sheridan family—who your brother, occasional idiot or not, is now a part of—and this guy obviously cares about you if he’s carting you around to his safe houses when he could have just disappeared into the night.”
“That pretty much sums it up.”Though it felt strange to hear it laid out in such bald terms.
“Do you love him?”
“I…I don’t know.”She cleared her throat.“I’m like a different person with him, stronger, fiercer.I…I like it.I crave him with an intensity I never imagined possible, and I likehim.He’s overbearing and high-handed, but he only steamrolls me in the bedroom.I don’t know what kind of life we could lead, but I want it all the same.”
Carrigan’s eyes went wide.“Shit, Sloan.That sounds a whole lot like love.”
It did, didn’t it?But she couldn’t let it go, not now that she had someone who might understand to talk to.Sloan grabbed a throw pillow from the mountain piled on the bed and hugged it to her chest.“But how do I know for sure?You know I was sheltered before I left the family.I didn’t date, didn’t do…anything.It’s entirely possible that I fell for the first man I slept with simply because I slept with him, and now pregnancy hormones are coloring my view.How am I supposed to call this love when I have nothing to compare it to?”
Her sister laughed.“That, at least, I have an answer for.”She picked at one of the tassels on the pillow nearest to her.“You know.I’ve been with enough guys that I can tell you that for sure.It’s not the cocks that matter, as enjoyable as they can be.It’s the person attached to them who makes the difference.That said, if you’re not sure of Jude, then don’t jump into anything with him.Go slow, figure your way through it.”
There were a lot of elements of their current situation that Sloan wasn’t sure of—her family, her future, Jude’s vendetta—but the man himself wasn’t on the list.“What if I am sure of him?”
Carrigan shrugged.“Then nothing you find after him is going to compare.Life is too short, Sloan.If you want the man, then fight for the man.”She finally smiled.“He’s a beast in the bedroom, isn’t he?You can tell just by looking at him.”
She laughed like Carrigan obviously intended for her to.“I’ll never tell.”But as soon as her amusement appeared, it faded.Sloan stared down at the intricately woven pillow and then finally raised her gaze to her sister’s knowing dark eyes.“It does sound a whole lot like love, doesn’t it?”
***
“They’ll never accept you.”
Jude took the beer James passed over, careful not to jar his side.As he’d suspected, his wound was a clean exit.It would hurt like a bitch for a while, but he’d feel more like himself by morning.
He looked at the man across from him.A threat to be sure, though it was his woman who had cold eyes.This man might beat an enemy to death, but it wouldn’t be without provocation.Carrigan O’Malley would gut an enemy before they had a chance to hurt her or those she cared about.He’d only done passing research on the O’Malleys, but nothing in that report had prepared him for Sloan’s sister.Her family had lost a major asset when they drove her into Halloran’s arms.
She and Dmitri Romanov would have brought the East Coast to its knees.
Thank Christthatmarriage hadn’t happened.
“I’m aware dealing with the family won’t be easy.”As he found out a few hours ago, Teague O’Malley wouldn’t hesitate to pull the fucking trigger.He doubted the rest of the O’Malley family would be any different.
“I’ll tell you what I told Sloan—the safest place for her is in Boston.”
Jude couldn’t stay in Boston for more than a few hours without essentially calling down the dogs of hell on his head.Take his woman and his child away from him?Over his dead fucking body.“Not gonna happen.”
“I suggest you think really fucking carefully about your next step.”James took a long pull from his beer.“The Hallorans, O’Malleys, and Sheridans are tied together tighter than ever.You can’t take on one without dealing with the other two.”
James had no idea the Romanovs were involved now, too, and Jude had no intention of telling him.
“You don’t know the whole story.”Though it could be argued that Jude didn’t, either.He had only the scant details of that night from his mother.The official report had been buried by the Boston police.
“Maybe not.”James shrugged.“And, trust me, I understand the need for retribution.I’d be on the warpath in a heartbeat if someone took Carrigan from me.I might not live to see the next dawn, but I’d ensure that those responsible paid dearly.”His blue eyes narrowed.“Could you say you’d do any different for Sloan?”
I would kill them, burn their house to the ground, and salt the earth behind me.
James nodded like he’d answered even though he hadn’t said a damn word.“Yeah, I thought so.”
Jude knew Sloan had enemies.Fuck, she had almost as many as he did, through sheer accident of birth.Romanov had given his word not to harm her, but she’d have an even bigger target on her back once it became known she was pregnant with his child.If someone took her, hurt her, used her or their child against him…
Yeah, he could see James’s point.
