Fuck me.My head is spinning and I feel nauseous, and I know for a fact this time it’s not morning sickness.
Guess that explains why he threw me out of his room that morning…
Lily is just about to succeed in her efforts to drag me away, when another guy walks up from behind the bar. He looks familiar, his green eyes glitter down at me from his insane height of what has to be six four or six five.
Following our gaze, the bartender turns his head and smiles, even though he looks more nervous than he did before. “Oi lass, it’s your lucky day. This here is Koen’s brother, he may be able to help you out better than me. Best of luck to you.” He gives me a final, warning glance, before acknowledging the hulking mass of muscle behind him, and before slipping away. “Liam.”
Liamsteps closer, looking between us with a wide grin on his face. He looks a bit too young to be working in a bar. “Hello, ladies, I’m a little disappointed to hear you’re here looking for my brother.” He rolls his eyes and keeps that easy grin on his face, leaning down across the bar. “But how can I help ye?”
My jaw opens, but I snap it shut, staring into familiar green eyes, the same color green as his brother’s, but absent the dark shadows and sharp edges.
“No. Uhm—nope. There’s just been a little confusion. We don’t need anything, thank you so much,” Lily blurts out as she wrestles me away from the bar, steering my shocked ass toward the door.
Liam’s brows furrow in confusion, the amusement fading from his face as he watches Lily drag me toward the door. “You’re sure?” he asks me a little more seriously.
Lily’s managed to push me several feet away before I dig my heels in, halting our retreat.
“Briar!” she hisses under her breath, her panicked eyes darting to Liam and back to me.
I give her a little nod of my head before looking back at Koen’s brother, keeping my tone as cool and casual as possible.. “Yep. I’m sure. This was… a mistake. We’re just gonna go.”
I gesture toward the door behind me, and, much to Lily’s relief, resume our retreat.
Once we’re safely outside, and around the next block, she finally lets out the breath she’s clearly been holding in. “Of all the men in the city to knock you up, you pick Koen-Fucking-O’Rourke?”
“I didn’t know!” We pass a trash barrel, and I seriously consider grabbing onto it and heaving out my insides.I feel awful.
“Girl!” She pinches the bridge of her nose, keeping us en route to the subway. “Rule number one: Don’t hook up with the Irish Devils. And rule number two:Don’thave theirbaby.”
Once we’re safely on a subway car taking us back to the dorms, I deflate in my seat, rubbing my fingers on my temples.
“What am I going to do, Lily?” The disappointment I feel is crushing. There really was a part of me that hoped I wasn’t going to have to do this on my own.
“Well, I’ll tell you what we’re not going to do… We’re not going to tell the Irish Devil King about this.” She waves her hand over my belly. Nausea creeps up, and I’m not sure if it’s the conversation or the movement of the train. “He’s dangerous, B. Like, sociopathic. Haven’t you heard the stories?”
To be honest, I hadn’t really paid attention. We didn’t have warring mafia families back in upstate New York. But Ihaveseen the Irish Devils shake down poor Mr. and Mrs. Ashford, who own Mae’s diner, for being late on a protection payment. They broke a couple of windows, some dishes, and terrorized Mae and her husband with a dark promise to return if their payment was late again.
The low-lifes.
“He’s theheir, Briar.”
My gaze raises slowly to meet Lily’s eyes.
“The heir?”
She nods slowly. And maybe there is something wrong with me, because after everything I learned about Koen today, the only thing I keep thinking about is how he’sgone. Gone back to Ireland to be with hisfiancée.
Tears fill my eyes as everything starts to feel real all at once.
“How am I going to do this Lily? Raise a baby?Alone?My parents are going to insist I get rid of it.”
Some delusional part of me pictured Rí and I raising this baby together. Yeah, he was a jerk afterwards, but that night with him changed my life. I don’t want to believe that it was all just a lie to get in my pants. Whatever transpired between the two of us, it was on a deeper level. I felt it. I know he felt it too. But I guess I was wrong.
Lily squeezes me tight, and for once I don’t mind the suffocating hug. “You’ve got me, okay? Whatever happens, we’re in this together.”
58
TELL ME TO STOP
