Camille doesn’t even try to talk her way out of this situation. She just stands, silent tears falling down her face. I can’t even force myself to empathize with her. She’s the worst kind of human. There’s not an excuse I’d accept for any of her actions.
Paddy grips Callum’s elbow, holding him in place. “She’s his mother,” Paddy whispers. “She lives.”
“She hurt you, Murphy,” Haley says, stepping forward.
Paddy sucks in a breath. “And my son will have a mother regardless of what was done to me.”
She scoffs, biting her lip. Callum wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her into his side. He presses a kiss to her forehead. “We’ll figure out the details later. Let’s go home and get our guest settled.”
Haley’s neck snaps up, shock on her face. She opens her mouth to protest, but Callum shakes his head. He turns to Paddy. “Come by tomorrow so we can talk.”
Paddy nods, walking to the door to see them out. The brothers hug and I head over to hug Haley. “We’ll talk tomorrow,” she whispers, kissing my cheek.
I nod against her, then pull away. Paddy shuts the door when the three of them leave, letting out an exasperated sigh. Placing my hands on my hips I say in a dramatic way, “So much for keeping that a secret.”
Paddy shoots me a look of pure exhaustion. He knows I’m teasing though, quickly smiling before undoing his tie. “It was a fucking shit show, Griff. I almost killed her father. Then the entire plane ride I was just sitting there stewing. She was sitting across from me, making small talk with Haley. Something just fucking snapped.”
Yanking off his tie, he tosses it onto the kitchen island. He leans down to untie his shoes. Then he leaves them in their places and starts for the living room.
Following him, I head for the bar cart and pour us each a glass of whiskey.
Glancing around the open floor plan, I take in the immaculate setting. Paddy never did like messes. So he’s gotta be stressed to leave items of his attire lying around. He plops onto the couch, crossing his legs. A huff of air escapes him, and he pulls his glasses off, setting them on the end table.
“She’s a raging cunt,” I say. “Fuck her. The second she has the baby we can get rid of her.”
“I’m not killing the mother of my child.” He takes the glass from my outstretched hand.
I roll my eyes. “I just mean we don’t have to play by her rules, anymore. Instead of the baby living solely with her the first year to nurse, we keep him here. Give her visiting rights.” I sit beside him. My hand lands on his shoulder, and I squeeze to show him he has my support.
Making eye contact with me, his eyes show a shimmer of his worry. “Thank you for being here. This marriage is on paper, and you’re willing to help me with this, when you should hate me.”
I shake my head. “I could never hate you, sweetheart. Even when I thought you hurt me, when I wanted to hate you, I never was able to.”
Leaning forward, I press a soft kiss to his mouth. “This baby is just as much mine as he is yours. And we’re going to figure this out together. I understand you want her to live. But we both know Callum doesn’t take well to rapists. He’s killed Saoirse’s attacker for only attempting to touch her. And Haley’s step father was tortured for weeks.”
Paddy swallows, his face paling. “I know. I’m going to have to make sure he understands I won’t forgive him.”
Tugging on his shoulder, I pull him into my arms. “We’ll worry about that tomorrow.”
Paddy embraces the hug, settling into my lap, and I play with his hair while he closes his eyes.
Callumsitsonthecouch across from me and Paddy. He’s still in sweats and a t-shirt and barefoot. And Haley’s beside him, drinking coffee. We came over early this morning after Haley called to tell us Camille had a panic attack that had her worried the baby wasn’t moving.
Haley examined her and checked the baby’s heart rate. She even felt him kick when she was looking for his positioning, and all was well. But, it made us all worry about how the next ten weeks would play out.
“Where is she now?” I ask, resting my hand on Paddy’s lap.
I don’t miss the way Callum’s gaze falls to the place we’re connected. But I also don’t think it’s anything more than a curiosity. He flits his attention back to us. “She’s resting.”
“We need to come up with a plan,” Haley says. “She’s probably going to pull these false alarms a lot. And with the new practice underway, I’m not going to be home as much.”
“New practice?” I ask.
“Haley’s taken it upon herself to create a practice for our soldiers and their families,” Callum says. “Apparently I should memorize everyone’s blood types so that the next time someone is shot we can force them to donate blood for a fallen brother.”
“No. We should have a blood bank for situations like that. So I’m not having people who haven’t been screened donating blood,” Haley says.
Paddy chuckles. “She’s not wrong, Cal. Most of these guys don’t have health care. It’s not like we can put them down as employers and say they’re part of a crime syndicate.”
