Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 90919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
“Jesus, what time did Uncle Will leave Aoife’s?”
“Why was Uncle Will at Aoife’s?” Titus asked in confusion.
“Watching the house.”
“What?”
“Dunno, man,” I muttered, taking another bite. “Talk to your dudes.”
He walked away, probably to pull my dad aside, and Noel looked at me.
“They’re trying to act like everything is fine,” I told her.
“It’s not?” She shook her head. “I mean, I know it’s not.”
“I get you,” I said. “Something’s going down. I don’t know what’s happening because they don’t tell me shit, but if you look at the guys, you can see it. Did you notice Uncle Mack outside keeping watch?”
“Oh,” she said faintly.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I reassured her. “If Dad didn’t think so, he wouldn’t have even let you get out of the car.”
“Titus talked to Bas yesterday,” she said, chewing the inside of her cheek. “But we hadn’t talked to anyone else before we came.”
“Seriously, no,” I said, crumpling my wrapper into a ball. “I’m sure whatever’s going on is being handled.”
“I wouldn’t have brought Ruthie if—”
“What are you two talking about?” my mom asked, poking her head over my shoulder suspiciously. “You’re over here whispering.”
“I’m not whispering,” I argued.
“Noel looks like she’s going to shit herself.”
I looked at my sweet sister-in-law. She did look a little pale.
“I was just telling her that something is going on that none of the guys are talking about.”
“Something’s always going on that the guys won’t talk about,” my mom said dismissively.
I hummed.
“It’s fine,” Mom told Noel. “They’re just trying to figure out why all of this happened.”
“Richie’s awake,” Titus announced, hurrying toward us. “Cian just texted me.”
“Thank God,” I breathed.
“I’m gonna wake Bas up so he can head over with us.”
“He needs to sleep,” my mom protested.
“He’ll kick my ass if we leave without him,” Titus replied. He tossed me a set of keys. “You guys load up and I’ll be down in a minute.”
I ran back to my room to grab my purse and almost collided with Frankie as she came in the door as I was rushing out.
“Richie’s awake?” she asked, grabbing her purse and Lou’s from the dresser.
“That’s what Cian said.” I paused in the doorway.
“Hallelujah,” she sang, following me outside. “God, what a relief.”
“I know,” I said, hurrying down the stairs to where Lou and Noel were standing next to the Tahoe.
I could have walked to the hospital in less time than it took us to load up and drive over there, but I knew from experience that the men would’ve lost their minds if I’d tried. I’m sure they would’ve tried to make it seem unreasonable for me to walk instead of just saying that they wanted to keep us close, so I didn’t even bother to try it.
The girls were talking and joking as we rode the elevator upstairs. Bas was groggy but relaxed. Titus was smiling. Richie was awake. His family had been waiting for him—Cian, who was ours, had been waiting for him—and now it finally looked like he was on the mend. Our relief was palpable.
We’d made it two steps into the waiting area where Aunt Molly was sitting when I noticed Uncle Will’s expression across the room and my heart sank.
Something was wrong. How could something be wrong? Titus had talked to Cian only a few minutes before. Richie was awake. That was good news. Why did Uncle Will look like he wanted to hit something?
Titus must have noticed what I was seeing. “What’s goin’ on?” he asked in confusion as the doors to the ICU swung open.
Cian wasn’t rushing. He wasn’t stomping. He didn’t shove at the doors.
The man who’d teased me about the smell of my hair and accepted being the butt of his sister’s jokes that morning was gone. As Cian walked toward us, I barely recognized him.
His expression was so sharp and so livid that he didn’t even look like the man I was in love with.
Chapter 10
Cian
At first, I hadn’t understood what Richie was saying. When he’d first opened his eyes and seen Saoirse, the shit coming out of his mouth hadn’t made any sense. He’d started crying, a wheezing wet sound that hit with the force of a hammer, and I’d felt my own eyes start to sting. She’d tried to calm him down while I’d texted Aoife to get her ass back to the hospital. I hadn’t been sure what to do to help him, so while the nurses had come in to check and make sure he was okay, I’d texted everyone else, letting them know he was awake.
I’d barely put my phone away when Saoirse had looked up at me, her eyes wide with shock.
“I’m so sorry,” Richie rasped. “I’m so sorry. Aisling?”
“She’s fine,” I said quickly, moving closer to the bed.
“I told him that,” Saoirse murmured. “Is Aoife on her way?”