Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 108926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
“You make an excellent point,” I agreed. Even though he already knew about the baby, butterflies set off in my belly. I took a deep breath and blurted out my news as I exhaled. “We’re pregnant!”
His hand slid down to cover my stomach. “Fuck yeah, we are.”
Unfortunately, we didn’t get much time to celebrate our happy news because it wasn’t long before the outside world intruded on our time together. Ewan called in the morning to let us know he’d found evidence of three other men who’d been feeding Sean information. We couldn’t put off a confrontation with them, not without risking the possibility that they’d spook and split town. Their betrayal needed to be met head-on, so we told Ewan to round them up right away. Our next call was to Tommy, or I should say Brandon’s call, because they spoke while I prayed to the porcelain gods, yet again. Brandon asked him to bring a few guys to help capture the traitors and to start the interrogation as soon as they’d nabbed them.
Tommy and Ewan moved quickly, and less than an hour later they texted to let us know they were headed back to O’Reilly’s. It took another hour before my nausea was under control, which meant we didn’t get to the pub until they’d been there for almost two hours. As we walked through the bar area, I sent the bottles of whiskey a look of longing. I could really do with a shot before the showdown that was about to happen. I tore my gaze away and straightened my spine, digging deep because I knew all of my daring was going to have to come naturally since I couldn’t have any liquid courage as long as I was pregnant.
Brandon’s hand reached for mine, squeezing it tightly, and suddenly all my fears melted away. I had all the strength I needed walking right next to me. For the longest time, I’d had to stand on my own, but no more. Never again did I need to worry about facing difficult times by myself, not when this amazing man loved me.
Following Brandon down the stairs to the basement, I knew that no matter who had betrayed us, it didn’t really matter. It might sting if it was someone I knew well, but it wouldn’t cut deeply because the only person who really mattered would never betray me—Brandon would move heaven and earth to keep me and our baby safe. I had no doubt we could face any challenge together and come out on top. Including whatever we found on the other side of the door in front of us.
“You ready?” he asked.
I knew if I said no, if I told him I wanted to leave this whole horrible situation to him, then he wouldn’t hesitate to walk me right back upstairs and do exactly what I requested. There was a small part of me that wanted to do exactly that, but I knew I couldn’t listen to those doubts and fears. It would take a strong woman to lead the O’Reillys, as well as to stand by Brandon’s side. I was determined to be that woman, no matter what it took. I felt like we were in the home stretch, and I wasn’t about to show weakness when we were so close to overcoming the final obstacle in the way of our happiness. In the future, it wouldn’t make anyone question me if I allowed Brandon to do the dirty work. He was my enforcer after all. However, these men had committed treason and the severity of the crime meant being dealt with by the boss.
But boy, what an obstacle this was. As soon as we walked into the room, we found three men tied to chairs with their hands behind their backs. I tried to search their faces to figure out who had betrayed me to Sean, but it was impossible to recognize them because there were several layers of plastic wrap hiding their features. It had been wrapped around their heads, ragged holes torn to allow them to breathe—although I was certain Tommy and Ewan had waited to make the rips. Depriving them of air was sure to make them more willing to answer the questions we had, or at least I hoped so.
“Did they talk?”
“They sang like canaries,” Tommy answered my question.
“Which seems appropriate since they squealed like rats to Sean,” Ewan added.
“Are there any other rodents we need to be worried about?” Brandon wanted to know.
“No, Sean was only able to recruit four of our guys.”
“Only?” I repeated.
Ewan ducked his head. “Sorry, it was a poor choice of words.”
“Considering you drove an SUV headlong into a limo to catch Greg, I think we can give you a free pass or two,” Brandon responded dryly.
“You did?” I gasped.