“You look absolutely amazing.”
I turned and studied myself in the mirror. The dress was barely down to my knees, an off-white that seemed more appropriate than the startling white dresses the shop had to offer for younger brides. But this one hugged my curves and made me look much fitter than I really was. And the veil made my dark halo of hair shine.
I did look good. I guess that’s what love does for you.
“He makes you happy. And all this flying around in private planes is pretty awesome.”
I laughed. “Then you like him?”
“Love him.”
I hugged her tight. “I’m sorry I never told you the truth.”
“You had to have known I’d figure it out myself eventually.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
I stepped back and studied my daughter. She was dressed in red, a color that shouldn’t have worked on her, but did. Her skin glowed, her face beginning to round out again after a few weeks of good food. She had nightmares at night sometimes. I would wake and hear her call out. I’d go to her, and we’d talk for a time, sometimes the rest of the night. But she rarely talked about what had happened to her while those men were holding her.
Just like I hadn’t told her what I’d done while they were holding me.
We hugged again, then she gestured to the hotel room door. “We should go.”
The car was waiting for us outside the casino. We held hands all the way to the small chapel. It was decorated with lilies and carnations, my favorite flowers. And Brian was waiting, four of his sons standing beside him, at the altar.
Brianna took my arm and slid it through her arm. She walked me down the aisle, a vision in her dress, a contrast to mine. There was a photographer and witnesses, but I only saw Brian. He watched us, a smile that was so big and beautiful that I couldn’t imagine anything better.
I was marrying the man I loved. Who could possibly ask for more than that?
It wasn’t a cheesy, awkward ceremony. It was very simple and perfect. The pastor was respectful, the witnesses kind. And our children, smiling as they watched us commit ourselves to one another for the rest of our lives.
It was more than I’d expected a Vegas wedding to be.
But I was pretty sure my mother was spinning in her grave.
“To happiness!” Brian lifted his glass, as we sat around a table at an Italian restaurant in the lobby of his casino. “May we all find the one person who makes us want to have a Vegas wedding.”
The boys laughed and Brianna made a face, but they all understood Brian’s sentiment. And when he kissed me, they all looked away, then, as if on cue, made faces and groaned.
“Yuck!”
I laughed. Brian threw ice at them from the wine bucket, crying, “Disrespect!”
But, all in all, it was a beautiful evening.
We were nearly done with our reception when Ian moved away from the table. I felt the tension come over Brian as he watched him go. I took his hand and squeezed it, trying to reassure him.
We’d all been on pins and needles these last few weeks. We had no idea when, or if, the men behind Brianna’s kidnapping would return to hurt us again. We couldn’t go to the police now, not after the fact. And there was likely nothing the police could do, anyway. And Jack had basically told Brian all of this was his problem, so he was unwilling to put his men on it. Ian did as much as he could with the camera the kidnappers left behind at the warehouse where they held me. But there wasn’t much on it.
All we could do was live our lives and hope it was over.
I looked at my daughter and hoped it was over.
“To Pops and Cassidy,” Kevin suddenly said, holding up his glass of wine. “May you find happiness in your future and forget the pain of your past.”
“Amen,” Brian said.
“May you spend your glory years together in bliss,” Sean added.
“May you always find warmth in your bed, not coldness,” Kyle said.
Brianna looked around, a little confused. But then she stood and held up her glass. “I guess this is an Irish thing. I’m not good with toasts.” He studied Brian and me. “May you always love each other—no matter what the future might bring.”
I inclined my head, touched by her words.
We tapped glasses and drank the last of the champagne as Ian came back to the table. There was tightness in his expression. I didn’t know him well. He came to the house a few times a week, but it was usually to take his father into another room and speak to him, sometimes for hours. But I could always tell by his expression when he had bad news.
“Not now,” Brian said as Ian approached him, also warned by the look on his face. But Ian ignored the admonition.
Ian whispered something in Brian’s ear that made his shoulders slump and the joy leave his face.
“Fuck,” he whispered softly under his breath.
“What?”
Everyone was watching the two of them now.
“Stacy’s fiancé,” Ian said, glancing at Brian. Brian simply nodded. Ian continued. “Stacy’s fiancé was killed this morning. It looks like a mugging gone wrong, but there are no details to be had just yet.”
An uneasy silence settled over the table.
It was clearly not over yet.
Chapter 34
Stacy
Cassidy watched me tear at the cardboard that held the pieces of the crib I’d picked. I hadn’t said anything to her since she came through the door. I didn’t know what to say to her.
What do you say to the woman trying to replace your mom?
“I’m sorry, Stacy,” she said softly.
I looked over at her. “What?”
“We got off on the wrong foot. Your fiancé’s death on the day your father and I got married and everything…”
I shrugged. “That’s in the past.”
“Yes, but I feel like it’s standing between us. He should have been in New York with you. If I’d known that you were supposed to marry the next day—”
“No one knew, but maybe Killian. I never told anyone.”
“I know, but—”
“That’s not an issue, Cassidy,” I said, pulling myself clumsily up to my feet. “Davis and all that is in the past.”
“Then why won’t you speak to me? Why do I still feel this tension between us?”
I crossed her arms over her chest. “I never knew my biological mother. And I didn’t have a female figure in my life until Abigail Callahan came into my life.”
“And I’m not trying to replace her.”
I shrugged. “She was a saint. No one can replace her.”
“I get that.”
“And you had an affair with my dad while they were married.”
She nodded. “I know. But you should know that I didn’t know he was married until we’d been together for months.”
“Does that matter? You stayed with him after you knew.”
She inclined her head slightly. “I did. But I was in love with him by then.”
“That’s not an excuse.”
I turned back to the crib box, trying to figure out how to open it without having to bend over again. I hadn’t asked for Killian and Pops to set this up; I didn’t agree to allow this woman into my house. The only reason she was here was because Killian told me it would make things easier at family get-togethers and that he would see it as a personal favor to him if I’d do it.
I loved him. How could I refuse him anything?
I bent over and started tugging at the cardboard again, feeling very clumsy. This pregnancy was turning me into someone I’d never been before. I was fat and round and ungraceful. Killian said I was beautiful, but I didn’t feel it. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t enjoying this pregnancy. I liked the feel of the baby moving inside of me. I liked how thick my hair was now and how big my boobs were getting. I even liked the idea of what would happen at the end, of the baby I would get to hold and love for the rest of my life.
“Let me
help with that.”
Cassidy came over and knelt beside the box, tugging at the corners.
“I can do it.”
“But I’m here to help. Let me help.”
I waved my hand, moving over to the dressing table that was still in its box, leaning against the wall. I pulled at the cardboard of that box, slipping the long pieces out. One piece didn’t want to come out easily, so I had to tug a little, nearly losing my balance as I did. Cassidy was behind me when I did, catching me and steadying me.
“Everyone needs a little help. Especially a new mom.”
“I’m not a mom yet.”
“Sure you are. And you’re joining a very big, exclusive club.”
I pulled away from her. I didn’t want her opinions.
Being pregnant had made me realize more and more every day what I was missing not having my mom around. I had so many questions I could quite wrap my mind around them all. If she’d been here now…but she wasn’t.
“I know you miss Abigail,” Cassidy said softly.
“I do.”
“She’s not here. I’m sure she would have wanted to be. And I know that I wish she was here. You kids deserve your mother to be here at your side. I’m not trying to take her place.”
“But aren’t you?”
“No. I just want to be with your dad. I think we make each other happy.”
“But you’re living in her house.”
Cassidy looked a little uncomfortable for a moment. Then she nodded.
“I wanted to buy a house of our own, but Brian didn’t want to sell your house. He said that you kids needed to be able to come home from time to time, to feel welcome somewhere.”
I crossed my arms over my chest again. “He said that?”
“Yeah.”
“And you agreed with it?”
“I did. I knew that I couldn’t come in here and make demands about everything. He was yours first. I never wanted to change that. I just want to join the family, that’s all.” She came to me and tentatively took my hand, her touch soft and almost nonexistent. “Can you imagine what it was like for Abigail, coming into your life the way she did? Can you imagine how hard it was for her, wanting to be your mom, but knowing she could never replace her?”
I nodded slowly. “I suppose.”
“I don’t want to be your mom; I don’t want to replace anyone. I just want to be your friend.”
I didn’t know what to say. But I’d seen her with Pops, seen the way his face lit up whenever she walked into a room. He loved her despite everything.
“Why did you never tell him about Brianna?”
Cassidy dragged her fingers through her hair. “Because he chose Abigail and I didn’t want to interfere with that. Because Killian and Sean needed their father.”
“But you must have needed him.”
A bitter smile twisted Cassidy’s lips. “I did. More than you’ll ever know. But he made his choice. I couldn’t take those boys’ father from them.”
“Thank you,” I said softly. “If you had taken him away, I never would have found my family. I never would have found Killian.”
She nodded, her eyes bright with tears. “I believe all things work out the way they’re supposed to.”
“Yeah.” I turned to the crib. “Do you think we should just let Killian do this?”
She laughed. “Might not be a bad idea.”
“Can I ask you something about pregnancy?”
“Sure.”
“There’s this clear liquid…”
Chapter 35
Killian
“Babe?”
I was dreaming about fast cars and gunfire when Stacy pushed my shoulder.
“It’s two o’clock,” I moaned, glancing at the clock. “We have hours to sleep.”
“I know. But the baby has other plans.”
“Tell him to go back to sleep.”
“I would,” she said, her voice twisted with pain, “but my water broke.”
I sat up, the reality of what she’d just said spreading over the sheet beneath her. We’d planned for this, planned every step, but I was suddenly drawing a blank.
What was I supposed to do? Something about a suitcase and a phone call…
“Call the doctor,” she reminded me.
I made the call, then pulled on a pair of jeans before scooping her up out of bed.
“I need clothes, Killian. Dry clothes.”
“Are you sure we have time.”
“I think so.”
She made me set her down. Some irrational part of me was afraid the baby would just fall out if she insisted on walking around the room that way. But she managed to pull on a maternity dress and clean underclothes without any flying babies making an appearance. I drove faster than I should have through the city to the hospital, hearing her admonitions to slow down, but not heeding them.
She moaned as I took a hard left. For some reason, the pain that came with the contractions hadn’t crossed my mind until then. Her face was twisted with it, her lips puffed as she tried to breathe through them and struggled to hold onto what they’d taught us in that birthing class.
“It’s okay, babe,” I said, reaching over and taking her hand. “You’re going to be okay.”
She just nodded as she continued to work through the pain.
Fear suddenly settled in my belly. I kept reminding myself that this was a perfectly natural process, but bad things happened every day. I managed to get her to the hospital and into her room before I had to step out. I leaned against the walls and closed my eyes, taking as many deep breaths as I could.
Then I called my dad.
The family arrived one by one. Ian, then Kyle. Sean and Brianna. Pops and Cassidy.
Stacy’s eyes lit up when Cassidy came through the door.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” she said.
“Of course you can,” Cassidy said, taking her hand. “Just imagine that little bundle of joy that will be lying in your arms when all is said and done.”
Stacy seemed to relax after that. But I was going insane. It was killing me to watch my wife in so much pain.
Pops moved up behind me, his hands on my shoulders. “It’ll all be over soon.”
“I did this to her,” I said in a low whisper. “What if—?”
“Don’t do that. This is a happy day, son. Don’t darken it with your fear.”
But how could I avoid it. I waited so long to be with Stacy. If things went south and I lost her, I don’t think I could live with that.
But then the nurse came in and said something about ten centimeters and this flurry of activity began and Stacy was holding my hand, making these hard, groaning sounds as she sat up and pushed. My beautiful wife, so perfect and delicate, was enduring the most incredible pain as she brought our child into the world.
I don’t think I ever loved her more.
And then he was there, his eyes big and brown, just like his mother’s.
Brian David Callahan.
Epilogue
Stacy
Cassidy brought the baby to me, lying him gently in my arms. I smiled, always so excited to feel the weight of this perfect human being in my arms.
Ian’s laughter burst through the open doors, Kyle’s following. Kevin and Brianna were tucked into a corner of the back deck, whispering to each other. I suspected there was something going on there, but I wasn’t sure what. Maybe another illicit romance. Maybe just a friendship that spanned a kidnapping and the traumatic adjustment back to real life.
Killian and Pops were standing off to one side, talking quietly about things I wasn’t sure I wanted to know about. I no longer resented the business Pops chose to participate in, nor did I resent his decision to bring my husband and our brothers into it. But that didn’t mean I was eager to hear the details.
Sean was sitting on the loveseat, staring at the screen of his phone.
“Business?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Not exactly. Just a te
xt from a friend.”
There’d been something different about Sean recently. A new light in his eyes. Cassidy thought he’d met someone. I hoped she was right because he deserved a little happiness.
Things had been calm lately. The kidnapper who’d been harassing Pops had stopped texting again. Everyone thought that the death of his hitman had cooled his heels. I wasn’t too sure that was it, but I was hoping they were right. It never hurt to be optimistic, right?
Killian came over and ran his hand gently over the baby’s head, leaning low to kiss him.
“Hello, little man,” he said softly.
“Could you be any prouder?”
“Give me a daughter and we’ll find out.”
“Can I recover from this one first?”
He kissed me, the feel of his lips as new as the first kiss. I leaned into him and closed my eyes, exhausted, but in a happy way.
When I opened my eyes again, I looked around the room at my family. My brothers. My dad. My stepmom and stepsister.
For a little girl who began this life abandoned by her mother and hurt by her drunken father, I didn’t have that bad a life.
I hugged my baby closer to me, sending up a silent prayer to my mom.
Thank you for bringing us together. Thank you for giving me something no one else could do. Thank you for touching my life. I wish we could have known each other longer…but thank you for what you gave me.
Thank you.
~~
SEAN
Prologue
Delaney
Walking down the street shouldn’t be stressful. Yet, these last few days, I swear I could hear someone following me. That, coupled with the text messages I’d been getting from Claude, and it was enough to make me very nervous. I wrapped my arms around my chest, hiding the canister of pepper spray Jack gave to me.
Pepper spray. Like that made up for all the years of neglect.
I walked a little faster, smiling to a secretary I recognized from the first floor of my building. I should have taken the security guard up on his offer to walk me, or started parking in the garage as Jack suggested. But I was never one to ask for help, or take advice, especially advice from someone like Jack. So I walked quicker, hoping to make it to my car before whoever was behind me caught up to me.
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