“Nothing,” Zay said, grabbing her chin to shove her head back so he could meet her eye. “Doran won’t marry her.”
“Did he say that?” she asked, but her husband didn’t answer. “It’s a lot for him to take in. The affair, the marriage… It’ll take him time to figure it out.” Clearing her throat, she began to retreat. “I should get out of here.”
“Whisper,” Zay warned. “You’re not going anywhere alone.”
“I don’t have to go far,” she said. “I can stay local. Give you guys a chance to figure this out. Doran will have to talk to Parker, he’ll want to. It’s the only way he can get perspective. Doran has every right to tell his brother the truth and to hear his father’s proposal.”
“If he wants to, he can do both. That doesn’t mean you going anywhere.”
Fear wasn’t exactly the right word for what she felt while thinking about facing Burl and Parker. Between those men and Nicki, Whisper had the most sympathy for her sister-in-law. Parker would be mad and humiliated by the affair. If anyone would take the wrath of the revelation, it would be Nicki. Whisper would be the next casualty to face the McDade gauntlet.
From the first time he’d spoken to her about it, Burl had made it obvious he blamed Whisper for interrupting his cushy arrangement. Young Nicki was in his house and was at his disposal. Parker would do as his father said, which meant being away from home often. Burl had all of the convenience and none of the guilt. Men like him didn’t experience guilt.
“I can take her to Cyrus,” Bosco said.
Whisper whirled around. “If you want to watch him kill me slow,” she said, scowling at him. “I thought we were gonna be on the same side you and me.”
Blinking at her, Bosco was stunned for a few seconds before finding his voice. “The Dohertys need an heir, right?”
“You think I can talk him out of killing me by suggesting I’m pregnant? Newsflash, that’s not even possible.”
Technically, Bosco could argue that point. She and Zay had screwed outside Scooby’s the night he’d taken down her almost-lover. But with her implant in place, Whisper was pretty sure her uterus was safe.
“And I already said I wouldn’t hand my wife or kid over to anyone,” Zay said, approaching to stand at her back. “Cyrus Doherty will not—”
“Your kid isn’t the heir,” Bosco said. “Whisper isn’t either. You’re the damn heir.”
From the silence that followed, Whisper guessed Zay shared her confusion. The Dohertys were short of manpower and if the McDades were on the verge of civil war, they weren’t a sure bet. Cyrus might consider letting her live if Doran married Madison, on the proviso that Zay became his lieutenant and heir-apparent.
“Oh, I get it,” Whisper said, folding her arms and resting her shoulder blades on her husband. “I’m the one supposed to hand over her spouse.” She laughed, though it wasn’t out of genuine amusement. “Great plan, Bos. Brilliant. Superb…” Her smile was fast replaced by rancor. “Over my goddamn dead body.”
No way would she push Zay into a position beneath her father, doing the bidding of a man who had no problem putting his hands on others in anger. Whisper couldn’t imagine many worse scenarios. Not only would it piss her off to see her husband kowtowed by such a snake, but it would mean living in his invisible cell again. Her and any offspring she and Zay ever had.
Something about that thought shifted her perspective; everything came into focus. She didn’t want to stay with the McDades. They were as foul and devious as the Dohertys. Her family wasn’t a better choice. So all that left them with, if they wanted their freedom, was fleeing.
Spinning around, she set her sights on Zay. “Call Score.”
“What?” Zay asked, amazed at her order. “You can’t be serious.”
“We have to get out of here. We can’t stay.”
“Parker has to know what Burl and Nicki have been doing.”
“Send him an email,” Whisper said, though she didn’t really mean it.
Parker did deserve to know the truth, but it was unlikely he’d thank the messenger. Telling Parker would put him in an impossible position. He loved the life and wanted to take over from his father in time. That meant he’d have to make a choice between his wife and his future. Nicki would be an easy sacrifice for him to make. Except would he ever be able to trust his father again? Something like that would eat at a guy’s insecurities. A normal guy’s anyway.
“Whisper will be the first target,” Bosco said, approaching at her side. “Even before they decide what to do with Nicki, they’ll want Whisper subdued.”
She scoffed and folded her arms. “What a polite way to say fucked up.”
“Burl will be back Monday,” Bosco continued. “If Doran calls him, or Nicki does, they might come back early. But you know it doesn’t make a difference. If they want her taken down, they don’t have to be anywhere near here to do it.”
Because the McDades had plenty of people they could call up to come do it for them.
“I won’t go quietly,” she said more to herself than anyone else, which was why she didn’t expect Zay to yank her chin up again. The heat behind his discerning gaze wasn’t passion, not sexual passion anyway. “What?”
Her husband did like to glare, but he seemed to be trying to figure something out. “We need to put you somewhere.”
Like she was an out of place casserole dish. “Yeah? Like where? I won’t go to Cyrus.”
Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire.
“Can you trust the McDades?” Bosco asked in a way that suggested he wouldn’t.
If they couldn’t trust the Dohertys and couldn’t trust the McDades, they definitely couldn’t trust the Byrnes. That left… no one. Everyone in the city who might be capable of secreting her were loyal to one of the families.
“One,” Zay said. “But the fucker won’t answer his phone.”
She blinked once. “Uh… Score? Didn’t I just fucking say—”
Zay put his hand over her mouth and looked to Bosco. “You have to go with her.”
“Yeah, because if Score sees a Doherty, he’s likely to kill it.”
“Thing about my wife is people don’t need to hear her name to feel that way about her.”
Without so much as cracking a smile, Zay made a joke and cut her down at the same time. As he walked toward the closet, his hand fell away, so Whisper turned a glare on Bosco.
“What are you looking at me like that for?” he asked, surprised to be the object of her wrath. “He said it, not me.”
“You were thinking it,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “I can tell.”
Holding up both hands in surrender, he gave innocence a shot, but she saw right through it. “I’ve never wanted to kill you.”
Whisper tilted her head to the side. “Never?”
“Bosco doesn’t believe in murder,” Zay said, reappearing from the closet, proving he’d been listening all along.
“Then you have an odd friendship set, Bos,” she said, not objecting when Zay took her hand.
When something cool and hard touched her palm, Whisper looked down to see he was sliding a sapphire ring onto her finger above her wedding ring. During her packing, she’d put the band back on. Just like on the day of their wedding. Thinking about it, the sapphire was probably the first ring he’d ever put on her finger himself.
“You sure about this?” Bosco asked.
Raising her attention away from admiring the ring, she could tell Bosco was surprised. Yet, there was something solemn about the question and the way he looked at his friend.
Zay slipped his hands into his pockets. “She’ll need something.” Whisper held up her hand, asking about the ring without saying a word. “It was our mother’s.”
Her lips circled in a silent “oh.” “So this is my passport to getting in to see Phoenix.”
One of Zay’s eyes narrowed in a semi cringe. “Don’t call him that. You call him that and no amount of jewelry will save your ass.”
Broadening her smile, Whisper smacked Bosco’s arm. “I’ll have Bos-Boy with me, what could go wrong? We’ll be great.”
Bosco rubbed his arm where she’d hit it. Zay just shook his head. It seemed acceptable to joke until she thought about what her husband was actually telling her to do and what it meant for him.
“That means you’re planning to stay here,” she said, thinking about the distance that would be between them.
Wherever Score was, it was out of state, too far for her to get back to her husband if he needed backup.
Except who would tell her if he did. No one would be left behind who’d look out for Zay’s interests or for hers. If the brothers confronted Parker and Burl with information of the affair while at the same time refusing to accept the marriage between Doran and Madison, any number of things could go wrong.
“All of us should go,” she said, the joke long forgotten. “You can’t stay here by yourself.”
“I won’t be by myself,” Zay said. “Doran will be here.”
“And how will Parker react when he finds out you figured out the affair because of me? If I’m not here to blame, he’ll focus that anger on you.”
“I can take Parker.”
Maybe, but it didn’t seem to her that Parker was the type to fight fair. He’d stabbed one brother in the back, nothing would stop him putting a bullet in another. Probably when he was least expecting it.
Whisper shook her head and grabbed his hand. “No. I don’t want you to stay.”
“If I have to gag you and stuff you in a steamer trunk, you’re going, wife.” He looked over her head at Bosco. “Call the airline.”
Maintaining her attention on her husband, Whisper heard Bosco start for the door. “Zaiden McDade, I will not abandon you here.”
The bedroom door closed as his gaze dropped to hers. “I’ll always be stronger than you.”
She gritted her teeth. A noise in the bathroom tried to take Zay’s attention, but she yanked on his hand to tell him she wouldn’t be so easily cast aside.
“I don’t trust them, Parker or Burl. You need someone in your corner.”
“This is how it’s gonna be,” he said without hesitation. “Dutiful wife.”
Yeah, right. If he thought laying down the law would work with her then he hadn’t been paying attention.
Whisper quoted his words, giving him one last chance to change his mind. “If turning around and walking out of here is how this thing has to end, we’ll do it. But we’ll do it together.”
“We will be together,” he said. “I’ll be right behind you.”
“Not good enough.”
Just that morning, Whisper had woken up troubled and alone. Yet, there they were, facing off, matching frown for frown, set in their determination to protect each other.
His hand twisted so he could lock his fingers between hers. The contact startled her so much that Whisper had to look at their link to really register it. His broad, capable fingers spread her digits; his palm pressed against hers.
Whisper couldn’t remember the last time a man had held her hand in that way. The twine of their fingers was too intimate. She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let go.
Zay came even closer. “You can’t argue you’re worried for my life then pull away from me.”
There was a truth that hurt to admit. Still, the words came from her throat anyway. “Makes me feel weak.”
“To feel something for me,” he asked, picking up her other hand from her side to press it flat on his chest. “That’s because you are weak.”
Despite her instant tension, he strengthened his hold, forcing her to stay against her will. “Let me fucking go, asshole.”
“It’s what love does to you, Peanut,” he said. “See how worried you are ‘bout me being here on my own, that’s what I feel about you staying.”
She relaxed, almost amazed by his calm. Somehow his acceptance aided hers. “You’re saying we make each other weak?” As far as Whisper could figure out, that was an argument against ever feeling anything for anyone. “If you stand up for me, Burl will turn his back when Parker wants to…”
“Burl already turned his back on Score, I know exactly what he’ll do.”
“He expects you to fall in line,” she said, recalling what had been said by the men before they left. “Parker tried to tell him that you wouldn’t want to give me up; Burl said he made the decisions for the family. Your father expects you to…”
If Zay stood in front of Burl and refused to give up on their marriage, his father or brother could turn violent. But if he stood in front of them and couldn’t do it, she’d be with Score, apparently under his protection. One phone call and she’d be a sitting duck if Burl ordered Score to eliminate her.
Trust. Looking into her husband’s eyes, registering his determination, she couldn’t deny his certainty. But he wouldn’t be the first man to sell out another to save himself.
“If my father hasn’t noticed how I feel about you, then he deserves whatever he gets,” Zay said. “I won’t betray you.”
Either he could read her thoughts or he was thinking the same thing about how the scenario could play out.
“You and Doran need a plan,” she said, tightening her hold on his hand and curling her fingers into the fabric of his tee-shirt. “I won’t leave you until I know he’ll have your back.”
Not something the McDades were particularly good at.
“Doran is the softest of us all,” he said, like that was a bad thing. “He’ll keep the coolest head.”
A mediator might be a good thing. From her observations of Zay and Bosco, usually the latter kept the peace, which included stepping in front of his friend when necessary.
“I don’t need Bosco,” Whisper said, thinking it might be better for Zay to have as many allies as possible. “You should keep him here with—”
“Score doesn’t know you’re mine,” he said with a shake of his head. “Bosco was right. If he sees a Doherty—”
“How will he know I’m a Doherty?”
“I’m gonna bet he did his research the minute he heard about the marriage. You heard me say Score was smart, right?”
“Why should he care?” she said, assuming her husband was overestimating his brother. Seemed Doran wasn’t the only one to idolize the second McDade brother. “I can handle myself.”
“Not around Score you can’t. Don’t ever underestimate him.”
The weight of his certainty brought her up short. If Score was so smart and capable, and so untrustworthy, it didn’t make much sense for her husband to send her there.
“If I can take Bosco, Score sure can,” she said, regretting leaving her blade in the suitcase rather than strapping it to her thigh. “And if he’s ducking calls, he won’t be pleased to see us.”
“Long as he sees Bosco, he won’t hurt you,” he said, though the twitch in his brow wasn’t as positive. “Or he shouldn’t.”
Translated, that meant she’d get a window, probably a small one, to explain herself. If she didn’t come up with something Score liked, her stay there would be short.
Anywhere else would be a smarter option. Except there was nowhere else. The Dohertys were done. The stragglers still alive were loyal to Cyrus.
Talking more about it was a waste of time. What would be, would be.
“I have to call Mariana and Paula,” she said.
Zay disagreed. “Call them later. After we know how this goes.”
Her girlfriends would worry if they didn’t hear from her. Though it wasn’t exactly as if she was the most reliable friend. Since being married, there were plenty of nights out that she’d missed. Even when she did turn up, Whisper had a tendency to disappear at some point. That wasn’t exactly a new trait, she’d done the same before being Zay’s wife. If some guy caught her interest, she’d wander off with him without reaching out to her friends to tell them what happened right away.
Unreliable though she was, her friends had confidenc
e in her safety. Once upon a time, Whisper had been able to do what she liked, when she liked, sure that no one would mess with a Doherty. Those days were a distant memory.
“I should take Nicole with me,” Whisper said. From his startled expression, he hadn’t expected her to say that. “Yes, she’s an idiot and I don’t like the way she looks at you, but you know she’ll be the first casualty of this.”
“She could be a casualty at Score’s. You’re delivering Parker’s weakness straight to his enemy.”
Odd that she couldn’t quite equate Parker and love. Thinking of him as weak was easy, he was definitely spineless. But Zay was just through telling her that love made people weak. Nothing she’d seen of Parker and Nicole’s relationship betrayed much more than an affection. They’d been together a long time according to Zay. Could be that was what marriage was years down the line. Wasn’t like she had a role model to look to on what a real marriage should be.
“If she stays here, there’s no way she’ll say anything that will help her case,” Whisper said. “Think about it, Nicki apologizes to Parker and blames it on Burl. What happens then?”
“Burl takes her out.”
“Or Burl gets there first and blames her…”
“Parker takes her out.”
“There’s no way this ends good for her. Score won’t kill her, not right away, not if he’s as smart as you say.”
“He’ll want to use her against Parker,” Zay said, considering the scenario.
“So Parker gets a chance to fight for her… or forget her. Either way, Nicole has a chance at freedom.”
“And Parker gets a chance to stop and think about what’s important to him before acting. If he decides she’s meaningless maybe Score lets her go,” he said, then inhaled. “Take her with you.”
Whisper smiled at her husband. “Good idea.”
Nicole wasn’t a fun travel companion. As much as Whisper was tired of hearing her sister-in-law’s voice, she imagined it was worse for Bosco who’d put himself between the women more than once. Whisper had never noticed just how short her fuse was before. Maybe it was the situation, maybe not. But as soon as they picked up their rental car, Whisper dug her blade out of her suitcase and strapped it to her thigh.
Only Yours (A McDade Brothers Novel Book 2) Page 21