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“What?” I gaped at him and shook my head. “No, no, I’m not leaving you—”
“Get in the car and go home, baby,” he cut me off and ordered. “Now.”
“Joey, no, I can’t leave you!”
Reaching up, he cupped my face between his hands and gave me a meaningful look. “Nobody’s going to mention you.”
“No, Joe,” I strangled out, chest heaving. “No, I can’t.”
“Aoife.”
“But you’re going to be…”
Fisting my hair, he leaned in and pressed his lips to my ear. “You listen to me,” he said, low enough that only I could hear him. “You get your ass in that car and straight to the hospital. Don’t worry about me, okay? I’m grand. You tell those doctors whatever the fuck you need to tell them to make them scan you and check our kid is okay.”
“Joe.”
“When they give you the all clear, because they will give you the all clear, Molloy, I want you to go home and stay there. Don’t come looking for me, and don’t go fighting my battles, baby. I can do the fighting for the both of us.”
“But—”
“I’ll look after everything else, okay?” He exhaled a harsh breath and momentarily sagged against me before straightening back up. “All I need you to do is look after yourself and my kid.”
“Let’s get out of here,” I blurted out. “Come with me.”
“I can’t.”
“You have to.” My heart bucked wildly in my chest as it cracked down the center. “They’ll arrest you if you stay.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter,” I cried, clinging to him. “You matter. You—”
“I’ll be grand. Just go and I’ll call you when I can,” he cut in, pressing a hard kiss to my forehead. “I’ll be seeing ya, Molloy,” he called over his shoulder, as he walked away.
And then he was gone.
98
Jailhouse Rock
JOEY
It was no big revelation when the only handcuffs the Gards withdrew at Tommen were the ones they used to cuff me with. Nor did it come as a surprise when I was read the usual “I’m arresting you under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act” spiel, because, quite frankly, I’d heard it a dozen times before.
Thrown into the back of the squad car, I’d been taken straight to the station, where I had been searched, stripped, and slapped around by none other than Paul the prick’s daddy. All that before being tossed in the cells for a time-out, while I waited for legal aid to show up and escort me to the courthouse.
Unapologetic for my actions, I took my punishment on the chin, unwilling to show emotion or feel bad for defending my sister.
Because fuck those pricks at Tommen.
Fuck the whole damn world.
My only regret about the day’s events was that I had dragged my girlfriend into it. Because Molloy wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for me, and she sure as shit wouldn’t have been fighting if it wasn’t to defend me.
Her face continued to haunt me long into the evening as I sat on a concrete slab that doubled as a bed in the holding cell where I was being retained. I battled with both my conscience and my body as it reeled from withdrawal.
The stainless-steel piss hole in the corner of my cell had seen more vomit than I cared to admit, as I continued to eject the contents of my stomach.
