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Chapter Thirty
Thecrowdletsoutcheers and laughter as Scotty presses a slice of cake to Saoirse’s face. My sister shrieks, then shoves a piece against him. It results in an all out food fight, my brothers joining in to cake the groom for touching our baby sister. Scotty doesn’t find it as hilarious as we do, and he cusses us out while I search the room for Sammy.
It doesn’t take me long to find her. She’s in those sexy black stilettos, her hair pulled out of her face, and she wears a navy dress with lace sleeves. Her lips are red today, to match the red bottoms of her shoes and the bright red clutch stashed beneath her armpit.
She’s standing beside Haley, one hand on her stomach, a bright smile in place. The babies must be kicking, because Sammy’s eyes light up before she slides her hand to a lower spot on her belly. There’s a tightness in my chest as I watch her with the mother of my nieces.
She avoided me all day. Hell, she avoided me since the night I arrived at her home uninvited and blew everything up. Haley heads off toward the bathroom, and then my doll is alone, her gaze traveling around the room.
When it lands on me, she freezes for the briefest of seconds before pulling her gaze away. She continues to scan the room, and I continue to watch her, unable to stop. We may be in a crowded setting in a public place, but we’re in a room full of criminals, and I don’t trust one of them for a second.
The New York Irish, Italians, and Russians are here, as well as a few Boston and Miami Russians. Weddings are off limits, and there aren’t any rivals happening right now. This is a rare point in our life where no one is fighting. Years of hard work, of me and my brothers working to keep the peace, and we might finally have it for a bit.
Sammy’s eyes widen when she takes sight of something. Her entire body tenses, and the wineglass in her hand falls to the ground.
What the fuck did she see?I scan the area, not sure what could’ve spooked her.The Russian. The scarred one from the car accident approaches her. She takes a step back, her head shaking. He’s there before I can get to her, despite my feet moving fast enough to be beside her in seconds.
My hand settles on her back as he glares at her with dark, dead eyes.
“Imagine that.” He chuckles, never taking his eyes off her. “The Irish to your rescue, again.” Then, he hurries off.
“Sammy? Are you okay, doll?” I ask, tugging her to my side.
Her body is rigid against me. “It’s nothing.” But her voice cracks, and I know it’ssomething.
I tug her toward the kitchen and outside. Her hands shaking as I slam the back door to the alley we’d been in all those weeks ago. Her bottom lip quivers when I press her back to the brick wall, crowding her just as I had back then.
“How do you know him?”
She shakes her head furiously. “I don’t.”
My palm slams against the wall beside her head. She flinches, her eyes squeezed shut, and a soft whimper escapes her.
“Don’t lie to me, Samira. He’s got you worked up. What’s going on?”
“No, Declan.” She snaps her eyes open. A finger shoves into my chest. “You have me worked up. Leave. Me. Alone.”
“You won’t tell me what he meant? About the Irish rescuing you?”
Her hands flail in the air. “I have no fucking clue what that means!”
She shoves at my chest, and I move back, freeing her. “I’ve never seen him before, okay? I don’t know what the fuck that means.”
“He seemed awfully familiar with you, Samira.”
Her throat works as she swallows. Then her back straightens, and she turns to me, defiance shining in her pretty brown eyes. “If I told you the truth, you’d call me a liar. So just leave me the fuck alone. You go live your life, and I’ll live mine. The wedding is over in a few hours, and we’ll never have to see each other again.”
I scrub a hand through my hair, tugging at it in frustration. “Fuck, Sammy. I’m sorry, okay? I believe you, and I shouldn’t have said those things. I let my anger control me.”
She tilts her head toward the sky and exhales. “How am I supposed to believe you? After what you did to me?” Her hand falls to the front of her neck.
Fuck.I bring myself to my feet, grab her wrist, and tug her into me. “Tell me what’s wrong, so I can help you.”
She doesn’t respond, just pushes her head to the side, so she doesn’t have to look at me. She’s not fighting me either, though.
“Sammy,” I sigh. “I need you, okay? My head is all kinds of fucked up, and you keep me grounded.”
“Don’t you get it, Declan? I can’t give you what you need.”
