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“I’ll get her things.” Ana squeezes my arm, and the contact jolts through me.
I’ve been doing this alone for so long with Sophie, and only now do I feel like I’m drowning.
But keeping this particular woman who’s throwing me a lifeline will get everyone I love killed.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Darragh
Idrive home with Ana sitting in the back with Sophie, cradling her.
My eyes have trouble believing what I’m seeing in the rearview. How my daughter has warmed up to another woman so quickly, so easily, and so completely.
In the house, I put Sophie to bed for a nap, changing her out of the party dress she couldn’t wait to put on.
Wearing leggings and a sweatshirt, she falls asleep almost immediately. I keep my hand on her chest, counting her heartbeats.
Feeling wrecked, I leave her room and don’t know where to go in my own house. I left Ana in the kitchen, hanging the knapsack back on the peg. Hearing the tea kettle whistle, my legs move down the stairs before I tell them to.
Ana is cleaning up thick blue ceramic shards from the floor.
“I saw you left the knapsack here, and I dropped my mug. I hope it wasn’t important.”
You’re important. More than a fucking mug.
“No. It wasn’t. I got it.” I take the dustpan from her. “Sit. I’ll make the tea this time.”
I pour water into two fresh mugs filled with chamomile and lemon tea bags.
“I don’t know how to use the leaves and the infuser. I found good old-fashion tea bags. Seriously, Darragh.” She scoffs a laugh. “I didn’t peg you to be so…”
“So…”
“Stuffy and highbrow.”
“Because my twin is a reckless drug addict?”
“Maybe.” She takes a breath. “He was fun. For about six months.”
I’m torn between how much I want to know about their relationship but also dread making her remember how he hurt her.
Her lawyer said in court that Cormac kept her a prisoner. That tells me what I need to know about where the relationship stands.
The look of that disgusting motel room and how she acted in it reinforces what she told her lawyer. Even if she slept in the same bed with Cormac, it sounds like he didn’t give her a choice.
Fuck, I have to hire him a lawyer. And I have to call home to tell my brothers what happened.
Tell them that Cormac not only got Anastasia Koslov pregnant, but was keeping her a prisoner. I’m not sure which part of the story will piss off Kieran more.
But I’m keeping her a prisoner, too. Even if it’s for her own good.
I sip the tea and let the silence stretch out between us while I sort out my feelings. For Ana.
I’m fighting an attraction that will get me into just as much trouble. The way she took over and saved my daughter today has knocked me sideways.
But Ana wants to disappear into the shadows again.
I’m prepared to help her. Only, she can’t take the baby. She can’t live on the run with an infant. My family will want this child, especially if it’s a boy.
