Page 28 of Killian (The Doherty Mafia)
My father and Connor were two very different men.
While Dad had always treated our mother like she was his queen, Connor had never treated a woman like she was even human. Most of the time, it was hard to believe they were even related.
“I don’t know what’s going on. I wish I fuckin’ did,” I replied. My brothers came over to crowd around me.
I was the missing link in the story. I was there when Connor got into trouble.
“I’m finding it hard to believe that the girl caused all this,” my brother Tristan spoke up. Clearly, Dad had told them the story I’d given him. It wasn’t that far from the truth. If they knew Reese the way I did, they wouldn’t have found it unbelievable that she got his gun and pulled the trigger.
Reese wasn’t just an ordinary young girl. She was a girl who had learned to take care of herself—through any means necessary.
“What exactly did she do? How did he go into a coma?” I asked, looking at their faces directly.
“It’s a medically induced coma. They had to put him in it to deal with the swelling in his brain. They’ve managed to treat the gunshot wound but they can’t guarantee a full recovery. They can’t guarantee anything,” my brother, Nolan, said.
“Where did the cops find him?” I asked next.
“Side of the highway. Unconscious and close to bleeding to death. Apparently it looks like he’s been shot and then hit by a car.” Aiden shook his head while he spoke.
Our father was standing to the side with his arms crossed over his chest.
“I have to get the fuck out of here. I don’t need to be here. You boys keep a close eye on all this and let me know what happens. Someone needs to wake him up so we can figure out what’s actually happening. Who did this. Where the girl is now.” It looked like Dad was close to losing his mind.
While he walked away, Aiden turned to me again.
“Do you want to see him?” he asked.
* * *
In his hospital bed, attached to the machines, my uncle looked all shriveled up but still as disgusting as I remembered him.
It was amazing how I still felt no sympathy for him. In fact, I wished he was dead already.
Seeing him there reminded me why I did what I did.
I had made the split-second decision to protect Reese from him. I didn’t want him to touch her. I didn’t want her to be subjected to a lifetime of torture and misery by being married to him.
I barely knew her when I made that decision. I didn’t know what she was made of. I knew I was attracted to her and I wanted my cock in her, but that was all I based it on.
And even now, my decision hadn’t changed.
If Connor woke up and if they found Reese, they would return her to him. Her stepfather had sealed a deal and handed her over to him. Which meant that she rightfully belonged to him.
I clenched my palms tightly at the thought of her walking into his bedroom. Of his big fat body heaving on top of her perfect curves.
Now that I had her, now that I knew just how sexy she was, how good it felt to be inside her, to fuck her and own her—I couldn’t imagine anyone else owning her instead.
Least of all this fucking bastard who wouldn’t know how to treat her.
And did I know how to treat her?
I kept her locked in my basement.
The irony didn’t fail to strike me.
But it didn’t change the fact that I still wanted to keep Reese all to myself. I didn’t want Connor to wake up. I didn’t want them to find her.
I didn’t know how I’d manage all that, but for now, I was glad I saw Connor again because I needed the reminder.
I had made the right decision.
And if it looked like Connor was going to wake up, if he was ever in a position where he was able to talk—I would make sure to take care of the situation before he had a chance to.
“I’m done here,” I said, leaving the hospital room.
I was sure Aiden detected a strangeness in the room, a strangeness in my behavior. But what was he going to do about it?
* * *
The longer Connor was in a coma, the longer I would have with Reese. That was the way I looked at it.
At least for now, until I had the whole mess figured out.
As I left the hospital, my father called me. I sat in the car before answering the call.
“Any updates?” he asked.
I wanted to laugh and remind him he was at the hospital just forty minutes ago. The fucker was in a coma. His brain was all swollen up. What was he expecting? A miracle?
