Page 38 of Killian (The Doherty Mafia)
By the time I returned to the kitchen, Isabelle was sobbing and Reese was consoling her with her arms around her shoulders.
“What’s going to happen to him? What are you going to do to him?” Isabelle cried, turning to me.
I hated seeing her like that. I wanted her to stop crying over the bastard who did this to her. I clenched my jaws in fury, trying to find the words with which to describe what I wanted Brayden to suffer.
Reese turned her back to face her.
“Listen to me. Your brother is going to take care of the situation, and give him the punishment he deserves. Either way, you can’t think about him right now, you have to be strong and recover from this. Your physical injuries to start with and then we can worry about everything else you’re experiencing.”
“I thought I loved him. I really thought he loved me too!” Isabelle cried, falling into Reese’s arms.
I watched the two of them together. Reese’s eyes bore into me. I figured she wanted me to say something.
“I’m going to make sure he never walks again,” I growled.
Isabelle looked at me and burst into another volley of tears.
* * *
Isabelle and Reese spent the rest of the day together. I was close but stayed out of their conversations. I wanted to be aware of what was being said between them, just to make sure Reese didn’t give herself away. But she was careful. When Isabelle asked her name, Reese insisted that she wanted to be called Ray.
Isabelle would have considered all this very strange and hounded me about the truth—if she hadn’t been so caught up with what was going on in her own life.
She wanted to spend the rest of the day talking about Brayden and their messed up relationship. Reese was happy to give her a shoulder to cry on and the two of them sat on the couch, talking all day, like they were real life sisters.
For one day, I was able to precisely picture what a life with Reese would look like. She had the natural instincts of a nurturer. Isabelle wasn’t an easy person to please—but the fact that she’d opened up so quickly to Reese was astounding.
Maybe this was why I was attracted to Reese too. Because she had the ability to draw people in.
If we had a life together, and if everything was normal and she wasn’t supposed to be married to my uncle, she would have fit right into my family. They would have welcomed a girl like her with open arms.
This was the woman my family would have picked for me as a wife. But it was never going to happen.
As soon as Isabelle was out of the picture, we’d be back to reality.
At night, I offered Isabelle the guest room. She fell asleep very easily.
Finally, Reese and I were going to have a chance to talk alone.
She was in the kitchen, cleaning up the dishes from the dinner she’d cooked for us. All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her and fuck her right there on the kitchen table.
But she turned to me and asked, “What’s happening to him? Brayden?”
“My brothers have run him out of town. Made sure he has no remaining interest to return.”
“It’s going to be very difficult for Isabelle to get over that.”
“She’ll live,” I growled.
Reese nodded and licked her lips.
“I don’t know what you have planned for me tonight or for the future, but I just want to thank you for letting me help today. For letting me feel human,” she said.
I wanted to thank her for giving me a glimpse of what a normal relationship would look like. But I didn’t.
I still needed to stay in command of the situation.
“We’re going to sleep in my room tonight. I don’t want Isabelle asking questions about why you’re in the basement.”
She nodded.
* * *
Reese wasn’t in the bed beside me when I woke up the next morning.
We’d gone to sleep after I made her come twice in a row. It felt like the most natural thing to do. To return to a shared bed at the end of the day and have sex like any other couple would do.
Did we have sex or make love?
That was the thought in my mind as I’d drifted off to sleep last night. She was in my arms.
This morning, she wasn’t.
I jumped out of bed and hurriedly put my clothes on before bursting out of the room. I heard their voices instantly.
Isabelle and Reese were in the kitchen together again. There was coffee on the table. Eggs and toast.
They were laughing about something as Reese changed the dressing on Isabelle’s wounds.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” my sister exclaimed. When she laughed, she didn’t wince this time, so that was a relief to see.
