Page 54 of Killian (The Doherty Mafia)
I spent each night since my return—sobbing into my pillow. This wasn’t where I wanted to be.
If Killian thought he did me some favor by returning me to Aldo, he was mistaken. How could he have been so gravely mistaken? Didn’t I make it clear enough to him that I didn’t want to come back here? That I wanted to be free, pursue my dream of being a nurse and have my own life?
I would never be able to do those things now.
The worst part was I still had feelings for Killian. After everything that happened, and despite the fact that he had returned me to Aldo—I couldn’t get him out of my mind. I couldn’t forget about the way he made me feel when he touched me. How he looked at me like he’d never seen a woman before.
For a while back there, I actually thought he cared about me. But maybe I was mistaken.
Maybe he was just like every other man I knew and all he actually gave a fuck about was my body.
I had been wrong about so many damn things in my life that I wasn’t even surprised that Killian didn’t care.
I should have known from the start that it was all just an illusion.
He was now free to continue living his life without me.
I didn’t know what I was going to do but I sure as hell didn’t plan on staying in this house. Whatever happened, I wasn’t going to die here.
* * *
I thought Aldo was keeping his distance from me. I would have preferred it that way.
But then he showed up in my bedroom in the evening of my third day back in the house. Just when I’d stepped out of the shower in nothing but a bathrobe and a towel wrapped around my hair.
I gasped when I saw him sitting on my bed. He looked me up and down. I felt the urgency to tighten my robe around me. I hated when he looked at me like that. Like he was acknowledging I was a woman now and not a teenager anymore.
I didn’t want to think about what else he could be thinking.
“So what did you do to fuck this up for me?” he asked.
I could hear the venom and hatred in his voice. It made my stomach flip.
He’d already decided he was going to blame me for everything. There was no point in me trying to fight it.
“I don’t know what you want me to say. I did nothing,” I whimpered.
The only thing I could hope for was that Killian had held up his end of the bargain and kept the death of Connor a mystery from Aldo and his mafia.
“You can’t even make a simple marriage work.”
“Connor was old. His death was out of my hands.”
“You are like a fuckin’ curse!” he growled. When he jumped off the bed, I took a few steps back.
I was startled and a little frightened, but also aware that I couldn’t do anything. I just had to stand there and take it.
He stood in front of me with his shoulders squared and his eyes bloodshot red. Like a wild animal preparing to pounce. There were tears in my eyes but I wasn’t going to let them fall. Not this time.
“You just had to do one thing. You had to be a good wife to Connor Doherty, follow his commands, give him a few kids and secure the connection between our families. Instead, you cursed him, you little witch!”
He came at me and this time I was sure he was going to hit me, but surprisingly, he didn’t. He stopped just a foot away from me. So close I could smell the alcohol on his breath. His shoulders rose and fell with rage.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled.
I had to.
He would continue with this if I didn’t. It would probably get worse if I didn’t try and put an end to it. The only thing I could do was accept the blame for it and pretend that he was right about everything.
I hung my head low. I didn’t want to look at him while he breathed heavily over me.
“You better fuckin’ be sorry, you ungrateful whore.” Spittle flew out of his mouth and landed in flecks on my hands. The tears were fat and heavy in my eyes. I thought I would get sick and throw up if I held it in any longer.
But then he stormed past me, rushing to the door.
“You need to find a way to prove your usefulness to me. Right now, I’m beginning to think you’re nothing but a waste of space and money.”
What was he saying? That he would kill me if he couldn’t think of a way to put me to use? Was I spoiled goods now?
He banged the door shut behind him when he went out.
