Page 55 of Killian (The Doherty Mafia)
Finally, it felt like I could breathe, but it was more than that—I realized that I couldn’t waste any more time moping around.
* * *
I couldn’t sleep that night.
Not like I could sleep most nights. Not since I met Killian.
And now, he was the only thing on my mind.
I hated how we left things. I hated myself for not speaking to him on the last night we had together. I wished I told him how I felt.
I knew there were things that held him back from giving in to his true emotions. Whatever they were.
If he did have feelings for me, it would take him a long time to admit it.
However, he was the one who had shown me I was worthy of admiration. He made me feel special. He made me feel like I could be a nurse if I really wanted to. I could actually live my dream.
Despite the unusual circumstances we found ourselves in, he opened up to me. He opened up his family to me. By allowing me to help Isabelle, he gave me self worth. Something I’d lacked for so many years.
While Aldo had spent so much time tearing me down and taking away everything that was important to me—Killian, just in a few short days, had reminded me of them.
I needed to be strong.
I had to find a way out of here.
Even if I didn’t make it back to him. Even if he didn’t want me for himself. I had to get out. I had to escape.
I didn’t want to be a pawn in Aldo’s hands anymore. I didn’t want to sit and wait for him to trade me over to somebody else.
I would rather have died than been a sitting duck.
I had to come up with a plan, even though I didn’t have one right then. Killian was the one who gave me the courage to find myself again. He didn’t know he did. Maybe I would never get a chance to tell him about it, but I was glad I met him.
I was glad I got to fall in love with him.
Finally, I was able to trust myself again and willing to take risks for my own sake.
Now, all I had to do was come up with an escape plan.
Spending time in Killian’s basement had given me a few ideas.
Twenty-Nine
Killian
Aiden drove up to the cabin early on Saturday morning. I’d been waiting eagerly to hear from him. It took him way longer to get back to me with the information I was looking for.
It had been exactly a week since I last saw Reese and I hadn’t heard anything from her.
My brother walked into my house now and from the look on his face, I knew he had bad news.
After Reese left, even though my father didn’t ask me to—I told my brothers everything. They were starting to ask questions. Everyone had heard that Aldo picked Reese up from my cabin. They knew I’d been harboring her for all those days since the night Connor was shot.
I had to come clean before they started piecing the story together themselves. I didn’t want to keep lying to them anymore.
Besides, I needed my brothers on my side if I wanted the truth under covers—about how Connor really died.
I didn’t want anyone outside the family to find out Reese killed him. I didn’t want her to have to face those consequences.
Aiden was the one who suggested he would try and dig up as much as he could on Aldo. He could sense I actually gave a fuck about her.
Maybe they saw I wasn’t the same guy anymore. Not since I met Reese.
For whatever reason, he wanted to help me—even though I knew I didn’t deserve his help.
“He killed her boyfriend,” Aiden said now, without wasting any time.
“What?”
“Aldo killed the guy she was supposed to run away with. They were teenagers. She was going to run away with him because she didn’t want to live with Aldo anymore.”
“Fuck.”
I ran a hand through my hair. Now, I better understood what Reese meant when she said she empathized with me. I could see how she probably blamed herself for her boyfriend’s death.
“He staged a car accident, but it wasn’t an accident at all.”
“And she knows this?” I growled.
Aiden nodded.
“Aldo has been using it against her for years. To manipulate her. To keep her under his control. Basically, he has made sure she knows that if she disobeys him or angers him at all, he is capable of killing to get his way. The poor girl is a prisoner in that home.”
I felt the rage rush into my veins.
More than anything else, I was angry with myself.
I thought I was freeing her. Instead, I sent her off to a fresh hell.
“Is she at the house? Is she okay?”
Aiden shrugged.
“Nobody knows much. Aldo is being very secretive about what he’s doing to her now. Maybe he’s planning something else. All I know is he’s blaming her for Connor’s death, even though he doesn’t know she actually shot him. If he finds out…”
