Aisling

More than a day after the wreck and I was still reeling from everything. To wake up and find yourself in the hospital, seriously injured, having had surgery and finding not only a large part of your family hovering over you, but to find him there too had shaken me. The joy I felt when I saw his face was ridiculous. I shouldn’t feel that way. I swore I’d forget about him and my lovesick fool self would move on.

The good news was I was recalling more about the night of the wreck. The part of it where I planned to ask Chris to stay the night when we got to my house. I intended to sleep with him. It was the only way I might have a chance in hell of moving on and getting over Alistair. Seeing him, knowing he would never be mine and knowing he was out sleeping with other women was killing me.

This hospitalization put a major cramp in my plan. I couldn’t understand why Alistair was here and staying after he knew I would live. Surely he had better things to do. Was Darragh or one of the others making him stay and if so, why? Was there a threat I didn’t know about?

Yesterday, when they came to my room to join the others, I knew something had gone down. No one would tell me where they went, only saying they’d be in soon. It was mere minutes after they showed up when everyone began to disperse to let me rest. Before those two could slip off, I asked them to stay. Recalling the conversation made me want to scream.

“ Where did you two go? Don’t bother telling me nowhere? Something is going on. I want to know what,” I asked as soon as the door shut. Creed had left the room, too.

“Why would you think we have something going on?” Darragh countered.

“Because I know you two, and your faces are too calm. Tell me. Am I in danger? Is that why you have Alistair here?”

“Alistair is here because he wants to be. The fact there’s danger and he can help protect you is a bonus but not the reason. Listen, this is shaping up to be someone threatening Chris. He said he got a new threat a few weeks ago, but it was along the same lines as the typical ones so he didn’t think anything of it. Now, he knows he should. Until the threat is neutralized, we’ll be protecting you.”

Darragh went on to say more about my safety and such but I was distracted by Alistair. Just him being in the room made me crazy. Add to it the fact he stood there not saying a word and watching me like a hawk. I wish it was because he loved me and was desperate to protect me for that reason, but it wasn’t. No matter what Dar said, I knew Alistair was being made to stay and it was due to a possible threat that he came in the first place.

Luckily, I had plenty of people to help distract me. The rest of the family arrived late yesterday, including Khloe and Mamó , which I didn’t expect. She rarely traveled unless it was to go to our house in Ireland. Some were staying in our house in Temecula while others found a hotel nearby. Without heavy traffic it was under an hour to get from the house to here. With traffic, which was a nightmare most of the time, it could be two hours or more.

Along with the family, there were their guards and a few which they got from Aegis security. They were a top-notch company we dealt with when we needed more than our guards and enforcers. I thought they might just be going overboard but my protestations were ignored.

I was exhausted but not from all my visitors, or at least not much by them. It was my conversation late yesterday with the police. They showed up around dinner time. The thing with cops and our family was, although we’re mostly on the up-and-up, we didn’t trust them, and they sure didn’t trust us. This meant when it came to the men who tried to kidnap or kill us, we’d give the appearance of cooperating while not really doing it. Why? So the family could find them and take care of the problem themselves. No one messed with our family or friends and got away with it. Conventional justice was usually a joke so they didn’t bother with it in most cases.

When the detectives arrived to insist on speaking to me, Malone Kelly, our lawyer, had already made the trip from Florida. He was an intimidating adversary to go up against. Hence why, we employed him as our lead legal counsel. The other reason was he was a distant cousin to Maeve. This made him family.

It soon became obvious during the interview they were positive I knew who had run into us. They kept pushing and insinuating it was a rival family in the same business as us. They were more cops who thought we were the old guard mafia. It did get old. After a while, I stopped talking. Malone was a tiger, and he soon sent them on their way with the admonishment to find the culprits who were the real bad guys and stop trying to make it the victims’ faults.

We did learn they talked to Chris before me, but they wouldn’t say what he told them. When they left, Darragh, Malone and to my shock, Alistair left to go question Chris. I was anxious the whole time they were gone. When they returned and I asked what he told the cops, they said essentially the same thing me and Creed did and they treated him the same. I had no confidence the police would find the men responsible.

At present, I was in my hospital bed trying to get comfortable. I kept wiggling. I didn’t want to take the pain medication but lord did I hurt. I was waiting to see if I would be moved to a regular room today or not. The guys were having a meeting somewhere in the hospital. I had no doubt it was about the situation and anything they might’ve found out. I knew they’d have Cody and all our other resources working on it. My guards were two Aegis employees. Mam , Cara, and Siobhan were sitting with me. I wiggled again.

“I swear if you don’t take the medicine I’m gonna inject it myself. You’re miserable, Ais,” Siobhan threatened.

“It makes me feel all loopy and exhausted, Siv. I don’t like that feeling.”

She snorted. “Better that than in pain. You have broken bones, contusions and had a damn piece of metal stab into your body then surgery. You’re not gonna heal if you can’t rest. Are you going to call the nurse or should I?” she raised her brow at me.

We girls had been close growing up. It was a weird fact in each of the three branches of the family the last child was a girl. The three of us were only three years apart. Siv was the oldest by a year then me and Cara was the baby. Siv was bossier as the eldest. She thought it meant she could tell us what to do. We were all the best of friends, but it didn’t mean we never fought or had disagreements. We’d been known to throw hands just like our brothers. When we did, our mams would roll their eyes and sit back to see the outcome.

“You can call her but it doesn’t mean I’ll take it.”

“You will if I knock your ass out before she comes and you can’t say no,” was her quick comeback. Knowing the cailleach, witch, she’d do it too. Seeing the humor in it, I decided to play it out.

“ Mam , Siv is picking on me. Make her stop. She’s mean,” I pretended to pout.

Mam had been stressed since her arrival yesterday. I wanted to lighten her mood. This did it. She started to laugh and shook her head. “I swear you girls are still preteens sometimes. Dia , the way you’d fight. Okay, let me see. Siv, stop being such a bossy pants. Ais, don’t be a whiner. Cara, don’t encourage them.”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything,” Cara protested.

“I know but I can’t leave you out. It doesn’t feel complete if I do.”

My bodyguard in the room was trying not to grin. He was studying the far wall and wouldn’t make eye contact. We were all giggling when the door opened. My guards from outside gave us an apologetic look.

“Ms. O’Sheeran there’s a gentleman out here who is insisting he has to speak to you.”

“Did he give you his name?” I asked.

“He said he’s Christopher Brynes. He claims he was in the accident with you and wants to check on you.”

I relaxed. “He was. Please let him in. I’ve been meaning to go see him so this will be perfect. Thank you.”

He nodded and his head disappeared. Not even a minute later the door opened further and in came Chris. He was on crutches and moving slowly. I caught a glimpse of Scotty in the hallway. He didn’t appear happy. The door closed behind Chris. He was giving me the once-over as he approached my bed. I caught a look pass between Mam and the girls but I had no idea what it was about. Chris smiled at them.

“Look here. I have the four most beautiful women in the whole place right here. Hello ladies,” he greeted them. They smiled, and he leaned over to give them each a kiss on the cheek, even Mam . I knew if Daid was here he wouldn’t have.

“Hello Christopher, how’re you feeling? I was planning to come see you today. I’m sorry I didn’t come yesterday. It was rather hectic as you can imagine,” Mam informed him.

“No worries, I don’t blame you. Aisling, God, I’m sorry, sweetheart. Please tell me they’re controlling your pain and you’ll be moved out of here soon,” he said as he came closer to the bed.

He reached out and ran a finger down my cheek. Instead of feeling comforted or even excited by his touch, I was uncomfortable. It grew worse as he leaned over to kiss my mouth. I turned my head at the last second and it landed on my cheek. When he lifted his head, he gave me a quizzical look. I pretended not to notice as I smiled at him.

“I’m hoping they’ll move me today sometime. The pain is tolerable.”

Siv snorted. He glanced over at her.

“Don’t believe her, Christopher. She’s lying. She won’t take the pain meds because she hates how they make her feel. We were arguing about it right before you came in. I’m calling the nurse, and if you give her trouble when she brings it, I’ll have your guards, your mam, Cara, and Christopher help me sit on you so you take it,” she glared at me.

This made Chris laugh and my guard let a smile slip before he wiped it away. “I saw that, traitor,” I called over to him. His eyes were twinkling. He didn’t say much but I liked him. He was serene and not hard on the eyes.

“Fine, since you’re all ganging up on me, call her,” I grumbled. In reality, I was glad to take something. The pain was ramping up to a very painful stage.

“Good. I’ll go find one of the nurses. Why don’t we leave you two to talk?” Mam said out of the blue. Before I was able to protest, the three of them were up and making tracks for the door. With them gone, Chris moved around and sat in the chair next to my bed. He was scanning me. He grimaced.

“I hate to see you like this.”

“You got beat up too.”

“Yeah, but not like you. Shit, why didn’t I see that car coming? I could’ve prevented all this.”

“Neither of us saw it until it was too late. They had it perfectly planned. Too bad for them, they didn’t count on Creed coming to us on foot. I heard you broke your leg. How’s it feeling?”

“Not too bad. What about your arm and your incision, cuts and bruises? I can’t believe a piece of metal pierced you. When I saw you bleeding and then you closed your eyes, I was scared to death, Aisling. I thought you were dead. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something since before the wreck. Could we have some privacy?” he asked my guard.

Panic began to creep in when he said it. I thought I might know what he wanted to talk about, but I wasn’t ready. The confidence I felt before the accident about progressing to a new stage was gone. I floundered to find a way to stop this. I lucked out when my guard shook his head.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I have strict orders not to take my eyes off Ms. O’Sheeran.”

“She’s safe with me. My bodyguard and your partner are outside. There’s no reason to not let us have a private conversation,” Chris told him impatiently.

“Sir, I work for Mr. Darragh O’Sheeran. I take my orders from him, and he was very clear. She isn’t to be left alone, ever. No matter who is with her. Mr. Graeme was clear about his orders as well. I’m sorry, but no.” He folded his arms across his massive chest. I was taken aback to hear Alistair was giving the bodyguards orders. Chris stiffened, and a pissed expression spread over his face.

“Mr. Graeme has no damn right to give orders when it comes to her. If you don’t give us—” Whatever else he was about to say was cut short by the door swinging open abruptly, and in walked Darragh and Alistair. My heart skipped a beat seeing him. Even though I saw him this morning, it never got old, even though I tried to control my body’s response to him. His gaze zeroed in on Chris. What I saw there was anger and dislike. Darragh didn’t appear very happy either. What in the world?

“Chris, I thought I was clear yesterday,” my cousin said without bothering to greet him.

“Dar, what’s wrong? What about yesterday?” I asked.

“Drake, would you mind giving us some privacy?” Dar asked my guard. Without a word, Drake nodded and went to the door. When he opened it, Scotty came bounding inside. He looked panicked.

“Scotty, we’re having a private talk. Wait in the hallway with the other guards. Drake, please make sure no one disturbs us,” Dar added.

“Mr. Byrnes, I need…” Scotty let the words die away when Alistair looked at him.

“You heard him,” Alistair said.

Scotty didn’t like being spoken to by either of them that way. On the one hand, I understood it, but on the other, I wasn’t very sympathetic. I knew Chris relied on him, and they’d been together a while, but he wasn’t someone I liked. I felt as if he was secretly judging me every time I was around him.

“I give the orders to my people, not you,” Chris snapped at Alistair. I was taken aback.

“And I give orders I expect to be followed when it comes to my family. He can leave, and we talk, or you both can go,” Darragh snapped at Chris.

The tension was mounting, and I had no idea why. What happened yesterday when they met? Whatever it was, they weren’t acting as if they were friends. I wouldn’t have called Chris and my family the best of friends, but they were always courteous and got along. The four of them stared at each other for a whole minute or so. I was about to tell them enough when there was a timid knock. Glancing over, I saw a nurse. She gave me a hesitant smile.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I have your medication, Ms. O’Sheeran. Your mother said you were in a lot of pain.” she came scuttling over as she explained.

Alistair was next to me in a blink. He was frowning. “Ais, what’s wrong? Why are you hurting more?”

“Stair, don’t get excited. Nothing is wrong.”

She injected it into my IV so it would go into effect right away. “There, you should feel better in a jiffy. Anything else I can do for you?”

“No, thank you,” I told her with a smile. She nodded at the men before leaving.

“What’s it gonna be, Chris?” Dar was right back at it.

Chris waited several heart beats before he responded. “Scotty, wait for me outside. I’ll be fine.” He scowled. Scotty left reluctantly and unhappily. As soon as the door closed, I jumped in.

“What in the world has gotten into you guys?”

“He knows,” Darragh said. Alistair grunted in what I thought was agreement. I looked at Chris.

“Would you care to explain?”

“Your cousin and his friend seem to think I should stay away from you since they’re convinced the attack on us is my fault. I recently had someone send me threats, nothing I haven’t heard a thousand times before in one version or another. Until whoever it is, is caught and dealt with, they said to stay away from you.”

Even if I didn’t want to get into a private conversation with him, I didn’t like Darragh or Alistair making decisions for me. I narrowed my gaze on them. “Would you two like to explain yourselves?”

“I think he explained it. He’s at fault for your pain and injuries and he almost got you killed. There’s no way we want you to continue to be a target so it means he stays away from you,” Alistair said gruffly.

“Yeah, you’d love that, wouldn’t you?” Chris said with a sneer.

“I want her safe!” Alistair snapped.

“Agreed,” Dar added.

They began to argue with each other, totally ignoring me. As they did and they got louder, the angrier and worse I felt. They were causing me to tense up more, and it was pushing my pain rather than letting the medicine do its job. After a couple minutes of it, I had enough. Placing my fingers in my mouth, I let out a shrill whistle. They flinched, and the yelling died off as they all faced me.

“Enough! Do you hear yourselves? Even if whoever did this is someone after Chris, it’s not your place to dictate who I may or may not see.” This earned them a flash of a smirk from Chris.

“And you, how dare you order anyone who works for us around? Drake isn’t one of your people. Plus, you have no right to order Alistair to leave,” It was one of the things he’d been yelling. I might ache to my soul with him near, but it was my right to send him away, not Chris’s.

“Darragh, I love you, but you have to tone down the overbearing overlord shit. We don’t know who targeted us or why. I agree we need to be cautious but to outright declare someone as not allowed near me isn’t your place. I’ll decide who I spend time with and when and where. Now, since the three of you can’t seem to be civilized, I want you all to leave. The only ones I want to see besides Drake or his replacement are Mam , the girls, and Daid . Later, the others can come in. If you settle down, I might let you back this evening. Chris, thank you for your concern. I’m on the mend. You should go get some rest. We’ll talk soon.”

They tried to get me to change my mind but I closed my eyes and ignored them. My head was pounding again. I just needed peace and quiet and sleep. Eventually, Chris left. Dar promised he’d see me later and so did Alistair. When the door closed, I sighed. I felt eyes on me so I knew Drake must be back. I drifted off.