Alistair

Hearing she was feverish had made me anxious. Watching her puke and being miserable made me want to scoop her up and rock her in my arms. When Dr. K. informed us she had an abscess and had to go back into surgery, I grew more anxious and fearful. Every time you went under there was no guarantee you had to wake up. What if something went wrong?

I knew Dr. Keim was one of the best doctors in the world. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be the personal physician and surgeon to the O’Sheeran family. I was thrilled she was in his hands, but it was still a worry. I detested seeing her in pain or feeling badly. What rotten luck.

We were all gathered in the OR waiting area as Dr. K suggested, waiting for her to be done and back on her journey on the road to recovery. There were murmurs all around the room. Only a couple of other people were in there with us who weren’t part of our group. Suffice it to say they were casting looks at us, which were a combination of intrigued and frightened. They recognized the family. It was rare for people not to.

When it occurred, there were several ways they would act. Curious was one way, along with scared, nervous, excited, and some outright cagy. The O’Sheeran’s wealth, and the rumors of who they were, were factors in those responses. Many had an angle they wanted to play. It was due to those angles they had bodyguards.

I wasn’t able to sit still and wait. I was a man of action. When there was a problem, I was the solution the majority of the time. I’d come up with the strategies and then execute the plan. Yeah, I had help, but most of the time, I was the one coming up with a good chunk of the game plan. In this instance, I had no role to play other than as a bystander who could do absolutely nothing other than pray.

The others were giving me distance, which I appreciated. I was deep in thought and prayer when the door opened and in came the last person I wanted to see. Being pushed in a wheelchair was Christopher. He was flanked by Scotty and two other bodyguards. They mean-mugged the room. I wanted to snicker. If they thought that would work here with this crowd they were stupid. Examining them, they came nowhere close to the caliber of the family’s men.

However, my amusement over the guards was far outstripped by my anger over Brynes’ audacity to come in here. He’d been warned to stay the hell away. It was most likely the threat to him that caused her to be hurt in the first place. My fury, which I’d been stamping down, bubbled up, and I was marching across the room without a thought. I was intercepted before I made it to the bastard. It was her brothers and Darragh who stopped me.

“We know you want to beat his ass into the ground, but this isn’t the time or place. You have to keep your cool,” Darragh warned me softly.

“We told him to stay the fuck away from her. Doesn’t he understand English? Maybe I need to translate it for him,” I snapped as I clenched my fists. In my experience, a good ass whooping translated across all languages.

I heard Tiernan snicker, and then he coughed to cover it up. The others, including Dar, were fighting not to grin. They knew I was right. How they were keeping in control, I didn’t know. They had to be just as angry as I was.

“How can you stand to look at him? Are you really going to allow him to stay here? It’s his fault she’s in surgery.”

“It may be and no, I’m not happy he chose to ignore the possible danger to her but I won’t deal with him here. There are too many eyes and ears. He’s not actually near her at the moment and we won’t let him when she comes out. What we can’t afford is for you to go all berserk like a Highlander and pull out your halberd and go to town on him,” Dar said with a smirk. I knew he was trying to ease my anger.

“You’re just jealous we Scots had the cool weapons, and you Irish had shit ones,” I shot back.

“Fuck you, we had the same ones, asshole,” Cathal snorted back.

“Well, it didn’t seem like it. You don’t know how to use them worth shit. The Scots do.” I smirked.

“You’re full of shit we didn’t. Keep telling yourself that,” Shane said.

They were so successful in diverting my attention away from Brynes and his men that they made it over to us. The rest of the family was watching and murmuring. When I noticed the four intruders had gotten to us, I scowled and folded my arms to glare at them. I’d let Darragh and the others take the lead until I had to step in. Even if Aisling didn’t want me the way I wanted her, I would protect her no matter what I had to do. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the few other people waiting with us get up and make their way out the door. I wondered why the guards outside hadn’t warned us Brynes and his men were coming or tried to prevent them from entering. I’d have to see why later. The other O’Sheeran men got up and came over to join us.

“Chris, what’re you doing here?” Darragh asked.

“I came to wait for word on Aisling. I heard she was going back into surgery.”

“And how did you hear that? Paying staff to talk about her or was one of your guys lurking around listening to private conversations?” Cian chimed in to ask.

“I can’t help it if the staff talk loudly and my men overhear things. I don’t need to pay anyone to tell me. What’s with all this hostility all of a sudden? We don’t know if this incident has anything to do with me. It could’ve been something you O’Sheerans have gotten yourselves mixed up in and I’m the victim,” was his comeback.

“I highly doubt it, but even if it is, you should be worried about yourself and stay away so it doesn’t happen again,” Ciaran suggested.

“Whether you like it or not, Aisling has asked me to be part of her life, and I intend to stay in it unless she tells me to leave.”

“And exactly how did she ask you to be a part of her life?” I asked. I couldn’t keep my mouth shut a second longer. Scotty was eyeing me and I was ready to punch him in the mouth. His dislike of me was oozing out of him.

“She approached me when she came to California and asked if I would like to go out to dinner. Since then we’ve grown extremely close and have spent hours and hours together. Once she’s feeling more herself, I don’t see her asking me to go away. We have a connection,” he said with a smirk and his voice full of innuendo.

I didn’t know if they were sleeping together or not. I wouldn’t allow myself to think about it because if I did, I’d kill him on the spot. What I did know was if they were, I’d do everything in my power to make sure it never happened again. If she didn’t love him and only turned to him because I drove her to it, I’d have to live with it just like anyone else she had been with over the years. I’d been a fool to fight what I felt for her. As soon as she turned eighteen, I should’ve confessed my feelings and claimed her if she was in agreement like her family thought.

“When my daughter is fully healed, she can make her own decisions about who to spend time with. However, until the threat is neutralized, I don’t care if she is healed or not. She won’t be exposed to unnecessary danger, which means you need to stay away, Christopher,” Cormac informed him sternly.

“Mr. O’Sheeran, I don’t want to expose her to danger, but if I can’t see her, how will I know if she’s being unfairly pressured to accept something she doesn’t want?” He was staring at me as he said the last part.

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked with a snap.

“I can see you have a thing for her. I’m not sure if the family agrees with it or not, but I won’t have you pressuring her to accept your suit.”

“You won’t have it? Who the fuck are you to say anything about things pertaining to Aisling? And if you think for a moment anyone can pressure her into doing anything she doesn’t want, then you don’t know a goddamn thing about her. Ais would never allow herself to be backed into a corner,” I told him.

“Do you condone this? An employee in a relationship with your daughter? She’s a princess of the family. She deserves someone who’s of her social standing who can relate to her. Give her the life she’s accustomed to.” He directed this to Cormac and her brothers.

I seethed inside. It was taking all my control not to snap his neck. Stuck up bastard thought he knew her. There was no way he did, not like me. He may have popped in and out over the years for a moment here and there, but that didn’t make him an expert on her. I knew so many things about her. I might not have claimed her but I made it a point to study and know her. Creepy? Maybe in some people’s books, but in mine, it was to ensure she was safe and happy even if she was never mine.

“I’d change my tune if I were you. Yes, she’s a princess and she deserves many things, but there’s more to life than social standing. And no matter who she ends up with, her having the life she’s been accustomed to is guaranteed,” Darragh told him through narrowed eyes.

Cormac and her brothers were fuming. Their faces might not show it, but I knew them so well that I saw it. It was true. I wasn’t a billionaire like them, but I was far from a poor man. Just because I chose to work for a living didn’t mean I didn’t have the means to take care of her needs, assuming we got together.

“Of course she’ll always be an O’Sheeran but shouldn’t the man she’s with add to her standing and ability to leverage it? Aisling and I would join two very powerful families together. You have to see it just as I do. As she does,” he argued.

“You seem to be under the impression she plans to spend her life with you. I haven’t heard a word from her to support that. Spending time together and having some dinners and going to a few parties isn’t a lifelong commitment,” Aidan added to the argument.

“If this hadn’t happened, we would be there soon. All I’m saying is I want to continue to press my suit with her. She’ll make me the perfect wife. I have more to bring to the table than he does,” he sneered when he glanced over at me.

“I suggest you take your friends and leave before I show you what I bring to the table. You’ve been asked to stay away. I promise if you force me to make you, I’ll be the only one smiling about it,” I told him with a smile. It wasn’t a nice one.

Scotty’s chest puffed out, and I knew he was about to try and prove he was a badass. Something he had no hope of doing in this group. I knew Brynes had no true concept of the training Darragh and the others had. It wasn’t something advertised outside the family and closest friends. And none of them sure had a clue about the Hounds. They were an even closer guarded secret. Having a technical rival know about something of that magnitude was asking for trouble in the worst way.

“Enough! My daughter is in surgery. This isn’t the time or place for any of this. Christopher, I’m asking you to leave and to keep your distance as requested. When she’s feeling better, I’ll ask Aisling to call you so you can speak to her. Until then, there will be no contact. Understood?” This came from all people, Cyndi. Immediately, the O’Sheeran men and I nodded our heads. The other women were almost as upset by the expressions they wore.

I was surprised when Brynes didn’t argue. “Of course, I’m sorry. Please let Aisling know I was here and I can’t wait to talk to her. I’ll be praying for her speedy recovery.” As soon as he said this to Cyndi and he nodded to Cormac, he turned his wheelchair around to face the door. “Let’s go,” he told his men. As they left, I knew it was only the beginning of a mess.