Library

Chapter 6

Shea~

I t was almost the end of my shift, but I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. With each morning that came and went, I was closer to having to marry Noah Murphy, and my stomach cramped every single time that the thought crossed my mind.

After I'd left my parents on Sunday, I'd gone home, and like an idiot, I'd still gotten on my laptop to calculate all the math. I had spent the rest of my day trying to find a financial solution out of this mess, but I hadn't been able to come up with enough money that would keep my parents alive. I didn't even care if we all ended up homeless as long as they got to live, but the math refused to add up to something that would satisfy Declan O'Brien.

Granted, I also wasn't stupid enough to believe that The O'Brien would let us out of this arrangement, even if I'd been able to come up with the money. For whatever reason, Declan had chosen me, and the reason had to benefit him in a way that I wasn't seeing right now. However, the biggest mystery was why Noah Murphy? If this was related to Declan's organization, then he could have chosen to sacrifice any of the single men that worked for him. So, why would he pick someone as important as his cousin?

Now, while I did my best to be an upstanding citizen, you couldn't live in the state of Maryland without knowing who the O'Briens, Sartoris, or Kotovs were, and you definitely couldn't live in Port Townsend without having heard of them. So, it was common knowledge that Declan was the head of the Irish Mob, and that Noah was his right-hand man. Even though there were a total of five O'Brien sons by blood, Noah Murphy had become second-in-charge somehow, and as far as I'd ever heard, everyone seemed to be okay with that. Noah also had two brothers that had respectable jobs, but it was whispered that they really worked for the family, which I believed.

There was also the legitimate concern over marrying a complete stranger. Other than the rumors that coated the streets of Port Townsend, I had no idea what kind of man Noah Murphy was. However, if he was Declan's second-in-command, then it could be argued that it'd be impossible for him to be a good man. Running a multi-million-dollar crime enterprise took the exact opposite of good people, and the fact that the Sartoris and Kotovs outnumber the O'Briens and that they were still in business said a lot if you asked me.

Yeah, I also had no illusions of Noah being faithful during our marriage, but what about the rest of it? Would he let me still work? Would he insist that I become a kept woman? Plus, how did he feel about marital discipline? Was he the type to strike a woman, or would he be more inclined to give me the cold shoulder? Hell, I didn't even know if we'd be living together. I mean, was this going to be a marriage in name only, or was I expected to lay down for him every night?

I dropped my head back against the brick of the building, then looked up at the sky, willing to search for answers anywhere. While I was a devoted Catholic, I didn't pray often because I was selfish like that. As long as my life was going well, praying didn't seem necessary, and that wasn't true. Prayer was always necessary, and I had a feeling if I began praying for myself now, God would shoot me a side-eye before teaching me a lesson on how it's not all about me.

"Is it that bad in there?"

I smiled as I lowered my head to see one of my co-workers making his way towards me. Ethan Abbot and I worked the same exact shift, and there'd been a lot of hours clocked in on our friendship. While I'd been working at Donza Medical a lot longer than Ethan, he had a solid five years under his belt here, and with us working the same days and hours, if I had a work best friend, then it was Ethan. In fact, with the hours that we all worked, we blurred the lines between co-worker and friend a lot, and we often all went out together because it was just easier that way. Friends that didn't understand your hectic work schedule could easily get their feelings hurt when you chose rest over a night out or whatever.

Ethan was also easy on the eyes, and there'd been times when I had regretted friend-zoning him, but over the years, I'd seen workplace affairs blow up in people's faces, and I'd never wanted to be that person. I'd rather have a one-night stand in the next town over than ruin my reputation as a competent nurse by sleeping with any man that looked my way at work.

Now, that wasn't to say that Ethan hadn't hit on me before, because he'd made his feelings about me clear after working together for a few months. Still, I'd been honest about my boundaries, and though he liked to still flirt with me, he respected me enough to let me make the first move if I ever found myself with a change of heart-his words, not mine.

I almost laughed at how there'd be no changing my mind now. Even if Noah had no intentions of being faithful to me, I wasn't stupid enough to believe that I could cheat on him and not pay a price for that indiscretion. There was no way in hell that Noah Murphy would allow any woman to turn him into a cuckhold unless he was into that sort of thing, which I doubted.

"I've just…it's been a long week," I semi-lied.

Ethan reached out, then tucked a wayward strand of my auburn hair behind my ear. "Would drinks after work help with that?"

I stared up at my friend, and those chocolate bedroom eyes would be so easy to get lost in. Ethan was what you would call tall, dark, and handsome, and with his considerate nature, he always reminded me of a comfortable chair, cozy blanket, and warm fire. He was exactly the type of guy that could make all of your troubles disappear at the end of the day.

"Drinks right now would help with that," I joked.

Ethan grinned as he leaned his shoulder up against the wall. "C'mon, it can't be that bad."

I eyed him as I asked, "Do you believe in fate?"

"I'm Catholic, so it's hard not to believe that everything happens for a reason," he answered. "It's how I survive this damn job sometimes. I need to make sense of sick kids or sudden deaths, or else I'd lose my rabid ass mind with all the terrible things that we see with this job."

"God's plan," I sighed.

Ethan nodded. "God's plan."

"Can I ask you another question?"

"You can ask me anything, always," he genuinely replied. "You know that."

"Why is it so hard to let the people that we love pay for their own mistakes? And I'm not talking about children, obviously."

Ethan's eyes narrowed a bit. "Because we're raised to believe that family is everything," he answered carefully. "Plus, since we're all human, the odds of us screwing up at some point in our lives is very possible, so you might need that same favor returned in the future. You can't be the asshole that never helps others, Shea."

I ran my hands down my face before muttering, "Yeah, you're right."

"Hey," he said as he placed a finger underneath my chin, lifting my face to look at him. "What's going on with you, Shea Burke?'

"Maybe it's a mid-life crisis come early," I joked tiredly.

Ethan lowered his hand, his eyes sparkling a bit. "Uhm…are you sure that's it?"

It took me a second, but once his tone registered, I let out a much-needed laugh. "It's not my period, you jackass."

The man grinned down at me. "Just checking."

"Just for that, I should make you go out and buy me some tampons next month," I threatened.

He laughed like I knew he would. "Tampons don't scare me, honey."

"Then you're a brave soul, because they should," I snorted.

"Why should they?"

"Because they're accompanied by a woman that's pmsing, and how's that not scary?' I teased.

"You've got me there," he agreed before throwing an arm around my shoulder. "How about we go back inside and continue saving lives for the next twenty minutes?"

"Don't you mean that we assist in saving lives?"

"We definitely don't get enough credit," he replied as we started making our way back to the front doors of the hospital. "It's like we're the middle child."

"Maybe we should try our hand at becoming influencers," I quipped.

"I'd rather be homeless," he retorted. "I've already got my mother criticizing how I live my life, so I sure as fuck don't need a bunch of horrible strangers judging me when they're lives are probably worse than mine."

"You're not wrong," I chuckled.

Once we walked back into the lobby of the hospital, he said, "Look, I already have some errands to run after work today, but if you're still questioning your future tomorrow, then I'm game for drinks after work then."

"Sounds like a plan," I replied, really needing a normal night out with my friends.

After all, it would probably be the last one that I was ever going to have.

Comments

0 Comments
Best Newest

Contents
Settings
  • T
  • T
  • T
  • T
Font

Welcome to FullEpub

Create or log into your account to access terrific novels and protect your data

Don’t Have an account?
Click above to create an account.

lf you continue, you are agreeing to the
Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy.