“She’ll realise that I would never do this willingly,” I assured Brandy. “When she thinks about it hard, she knows I would never ever do this to her.”
“Oh, I know that, Alec,” Brandy acknowledged. “But the damage will be done by then. Whenever she knows ye’ were forced or not, she’ll still have the visual in her head. Always.”
First the first time in a long time, I wanted to cry.
“Please, don’t make me hurt her like this,” I pleaded. “I’ll leave her life, I swear I will.”
“No,” Brandy answered. “This way will ruin your relationship and her trust in ye’.”
My body began to tremble.
“I don’t like havin’ ye’ raped like this, Alec,” Brandy commented. “Marco bragged on how people have used and abused ye’ over the years, so ye’ don’t have to have actual sex. I’ll settle for oral, either giving or receivin’ on Dante, and that will hurt me niece just as bad.”
Bile rose up my throat.
“Why not on Everly?” I asked. “Why Dante?”
“Because she’ll question whether ye’ could be attracted to ‘er when you’re intimate with a man as pretty as Dante. I know me niece, Alec. She is a beautiful girl, but she doesn’t have self-confidence.”
I felt like the walls of the room were closing in around me.
“You’re her blood,” I pressed. “Why do you want to hurt your blood?”
“To save ’er pain and heartache in the future,” Brandy answered, his voice rough. “You ... your family. You’re tainted by Marco, and ye’ always will be. Me niece deserves better, and she’ll get it.”
“Please, sir,” I pleaded. “Don’t make me do this to her. I’m begging you.”
Brandy dismissed me when he stood.
“Time’s wastin’, kid.” He turned and walked towards the exit. “Do what ye’ve been told, or ye’ll return to Ireland from this sunny trip to the Bahamas to bury four people. The choice is yours, Alec. Make the right one.”
I already knew what choice I would be making, and that was why when the doors closed behind Brandy and his men, I lowered my head and cried not only for the pain I would have to bring to Keela, but for the agony I would bring to myself in hurting her and letting her go. I had found my forever in her, and that forever would be ending far too quickly ... and all because another evil man took my choice away from me.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Present day ...
“Dinner is on the tabl—what are ye’ thinkin’ so hard about?”
I looked up at my wife as she entered our bedroom and crawled up onto our bed next to me.
“A lot of things,” I answered. “The good, the bad, and ugly.”
Keela sat on her behind, cross-legged, and took my hand in hers. There was a hint of worry in her eyes but understanding and compassion shone within them too.
“Anythin’ ye’ want to talk about?”
I shook my head. “No, because we already got through everything that we once needed to talk about.”
Keela frowned. “Is this because of the nightmare I mentioned earlier?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “I was just thinking of the shit I dealt with when I was younger, then when I met you and all that ... poison happened.”
“Hey.” My wife squeezed my hand. “Ye’ can’t change the past, and if we could, we probably wouldn’t have the present. We probably wouldn’t have our sons or our life together. Hell, ye’ probably would have never come to Ireland.”
I reached forward and pulled her on top of me so her body was lying on mine. Her cheek rested against my chest, and I closed my eyes, basking in her scent and presence.
“You’re right, of course,” I mused. “Sometimes when I think about everything, I just have a moment of disbelief that we went through everything thrown at us and made it out to the other side. It seems so surreal that we’ve lived the life we have.”
“We survived it, though.” Keela raised her head. “You, me, and the others got through all the bad things we encountered, and d’ye wanna know why?”
I nodded.
“Because we’re strong, and nothin’ can or will come between us.”
The knot that had formed in my chest over the memories flooded through my mind faded until only warmth and love remained.
“How did I get so lucky to find someone as perfect as you to marry me?”
Keela’s lips twitched. “Alannah says I was dropped on me head as a child and that I don’t know any better.”
When I laughed, I quickly covered my mouth and widened my eyes.
“Don’t tell her I found that funny,” I pleaded. “She’ll think she’s a god or something.”
My wife chuckled. “I’ll take it to me grave, playboy.”
I hummed and slide my hands down her body until I palmed her ass.
“What do you say we finish what we started in the kitchen this morning and—”
I was cut off by a large, fluffy monster as he dived onto the bed and rolled around, thinking it was playtime.