He was really laughing.
“Shut up!” I bellowed at him. “Just kill it! My God! It’s the size of me hand, Ryder, me fuckin’ hand!”
He laughed louder.
“What is it?” Nico rasped, trying to breathe around my chokehold.
“Spider.” I sobbed. “Big spider.”
“You’re screaming like that over a fucking spider?”
I remained attached to him.
“You didn’t see it, Nico,” I said and realised I was sobbing. “It was hu-huge.”
I heard a baby’s cry then, and my heart broke knowing I woke Georgie up.
“I’m sorry, baby,” I called out to her but couldn’t let go of her father.
Bronagh ran up the stairs, shouting, “I’ve got ’er, you … continue.”
Nico managed to peel my death like hold off his body, and when my feet touched the ground, he placed his hands firmly on my shoulders and stared down at me.
“A spider really made you scream like that?” he gaped. “Alannah Ryan, I am disappointed in you.”
“It had fuckin’ knees, Nico! KNEES!”
Ryder’s laughter almost knocked him off his feet while I was still and brushing myself off like a madwoman. Nico looked at the cackling hyena and began snickering too, which only upset me further because I was beyond scared. I felt immense relief when Damien suddenly jogged up the stairs.
“What’s going—Alannah!”
He pushed Dominic aside and surged forward, planting his hands on my forearms.
“Baby, what is it?”
“A spider,” I cried. “It was huge, and it was on me, and now I don’t know where it is, but no one is helpin’ me and—”
Damien scooped me up off the floor like I weighed nothing and whisked me down the stairs before I had time to comprehend what had happened. When we got into the kitchen, he put me down and helped me brush my clothing.
“It’s gone,” he said as he twirled me around, brushing me off all over. “It’s not on you.”
Sobs wracked my body, and my breathing was laboured.
“I was so s-scared.”
“I know,” Damien said, wrapping his arms around me. “I know you were.”
I didn’t let go of Damien until Bronagh came into the room and said, “Lana, are you okay? The spider is dead. Ryder killed it.”
Relief filled me, but I didn’t let go of Damien.
“The lads laughed at ‘er,” Bronagh said, her voice tight as Georgie babbled in, what I assumed was her mother’s arms. “I don’t think they realise how scared she is of spiders.”
I was terrified of them.
I tensed when Nico and Ryder came down the stairs and entered the kitchen. I released Damien only because he nudged for me to do so. I took a tissue from Bronagh when she extended some my way. I took it with a smile, then took Georgie when she reached for me. I snuggled her against my chest and stared down at her face, delighted that I was relaxing.
“Apologise,” Damien demanded of his brothers.
“For what?” Nico bristled. “We just laughed.”
“She is terrified!” Damien snapped, balling his hands into fists. “Laugh at her again when she needs you, and I’ll put my fist through your skull.” He switched his glare to Ryder and growled, “You fucking, too.”
Bronagh’s mouth dropped open, Ryder raised a brow, and Nico grunted but didn’t say a word.
“Damien.” I sniffled, bouncing Georgie. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not,” he replied, his tone firm. “Branna is terrified of rats, and Bronagh is frightened of moths, and if I laughed at them when something they feared was scaring them, these two assholes would beat the shit out of me. And they fucking know it.”
I was surprised when Ryder and Nico sort of hung their heads like they were ashamed of themselves.
“I’m sorry, Alannah,” Ryder spoke first. “I didn’t think you were that scared. I wouldn’t have laughed otherwise.”
“Me either,” Nico added. “You’re important to me, and to laugh while you’re scared is something I would never want to do. Can you forgive me?”
“Us,” Ryder corrected.
I wiped my eyes. “Of course, lads. It’s really okay, I just overreacted and—”
“You have a phobia of spiders,” Damien cut me off, turning to face me. “You didn’t overreact.”
“But Damien—”
“You. Did. Not. Overreact.”
My heart thrummed in my chest.
“Okay,” I said softly. “Okay.”
He stepped closer to me, switching his eyes to his niece, and they softened almost instantly.
“How’s my girl doing?” he asked her, touching his hand to her side, tickling her.
Her little body spasmed in my arms, so I turned her away, laughing.
“Don’t tickle ’er,” I warned. “She’s like me; she can’t handle it.”
“I’ll be the judge of what you can handle.”
No one missed the innuendo in what Damien said.
“Shut up.”
The lads snorted.
“You’re on a whole other level of pretty when you’re embarrassed, freckles.”
I ducked my head, and Damien laughed as he put his arms around me and hugged me to him. Georgie wasted no time as she gripped his arm with her little hands, and pinched him, which had him pulling away with a yelp.