“I’d go to hell and back for Joanna,” he says with a goofy grin.
“Watch yourself,” I warn him. “If you don’t, Nash might come after you with a gun.”
“Yeah, okay,” he agrees. “Will you ask her to come back in here on your way out?”
“Sure thing.”
If the nurse’s attention is what he needs to recover, then that’s what he should get for now. I just hope he doesn’t get too attached.
I find Joanna in the kitchen, leaning against the counter drinking what smells like coffee even though it’s late. “He’s asking for you,” I tell her.
Sitting her mug down on the counter, she says, “I’ll go right on in.”
“Not sure how you ever get any rest with him demanding care and taking over your bed,” I remark. “Just let us know when you’re ready for him to leave.”
“Will do,” she says before she disappears into his room.
I leave and mount my bike, intending to go back home or to the shop to work until I get tired, but instead, I find myself driving to Wilmington.
It’s stupid, and I don’t even know why I’m going to sit outside Maeve’s apartment.
Guess I want to torture myself a little more for giving in to her not once but twice.
The same black sedan is parked there in her apartment complex. It doesn’t take long to see the redhead coming out of her apartment.
From across the parking lot, I can’t see her face clearly, but I can hear her sobbing. “Please, Rian! Leave with me! Walk away from Cormac before he gets you killed! Please!”
Maeve drops to her knees on the concrete and it looks like her face is buried in her hands as she cries loudly. But her brother seems unfazed. He just walks away and gets into his car to drive off, ignoring the emotional pleas of his older sister, who is trying her best to save his life.
It’s one of the saddest things I’ve ever witnessed.
In that moment, I can’t help but feel sorry for her.
Like Jetta, Maeve loves her brother unconditionally, even though he’s making horrible decisions. Still, no matter how stupid he’s being, there’s nothing he could ever do for her to stop trying to protect him.
My illogical fucking heart makes a decision that my head isn’t totally on board with. But that doesn’t seem to stop me from climbing off my bike and walking to her.
Maeve is still on the ground sobbing when I reach her.
Grabbing her shoulders, I start pulling her to her feet. “Come on. Let’s get you inside,” I tell her as I heft her up over my shoulder. Her body is limp; there’s no fight left in her. I could be anyone picking her up and taking her away and she wouldn’t care. All that matters to her is her brother.
Inside her apartment, I lock the door behind me and then lower her to the sofa, laying her down on it with her head at one end and her feet at the other. She curls into the fetal position, facing me as she continues to cry.
Kneeling down in front of her face, I brush her hair back and say, “Listen to me closely, Maeve. I’m only going to say this once.”
Her glassy eyes finally blink open and look at me a second before she pulls the neck of her shirt up to dry her face. “W-Wirth? What are you doing here?” she asks, voice shaky.
“Tomorrow morning, four a.m., there won’t be anything left of the Irish pub. Tell your brother. Call and come up with a reason for him to leave and come here. No one else! Do you hear me, Maeve? The rest of those assholes have to pay for what they did.”
“T-tomorrow? At four a.m.?” she repeats, and I nod. “Oh my god! Thank you!” she exclaims as she throws her arms around my neck and squeezes with all the appreciation in her body. “Thank you,” she repeats.
When Maeve pulls back, her lips brush against mine for an instant before I push her away and get to my feet.
“No. That’s not happening again,” I tell her. “In fact, I never want to fucking see you again.”
I turn around to leave before my dick tries to disagree with my pronouncement.
“Wirth, wait!” Maeve calls out, and the bastard appendage twitches with interest just hearing her raspy voice say my name.
“We’re fucking done,” I say without looking at her. “You better not fuck me over on this shit either.”
Maeve
Watching Wirth walk away from me doesn’t hurt as much as seeing Rian do it to me, but I still ache all over.
He didn’t have to tell me the MC’s plan. In fact, I can’t believe he did. I know how loyal those guys are to each other and have no doubt that Wirth has never done anything to betray his brothers until now.
If they find out, he could be kicked out or even killed. The man is risking his life to help me, to help my brother, when I don’t deserve it.
I wish there was some way to thank him, but now he doesn’t want anything to do with me. That’s fair, all things considered. But still, I can’t help but envy and hate the future woman who will come into his life one day.
Drying my face, I sit up on the sofa and then get to my feet in search of my phone. When I find it in my bedroom on the nightstand charging, I pull it free, then sit down on the edge of the mattress intending to call Rian. First, I try to figure out what to say. Should I wait until three a.m. and make up some excuse for needing him to come over? What if he doesn’t answer the phone or his phone dies? No, I can’t take that chance.
So even though Wirth isn’t going to be happy, I decide that it’s worth it to not only keep him safe, but all of
