Brendan grumbled a response.
I had to clean up the site first. There was blood everywhere on his leg. It wasn’t going to be an easy task, and I didn’t even know if I was up for it. But it was the least I could do after everything he had already done to try and bring Davey back.
“Can I ask what you’ve been doing?” I spoke. It was also an attempt to keep him distracted because I knew it had to hurt.
“We burned down many of the Barons holdings,” he replied. As if I knew what he was talking about. I didn’t even know who the Barons were. It sounded like they were enemies. From what I gathered through the conversations Brendan and his brothers had—the Barons and the Dohertys were at some kind of loggerheads. But did it justify kidnapping a three year old kid?
I looked up at Brendan. He had his eyes narrowed at me, and it didn’t seem like he was going to willingly offer up any more information.
“Was there…did anyone else get hurt? Worse than you?” I asked.
There was a bitter grin on his face.
“Many men died tonight, Rosalie. More men than should have died if Aldo didn’t start this bullshit.”
My blood ran cold. People died? At whose hands? I stopped working on his leg. Brendan lunged at me, grabbing me by my shoulders tightly. His green eyes looked dark and dangerous. What had I gotten myself into? I was the one who had put Davey directly in the line of danger by getting involved with Brendan Doherty all over again.
But there was a part of me that didn’t care how dangerous it got, because no man would ever work this hard to keep my son safe as Brendan did. No other man would risk everything, including his life.
“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, about us, Rosalie. And you were right, you were both better off when I wasn’t involved in your lives,” he said, bringing his face very close to mine.
His hot breath fell on my face.
“There is nothing you can tell me about your life that will push me away. I’m done running from you,” I replied.
Brendan sat back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling while I tried my best to dress the wound. It needed stitches which I didn’t know how to give him.
“I’m sorry, this is the best I can do. Maybe we should go to a hospital,” I said.
He let out a groan, sitting up straight.
“I’ll be fine. Once we’ve found Davey, I’ll go see our doctor. He’s the family doctor. He’ll take care of it,” he said.
I sat down beside Brendan and he took my hands in his.
“You said you’re done running from me. Did you mean that, Rosalie? Because I’m never going to be done with you. I’ll never be done with Davey,” he said.
I felt an unusual mixture of emotions. I was happy to hear what he was saying. It gave me some hope that we could have a future together, that Davey would have a father he could rely upon. But at the same time, Davey’s safety was on my mind. I couldn’t fully focus on what was being said between us.
I nodded.
“Davey needs you. If there’s one thing that is being proved today, it is that he needs you in his life,” I replied.
Brendan almost smiled at that, and then he sighed. My hands were still in his, and in that moment it felt like that was where I had always belonged. But I wasn’t sure yet. I didn’t know how he really felt about me.
He was a man who had recently discovered he was a father. He felt protective towards Davey, and that was natural. That was good. But did that mean he felt the same towards me?
That he felt anything genuine for me?
“And I need him in my life. I need you too. There is one thing that’s absent from my life and I realized that when I met you again. I realized it when we had breakfast together.”
“As a family?” I asked in surprise.
“A family with you, Rosalie,” he said.
I inched closer to him and laid my head on his shoulder. I just wished Davey was with us. He would have been so happy to be there with both of us. He deserved this moment as much as I did.
“Tell me about him,” Brendan said.
I looked up at him in surprise.
“About Davey?”
“Tell me everything I don’t know about him. What was his first word?”
I had to smile at that.
“Potato. That was his first word,” I replied. Brendan smiled too.
“That is the most Irish thing a baby could do,” he laughed.
“And he has had this teddy bear since the day he was born. My mother bought it for him at the hospital. It is the most precious thing to him,” I said.
Brendan nodded. This was calming. It was exactly what I needed. Probably what we both needed.
“More, tell me more,” he said.
I waited with baited breath while Brendan spoke on the phone with his brother Tristian. He’d been back for close to two hours and there was still no word on Davey. It was dark outside and I shivered every time I thought about how scared our little boy probably was.
The call ended and Brendan turned to me with anger in his eyes.
“They’ve got a tip off on where Aldo could be hiding. They’re going to check out the place. I think it’s a diversion,” he said, slamming the phone down on the table.
“So what are we going to do?” I asked.
“You’re not going to do anything. You’re going to stay here and wait for Davey.”
“And you’re going to go out and burn a few more warehouses? Kill a few more men?” The words slipped from my tongue before I had a chance to stop them.
Tensions ran high. Talking about Davey had given us a few minutes’ peace, but it also
