Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“Brother,” I say in greeting. “So nice of you to show up, although I don’t recall sending out any invitations.”
“What the fuck are you thinking, Finn?” His eyes narrow, his body tense with rage. “Don’t try to make jokes. I’m not in a goddamn joking mood. What the fuck are you doing? With that girl?” He waves a hand at Dara.
An angry wave washes over me. “Leave her out of this,” I say, voice lowered. “What are you doing here, Carson?”
“Judge Mattingly called me. Apparently, you freaked him out and he wanted to make sure that he wasn’t going against family policy by complying with your request.”
I grind my teeth. That traitor fucking judge. “What did you tell him?”
“I told him that you’re a Crowley, and what you say goes.”
I blink at him, some of my anger draining. “Why?”
“Because I’m not stupid enough to get in the way of this, but come on, Finn, what the fuck? You’re lucky Mattingly called me and not Dad.”
Lucky is not the word I’d use. Frustrating, annoying, those are closer to how I feel. Fucking Carson.
“Dad would’ve understood. He will understand.” I think. Probably. Not that it matters—there’s no going back from this.
“Dad is going to gut you, asshole. This little rebellion is going to cause everyone a lot of headaches, assuming Dad doesn’t kill you and your girl on the spot.”
“I won’t let him touch her,” I say, surprised by my own anger.
Carson laughs, shaking his head. “She’s really pregnant, huh?” He softens somewhat, looking back at her. “Pretty too. Do you get along?”
“Yeah, we do.” I follow his gaze. She’s watching us, looking uncomfortable down on the sidewalk. “She’s carrying my child, Carson. My actual child. I could marry Robin and maybe she’d give me babies, but maybe not. How am I supposed to turn my back on my actual child for some hypothetical ones?”
“You’re supposed to do your duty,” he says without malice. “But I understand why you feel that way.”
“Dad will understand. He won’t be happy, but he’ll come around.”
“We’ll see.” Caron steps down to stand beside me. “I’m not going to stop you. That’s not why I came. I just wanted to say think about this before you go through with it.”
“I’ve thought. I know what’s going to happen.” I keep on staring at Dara and she smiles at me, looking nervous, arms hugging herself, head tilted to the side. God, she’s lovely, absolutely fucking beautiful. It strikes me, how badly I want to walk down there and kiss her. Something simple, something normal. I want to hold her, pull her close, feel her warmth.
“Then good luck.” Carson squeezes my shoulder. “I won’t tell Dad. I didn’t even tell Nolan.”
I smirk at him. “That’s like keeping a secret from yourself.”
“Nolan’s a prick. But, yeah, I know. You fucking owe me.”
“We’ll see about that.”
He shakes his head, walking past me, down the steps toward Dara. “Anyway, keep my name out of this, all right? I don’t need to get dragged down into this shitstorm with you.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
Carson reaches the bottom and says something to Dara. She smiles at him, tilts her head to the side, says something back. Carson laughs and walks off, shaking his head.
She comes up to meet me a moment later.
“What’d he say?” I ask.
“He said, ‘Are you sure you want to marry an idiot like that? You could do better.’”
I sigh and rub my face. “And how’d you reply to that?”
“I told him I’m just as stupid, apparently. He laughed.”
“Charming.” I turn toward the entrance. “Last chance to run off. Although I will chase you and drag you back.”
“You couldn’t.”
“I could and I would.”
She steps up to my side and slips her hand into mine. Her palm’s warm and damp. I can feel her nerves as I squeeze gently.
“Then let’s skip the dramatics and get this over with, okay?” She stares straight ahead as we walk into the courthouse together.
Chapter 21
Dara
Kathryn walks with me out into the back yard, her eyes wide, looking about as overwhelmed as I felt the night before when Finn showed me his place for the first time. “Is this for real?” she whispers, taking my hand, staring at the ring. “Did you really marry the guy?”
“I really married the guy. Or we stood in front of a judge, signed some paperwork, and drove back here. Apparently, that’s the same thing.”
She looks extremely worried as she holds my hand in both of hers. “Hon, I wanted you to get some child support, not pledge your freaking life to the guy.”
“I know,” I say, smiling because what else can I do? I just made an insane decision. “But I think this is going to be good. Long-term, anyway. For the baby.”
“What about for you?” She pulls me close. “Let’s get out of here. We can sell the ring, make a few million, and disappear to Europe for a while.”