“Should we bring food to Sasha? Has she even eaten yet?”
The doctor’s name made Catriona look up. “Sasha’s here? In lockdown? But what about Lazarus?”
Isabel nodded. “They’re both here. As soon as it was decided to come here, Lazarus was the first one to be transferred, with Sasha as his escort. We were lucky Oz’s health was stable enough for him to be moved. And Sasha is extremely organized, she had to be when she was with Doctors without Borders.”
Catriona was impressed. She’d seen something in Sasha when she’d met her at the hospital—professionalism, dedication, and an endless well of compassion.
“Don’t worry about that, Isabel. I was here earlier, and Kai took her something when he went to see his brother. He also made sure she has everything she needs, and her room was comfortable. She prefers sleeping on a cot.” Deva shook her head. “She’s so stubborn. She even went toe to toe with Archer about the medical equipment required.”
Zoe snorted. “Yeah, I heard about that. Archer was pretty pissed off, but I reminded him it was for his brother, and that took precedence over his urge to control everything.”
Deva shared a glance with Isabel, both amused. “I bet he took that with a smile.”
The teasing between the women about their men amused Catriona and fascinated her at the same time. “I don’t know the brothers as well as you. They seem so different, and similar at the same time.”
Zoe smiled, sipping her coffee. “How much did Gabrielle tell you about them before throwing you to the wolves?”
“Not much. She mostly talked about Liam, how he and his brothers needed my help to dig through complicated financial and accounting files.”
Isabel scoffed. “That’s all? No wonder you fled when you found that information on Lazarus.”
“Gabrielle is a friend and I trust her.”
“And what if the brothers had fooled her? We all know Gabrielle personally, she’s a formidable woman, and I suspect that it was also the trust she has in the brothers that brought you back.”
The blond woman wasn’t entirely wrong. Her first reaction had been one of self-preservation, common sense came later.
“You’re quite right. Everything happened so fast and I couldn’t think straight. I suppose assuming the brothers were like their father wasn’t kind on my part.”
Deva’s face turned dark. “Each of them has a great deal of darkness in them, it’s part of being Finch’s bastard sons. Guilt, violence, regrets, rage, loneliness... Aleksei has a healthy dose of violence in him, fueled by his rage.”
Isabel nodded. “For Kai, it’s guilt for what he couldn’t do.”
Next, Zoe sighed. “For Archer, grief turned his veins to ice. I believe that Lazarus’ actions are driven by the fear of not stopping his father in time. Sam seems to be engulfed in loneliness and pain.”
The question poured out of Catriona’s mouth before she could stop herself. “And Liam? What haunts him?”
The women looked at each other, and Deva shook her head. “I think it’s regret. Regret at being a disappointment to his mother, of not being loved. Of even being born.”
The words robbed Catriona of breath. How could that little boy have been so traumatized and not still carry deep scars? How could he even think he’d been put on this earth for nothing?
The air was thick with the emotions they had stirred. In the silence, little Julia sighed in her sleep, making bubbles with her heart-shaped mouth, triggering a trail of giggles around the room.
“You’re a miracle worker, Catriona. Just holding my daughter and she’s having the best sleep of the last two weeks. I may come to your door and drag you from your bed when I’m about to collapse in the middle of the night.”
Isabel nudged her shoulder with her feet. “Don’t do that, she and Liam have just found each other.”
Heat raised to her cheeks, and Catriona tried to divert the conversation, but Deva beat her to it.
“They can’t be together. Catriona is a nun.”
If not for risking waking up the baby, Catriona would have gladly screamed but instead shook her head. “A novitiate. I still have time to decide.”
Zoe touched her ankle, gesturing for her to sit down, Julia still fast asleep in her arms. All four women were now forming a circle, a sorority Catriona hadn’t found since the convent.
The redheaded mother kissed her child’s head before touching Catriona’s hand. “You don’t have to defend yourself. You’re free to make your own choices, but Deva told us about the compromising situation she found the two of you in. Again, your choices are your own. You’re the only one who can decide on what’s best for you.”
The women were silent, but Catriona felt the warmth mixed with their curiosity. “It’s true, I am part of a convent, and I’ll take my final vows soon. I was welcomed by the convent as an orphan and given the opportunity to study. I’ve always had a talent with numbers, so my path was clear. I could use my talent to help the Church and become a nun. I thought my path was obvious, until... Liam.”
