“I’m sorry,” I whisper, sniffing. “I wanted to tell you. I wanted it to be special.”
“Shh. It’s not your fault,” he says quietly. “I know now. That’s all that matters.”
I hold Aiden as tight as I can without pressing on my bruises, breathing shakily. It’s so good to hear the words from him. His hand strokes my hair, the motion steady and reassuring. His voice is low and calm when he speaks again.
“I’ll keep our child safe, no matter what. I promise.”
* * *
Aiden
That night in the hospital passes more easily than I expected it to. Lachlan returns home, but I stay with Rose. She wakes occasionally, sleepy green eyes searching for me.
I’m always right beside her.
In the morning, the doctor stops by. He’s smiling, the first time I can remember seeing a doctor smile in years. It’s always bad news. It doesn’t seem like that’s true this time.
“Everything looks good,” he says, nodding at Rose as he fills out a chart on a clipboard. “She has some minor abrasions, but that’s about it.”
I know about all the scrapes and bruises. I’ve seen them. They hurt me every time I see them. My heart clenches as I think about the part I played in this. It might have been an accident, but it could have been avoided if I just hadn’t jumped the gun.
Never again.
“You can go home,” the doctor says, flipping the clipboard around and holding it to his chest. “You’ll probably be sore for a week or two, but that’s about it. If you start feeling dizzy or disoriented, you can give us a call.”
“Thank you,” Rose says, smiling faintly.
“You were lucky. Maybe take it easy, eat some ice cream. It won’t be long before the baby starts telling you what you can and can’t eat.”
Rose can walk, but I still keep an eye on her every second. We leave the hospital and I barely take my eyes off her, helping her into the car and making sure no one comes too close.
The drive home is slow. I avoid every bump I can see, going slow just in case. I keep glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. She dozes on and off, still tired from the accident.
I keep thinking about what happened at the warehouse. What started it all.
My brothers and I need to figure out what the fuck happened. We need to know who did this.
Even with a clear head, a day away from the incident, I still can’t come to a conclusion. I suspected Antonio right off the bat, but we have no proof of that. And Lachlan hasn’t called me since he left the hospital last night, so it means he probably doesn’t have any leads yet. We’re all lost.
I can’t bear to imagine the possibility that any one of my brothers or our men would have given up the information. It’s impossible. No O’Reilly would throw away family for money or power. Not a fucking chance. It wasn’t one of us.
Rose stirs, blinking in the morning sun. “We’re not home?”
It makes me painfully happy to hear the word on her lips.Home.
“Not yet. We need to go slow.”
“I’m fine,” she says, smiling faintly as she looks over at me.
“You were in an accident,” I say, my hands tightening on the steering wheel. “I’m not taking a chance.”
Rose is quiet. I stop at a light, letting the silence hang between us. A lot has happened in the past twenty-four hours. I still don’t know if I’ve truly earned her forgiveness.
“Thank you for coming after me,” Rose says quietly. “If you hadn’t been there, I have no idea how long it would’ve been before the ambulance came.”
“Of course I came for you.” My throat tightens with emotion. “I always will. I never should’ve let you leave like that. I shouldn’t have said that shit to you.”
“It’s okay. I’m glad I know. It was just a lot to take in. Honestly, I’m still processing it. It’s hard to believe, but part of me wonders if that’s just because I don’twantto believe it.” She lets out a shuddery breath, then looks over at me. “What happened to the other driver? Was he okay?”
