Cillian

Emer and Shane stand up when I walk into the hospital room, but I barely see them. The only thing I can focus on is my brother’s hulking frame in the small bed, wires and tubes everywhere.

All the air rushes out of my lungs, and my already mangled heart is shredded.

I manage to swallow past the lump in my throat, and grit out the words, “How is he?”

Shane leans against the wall, arms crossed, his body radiating with tension. When I glance over at him, I can see the blame in his eyes, like this is somehow my fault.

Emer moves towards me and places her hand on my arm. “They have him in a medically-induced coma until the swelling in his brain goes down.”

“Jaysus.” I rake my hands through my hair, gutted. “What the hell happened? Aiden said he was fighting–”

“Of course he would sugarcoat it.” Shane sneers, pushing off the wall, all his anger directed at me. “Ye have everyone walking around on bleedin’ eggshells.”

“Shane,” Emer warns.

“No. Let him talk. Ye have something to say, say it,” I growl out.

“Why?” Shane gets in my face. Nostrils flare, lips curl in a sneer, and I can tell he’d have no issue with hitting me right now. “It doesn’t matter what anyone says, ye’ll believe whatever the hell ye want to. Even if it means destroying everyone around ye.”

“Ye’re going to blame me for this, too? Fuck you,” I bite out, taking a step towards him, daring him to hit me. Anything would feel better than the emptiness eating away at my chest.

He snorts in disgust, then nudges my shoulder with his own as he storms out.

Emer exhales heavily and shakes her head once her brother is gone. Her gaze is on me, and I see the judgment there.

“Spit it out.” I sit down in the chair beside the bed and place my face in my palms.

“What?”

“Whatever it is ye’re trying not to say.”

“Ye may just be the most stubborn man I’ve ever met, ye know that?”

I grunt, leaning on my elbows. “Tell me what happened.”

She moves to the other side of the bed and places the back of her hand on my brother’s forehead. “Molly.”

One word, it’s enough to make every muscle in my body tense.

“What about her?”

“She came into the pub. Owen had been drinking. A lot.”

“Owen doesn’t drink.”

“He does now.”

I glance up and see the accusation in her eyes. “Don’t blame this on me. If he fought over that bitch, it’s his problem.”

“He wasn’t fighting over her. He was fighting over ye.”

I narrow my eyes. “Me?”

“I know ye won’t believe me, but it’s the truth.”

“Tell me,” I say through clenched teeth.

“He was arguing with her, trying to convince her to tell ye the truth.”

My chest tightens painfully with a sense of foreboding.

“I was there. I heard what she said. Admitted flat out that she’d snuck into his bed. Planned the whole thing. She wanted ye to find her with him.”

“Why would she do that?” It doesn’t make any sense.

“She was trying to get back at ye. Thought ye’d been fooling around yerself.”

“I didn’t. I’d never.”

Emer shrugs. “Ye don’t argue with crazy. People will think what they want to think no matter how hard ye try to reason with them.”

I grunt, my throat tightening, because I know she’s right.

“Owen started yelling at her. She started crying, changing her story the second she thought other people could hear. One of the men she’d come in with threw a punch. It wasn’t meant to do the damage it did, but like I said, he’d been drinking, and he fell funny. Hit his head hard on the bar.”

I don’t want to believe her. But I do.

“Shit.” My body is trembling as I run my fingers over my face.

“I know ye, Cillian. I’ve known ye for a very long time. And I know there’s not a bad bone in yer body. But ye were wrong this time.”

I see that now, so clearly I don’t know how I missed it before. Molly had always been the jealous type, accusing me of things I hadn’t done. And our relationship had been strained near the end. She hated when I had to travel with the band. She’d begged me to cancel the North American tour. Looking back, it’s not that surprising that she sabotaged it.

“I’m sorry,” I mutter.

With a heavy sigh, Emer walks across the room and places her hand on my shoulder. “I hope he gets the chance to hear ye say it to him.”

I wince, and she lets her arm drop. “I’ve been here for two days. I’m going to go home and shower. I’ll be back later. Aiden should be here soon.”

With my head spinning about my brother, I’d nearly forgotten about him…about Delaney.

Where is she now?

Or more importantly, who is she with?

The thought of her with that asshole in the coffee shop makes my stomach clench. But I knew when I saw her face, the confusion and the denial, that the man wasn’t who he claimed to be.

I was too hard on her, wanting, or rather needing, to feel anger rather than the sense of loss at the potential of losing her.

“Emer, wait.”

She stops at the door.

“Can ye ask Aiden to bring Delaney with him when he comes? I need to talk to her before she leaves.”

Her brows draw down. “She’s already gone. Aiden dropped her off at the train station a couple hours ago.”

I exhale slowly and rub my hand across my face, then nod. “It’s for the best.”

Emer shakes her head. “Like I said, ye may just be the most stubborn man I’ve ever met.”