My face crumples into a thousand pieces. In helping this underprivileged young man, my father has assured two things: that I’ll be the one stuck paying the bill, and that he’ll come out a hero.

I have no grounds to fight these costs. None. It’s my name on the juris doctorate, my body that sat through each class, my mind that was expended learning. I’ve accepted everything from him—his insults, his degradation, his mistreatment—I’ve starved because of empty promises he never intended to keep.

“You asshole.”

His expression quavers, before heating with fury. “What did you say to me?”

“I said you’re an asshole!” I stomp forward. “Everyone thinks you’re this righteous and admirable member of the community. But you’re nothing more than a selfish and manipulative bastard.”

“You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

“You’re wrong. Aside from your wife, I’m the only one who knows what a vengeful snake you truly are.” I kick the envelope back at him. “I’ll take the debt—I’ll take all of it. But I’ll be damned if I ever take your shit again.” I storm out the door and punch the elevator button, but when I hear his footsteps racing toward me, I hurry to the back stairwell. My steps are quick, wanting to put as much distance between us as possible. Yet my father won’t let me walk out of his life unscathed.

He snatches my arm before I reach the first step. “Listen to me, Contessa. It doesn’t have to end this way.”

I try to yank my arm away, but he holds tight. “Spencer still needs a reputable partner at his side—listen to me!” he yells, shaking me hard. “He’s to be the next mayor—the next governor. For each event where you’re seen with him, I will pay a portion of your expenses on your behalf.”

“Let go of me!” I scream. “I won’t be your puppet any longer.”

Without thought or care, my father shoves me away. My arms flail as I try to stop myself from falling. But I can’t.

I fall screaming, my body smacking against the steel steps. Agony engulfs me as I land hard on my spine. I don’t know what’s happening. I can’t think. All I know is the pain burning through me.

Excruciating jolts shoot from my pelvis and into my legs. I clutch my belly, crying. “I-I-I need help,” I stammer.

“Tell me you’ll be with Spencer.” Father waits at the top of the steps, his hands balled at his sides. “Contessa, say you’ll do this for me!”

A sob breaks through my lips. “I need help,” I repeat. “Please help me. Please.” Warmth floods my thighs, and every breath rakes my body with misery.

Yet the help I ask for doesn’t come. The slam of the door forces me to glance up. My father is gone.

Once more, I wait alone.

My discarded purse and its contents lie scattered over the first few steps, the remains of my phone in pieces. Somehow, I find my feet.

I stagger down four more flights, clinging to my belly, and falling more than once. The alarms blast as I stumble through the emergency exit. “Jesus Christ!” the rookie yells, racing toward me when I collapse.

He knows I’m hurt. The blood seeping through my white skirt is proof enough that I need the help my father denied me.

Chapter 28

Curran

I don’t run through the hospital, I fucking tear down the halls. Killian is the first I see as I round the corner of the Emergency Department. He barrels in front of me with Declan and Finn, all three blocking my path. “Easy, Curran,” Killian says.

I shove them away, trying to get to the room they were standing in front of. “I need to see Tess.” I push them again, this time harder. “Is she in there? Goddamnit. Tell me where she is!”

They hold their ground. In my periphery, Angus and Seamus are suddenly there. “Listen to me,” Declan says, his voice steady. “Her physical injuries aren’t life threatening—she’s safe and she’s stable. But emotionally, she’s a mess and hurting. You need to stay strong for her, you hear me? I need you to be a man for her. Not some out-of-control thug.”

I stop moving as the impact of his words sucker-punches me across the jaw. He said that emotionally, my girl was hurting. So that means…

“Is the baby all right?” I can barely spit the words out. Tess didn’t want me to tell anyone she’s pregnant, but of course I did. You share the good and the bad with those you love, right? And this baby, although unplanned, is good news.

Or at least it was.

Their grim expressions answer me in a way I don’t want to hear. I swipe at my face. “Jesus.”

This was supposed to be a decent day. My first step into the path to hell came when the sarge told me he was placing me back on patrol. He stuck me with one of the vets and we responded to a report of a burglary. I was crawling out of my skin the whole time, and despite how hard I tried to hide it, that old vet saw right through me. He knows I lost my nerve, and that I’m done. As much as it crushes me, it’s nothing compared to what that call from Declan did to me. “There’s been an accident,” he’d said. “Tess is hurt. We’re in the Emergency Department at Thomas Jefferson, room 1014.”

He couldn’t tell me much more. Privacy laws and hospital regulations won’t allow the staff to share any news about Tess’s condition—even with me. I tried calling in the forty damn minutes it took me to get across town, but as much as I love her, I’m not her husband yet.

“Curran, listen to me,” Declan says, his voice softening. “We’re not sure what’s happening yet. The doctor on call is going to examine her.”

“Why hasn’t he yet?” I bite out.

His eyes cut to Killian. “Sofia said something about her needing an internal exam,” Killian answers. “They’re getting the equipment from the maternity ward now.”

For all that my family is right next to me, they feel far away. “I want to see her,” I tell them, hoping they’ll listen before I bust some shit up.

My brothers part, allowing me through, but those few steps forward are the longest of my life. My feet feel dipped in lead and encased in cement. I push the curtain aside and walk to where Tess sits in a narrow bed wearing a gown that’s way too loose on her.

Sofe sits beside Wren, who’s holding my girl’s hand tight in hers. They all glance up, but it’s Tess’s face my stare adheres to. Her skin is red and swollen around her pretty eyes. She’s been crying a lot, and was likely alone until my family arrived.

I move forward. Sofe and Wren take it as their signal to leave. They stop to kiss her cheeks and mine. “We’ll be outside,” Wren assures me.

I guess the fold-up chairs are for saps like me, to wait and sit still in. I don’t wait, or sit still. I lower myself on the bed and pull Tess against me when her expression shatters into a million pieces. She clutches me hard and releases her fear…giving me a moment to release mine, too.

Tess

Curran holds tight to my hand when the OB hospitalist, Dr. Tantillo, returns with an ultrasound. “I’m going to do an internal scan. You’ll feel some pressure, but if it becomes too painful, I need you to tell me, okay?”

“Okay,” I say, my voice trembling.

I scrunch my face as she inserts the probe, which does nothing to ease Curran’s stress. “What are you trying to see?” he asks, his voice tight.