Give Me War - Kate McCarthy Page 0,14

irrational and act like a five-year-old when I don’t get my way. My God. I need to stop travelling down this path because I’m starting to wonder why she married me at all.

Then my thoughts take a dark turn.

Was she planning on leaving me?

I drop that thought like a hot potato.

She’s not leaving.

Not ever.

I won’t let her.

“I’m sorry,” Casey adds, sympathy in his tone for the way I’m finding out the news.

I swipe both hands across my face. “How did you find out?”

He shrugs. “I guessed.”

My brows rise, incredulous. “You guessed?”

I see her every day. She sleeps in my bed every night. I wake up with her every morning. And Casey, who only sees her for a surf every few days, guessed?

Did I really pay her that little attention?

Yes, you fucking idiot. You were so busy trying to hide your feelings by avoiding her that you forgot how important your attention was.

She was up and out of bed before me every morning. Was it morning sickness? I would roll over on the mattress and feign sleep, swamped with relief that she wouldn’t see the ache of failure in my eyes.

I did everything in the house. Making breakfast, doing dishes, laundry, dinner, pushing Evie away as I took charge. I couldn’t give her a baby but if I could take care of her and Wolf, and our house, she would see how much she still needed me.

But as I stand here, absorbing Casey’s bombshell revelation, I realise that isn’t how she needed me at all, is it? I pushed her away in my efforts to stay in her life, and I can’t even comprehend that kind of dumb logic.

All I had to do was open my mouth and tell her how much it hurt and hold her while she hurt too. And now … now ….

My chest squeezes with fear.

Now the Vipers have my wife and my unborn child.

My little sister appears in our huddle, speaking to Casey. “Are you telling him?”

“Telling him what?”

“About Evie.” Her voice lowers to a harsh whisper. “The baby.”

My eyes cut to hers. “You know?” I huff with frustration. “What was I thinking? Of course you know. Everyone does but me,” I bark, throwing my arms up. “Her own husband.”

Mac narrows her gaze. “No time for a pity party, asshead. Besides, she didn’t tell me. I guessed.”

I grit my teeth, looking beyond her shoulder and finding Henry now here, too. His face is pale but I don’t miss the sympathy in his eyes. Does he know too?

All signs point to yes.

“She was waiting until tomorrow to tell you, by the way. It’s supposed to be your Christmas present.” She turns her head a little, muttering under her breath. “A present you don’t deserve, you fucking f—”

My voice is steel. “I can hear you.”

Her eyes narrow further. “Fix this.”

“I’m trying.” I wave a hand at her posse. “So get your little girl gang together and leave before Mitch gets here and sees you. He will lose his shit.”

Pain rises in her eyes at the thought of hurting her brother any more than he still is, even now, years after losing Gabriella. Our eldest brother has a hair trigger when it comes to situations like this and the girls getting involved. Gabriella was trained. Experienced. And yet it still wasn’t enough to save her. Mac and her girls are just amateurs bumbling around in the dark and she knows it. “We’re not a little girl gang,” she mutters, pursing her lips.

“You’re not. I’m sorry,” I say, not liking the pain in her eyes. “But you need to leave.” I can’t focus on finding Evie when I have to worry about my sister going rogue. Again. “Please, Mac.”

The protest doesn’t come. Instead her eyes come back to me, her chin high. “Okay. We’ll leave.” Her expression takes on a note of warning. “But you bring her back, Jared.” Her voice cracks and she starts walking backwards, toward her girls, her voice rising. “You bring her back unharmed or I swear I’ll wipe the Earth clean of every Viper in existence.”

Not before I do it first.

The girls leave, just missing Mitch by a few minutes. He leaves his Subaru by the kerb and jogs over to our group. Sunglasses cover his eyes, and his badge is already tucked into his jeans and on display. My eldest brother looks to me first. “What do we know?”

“The Vipers have her,” I tell him.

He visibly reels and ducks his head, rubbing the back