Mafia King (Young Irish Rebels #2) - Vi Carter Page 0,2
happen with him in my corner. My shoulders automatically relax.
“You’re not marrying Jack O’Reagan.” Noel’s brows drag down, but his gaze never wavers from me.
“Don't say another word, my boy.” The warning from my dad has my heart pounding heavier.
I’m shaking my head at Noel to stop. He’s pushing Dad too far. I know what happens when our dad is pushed too far.
“You have to marry a Northerner.” Noel doesn’t stop even as my dad moves closer to him.
My hand reaches out and grips the marble breakfast bar top. “No.”
No one hears me as James and Mark move as one and stop my father from touching Noel. My mind reels as I hear the soft footfalls behind me. Breda is in the doorway, and from the sadness in her eyes, I know right then and there that she knows. She knows I've been handed to a savage.
I turn to her because she’s like a mother to me. “Did you know?” My voice rises substantially, and the room falls silent.
“Did you know that….?” I trail off as I think of all the nights I’ve dreamt of Jack O’Reagan. I swallow around the lump in my throat.
“There is no need for such dramatics. It was a last-minute change. You are still marrying an O’Reagan.”
I remember my place. I remember that this is my father who is speaking to me. I remember to show respect as I turn to him.
Hate burns deeply in my veins. The severity surprises me, and I lower my lashes so my dad can’t see the rage in my eyes.
As I lower my lashes, I glimpse Noel still being held by James and Mark.
“What if it’s a setup?”
My gaze jumps to Noel as he questions my father while shrugging off my brothers like they weigh nothing more than paper. That’s what Noel was to me, an indestructible giant. A force that no one got through. Right now, seeing him red-faced and questioning my dad is terrifying.
“What if it’s not?” My dad fires back.
Another fist tightens around my stomach, I have no idea what they are talking about, but my dad’s answer shows that whatever this really is, it’s a risk. My mind veers down a dark and deadly path that I pull back from before I sink into a fatal fear that I may not be able to drag myself out of.
“It’s not worth the risk.”
Pride swells in my chest at Noel’s words.
“I say it is.” My dad turns to me. His lips are always downturned; they’ve been that way since Mom died. As he approaches me, they lift ever so slightly, and my body sags a little.
“You are leaving tomorrow, and you will be marrying Shay O’Reagan. You will be his wife.” My dad doesn’t touch me or embrace me, yet he’s close enough to drag me to his large chest, where I rested my head as a child, but I’m not a child anymore.
I want to say no, I want to tell him I don’t want to marry a Northerner. We hated them. This made no sense.
“Will he hurt me?” I ask the question that makes him flinch like I had hoped it would.
“Will a dog bite if it’s cornered?”
Noel growls behind our dad, and it’s answer enough. Be obedient, don’t give him a reason to hurt me.
I nod before turning my back on my dad. He doesn’t stop me as I expect him to. The stairs are before me. I take the steps quickly as voices rise in the kitchen, and Noel tries to stop this, but there is no stopping my dad. I know that. He knows that.
The minute I enter my room and close the door, I kick off my heels. I want to fire my shoes across the room. I want to unleash the rage that is building up inside me and burning my cheeks, but I don’t move.
The door behind me opens.
“Count to ten, remember that the temper of yours will get you into trouble.” Breda’s voice sounds the same as it always does when I’m ready to lose my head.
My father always said I had my mother’s temper. Noel said I was as thick as a mule going backward through a hedge.
“Ten? I don’t think counting to a hundred would calm me right now.” I spin on Breda as she opens the large wardrobe.
“Then count to a thousand.” She has dragged a chair over to the wardrobe and climbs up on it while yanking up her pleated ankle-length skirt.