Brendan (The Doherty Mafia Book 4) by Kasey Krane (summer reads TXT) 📗

I now knew why she was so protective of Davey. Why she didn’t want that kid to see me. She didn’t want her son experiencing the feelings she experienced as a child.

Rosalie toughened up again. She had allowed herself a few minutes to open herself up to me but now it was gone.

“So I’m not going to allow Davey to feel abandoned by a guy he gets attached to just because I’ve been sleeping around.”

I clenched my jaws tightly.

“Davey would appreciate some honesty from you, wouldn’t he?” I asked.

Rosalie shoved the jacket off her shoulders and held it out at me.

“I have to get to work.”

I watched her hurry away from me. I wasn’t sure if she found me irresistible or she hated my guts because of it. Rosalie was right, she was complicated. And for some reason, I wanted to untangle her.

I wanted to see that kid again.

She was about to turn the corner and she looked over her shoulder at me. It was only briefly and she looked away quickly, but I’d seen her.

I was on her mind too.

I had to return to the family home where our father wanted to speak with all of us.

I’d been so focused on Rosalie the past few days that I hadn’t kept up with the Barons and the war.

It hit me when I walked into the house—the fact that my family was in the middle of a bloody and violent battle with our arch enemy. People had died since this war began. Our family members had come directly in the path of danger.

Maybe it was time for me to put my lust for Rosalie in the backseat and focus on what was really important.

But for some reason, she felt important to me. Now that I had gotten to know Davey, he felt important too.

Juggling these new complications in my life proved to be difficult.

My brothers were all there along with my father in his office.

While the rest of them worked on gathering information on Aldo and his whereabouts. I hadn’t done a thing.

The guilt was real.

Because Tristian was the only one who knew what had been going on with me, I glared at him from across the room. Expecting him to look at me with contempt. Knowing I was falling behind.

But he didn’t.

“He’s hiding out with his tail between his legs,” Aidan commented.

Dad shook his head while he rested his cigar on a crystal ashtray.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s hiding from us, he’s been talking to everyone we work with, trying to get them to switch sides.”

This was exactly what I was afraid of. Now the Barons were directly affecting our business.

“Nobody’s going to switch sides. They know what the Dohertys stand for. They can see for themselves what the Barons are capable of,” Tristian spoke up.

“It doesn’t matter. If the Barons establish themselves as stronger and more powerful, able to take us out while their boss is in hiding—they won’t have a choice but to support him,” I said.

They all turned to look at me. I hadn’t said a thing since I arrived at the meeting.

Nolan breathed in deeply before he spoke.

“One of my sources said Aldo has been going around telling everyone who will listen to him how he is very close to bringing us down. That he has something on us.”

“What does he have on us? What could he possibly fuckin’ have on us?” Killian growled. Nolan shrugged.

The others looked at each other with furrowed brows and rage written all over their faces.

Aldo Baron had started off as a nuisance, as an irritant. Now he turned out to be a real problem.

We didn’t know what he would pull next, but I had a feeling it was coming soon.

Nineteen

Rosalie

I waited anxiously outside Davey’s kindergarten.

I’d managed to take a few hours off my shift at the diner because I wanted to be close to my son.

My mom was supposed to pick him up after kindergarten, but I told her I would do it and suggested that we meet at the park later.

“Where’s Brendan?” Davey asked when he came jumping out the gates. I was afraid of this happening. Of him growing too attached to a man who was not really a part of his life.

I also worried if Davey actually felt a connection to Brendan somehow. If he could sense something. Biology worked in mysterious ways.

“He had to go to work, honey,” I said, lifting him up in my arms to give him a hug.

“Will I see him tonight? Will he stay with us?” Davey asked.

“No, honey. He will not be staying with us.”

Davey pouted but accepted the kisses I showered on him. My heart broke at the thought that I kept him away from his father.

Although, the truth was that I had nothing to do with it. Brendan had his own life and his priorities. Davey wasn’t one of them and never would be. Even if he found out about the paternity. Maybe he wouldn’t even believe me. After all, it had been one drunken night. I wasn’t the first and I wasn’t going to be the last.

Brendan didn’t entertain the thought that he could have gotten one of his casual sexual partners pregnant. Right?

Davey and I walked together in the direction of the park.

While I tried to come up with all the reasons why Brendan was a bad idea, I couldn’t help but recall how lovely and warm it felt at breakfast that morning.

Watching them play and laugh together was delightful.

I’d never experienced that. Not even for myself because my dad wasn’t there. The men my mom dated hadn’t been interested in family time.

And Davey hadn’t experienced it either. Not with a father figure at least. His mother and grandmother were the only family he knew.

Davey told me all about his day and I held his hand tightly, refusing to let him go anywhere. How long would I be able to hold on to him?

He was still