Unchosen Ruler by Maggie Cole

23

Hailee

The doctor saidKora and Sergey will fully recover, so that is a relief. Liam takes me home to get rest but has to go back to the hospital. When he gets home, we decide to go for coffee, since there is a fog delay for my school district. We run into Selena and Obrecht. They sit at our table, but things are tense between the two men. Obrecht brings up my teacher of the year award I received in the spring. When Liam questions me about it, Obrecht makes a snide remark about Liam being in prison when I got it. If I didn't love Selena so much, I would lash out at him for being so rude.

Something comes up, and Liam and Obrecht leave together. Selena and I talk for a while and then her therapist shows up, so I excuse myself.

Liam told me to go in Obrecht's car since they went in his. Liam's cousin Gavin is in the front with Obrecht's driver. I'm heading to school but can't get my mother's lies out of my head, so I call Nolan's phone.

She groggily answers, "Hello."

"Are you at Nolan's?"

"Yeah. Where else would I be? It's super early in the morning." She yawns, and there's a muffled noise in the background.

"Who's that?" I ask.

"Nolan."

"Why's he in your room?"

She avoids answering my question. "What's going on that you had to interrupt my beauty sleep?"

"I'm coming over."

"Now?" she frantically asks.

"Yeah. Is that a problem? We need to talk about the other night," I insist.

She groans and sarcastically remarks, "I almost forgot all the realities of our awesome family dynamics."

"See you soon. Bye," I chirp and hang up before she can protest. I roll the divider glass down. "Can you take me to Nolan O'Malley's instead?"

"Sure."

I roll the divider up and sit back in my seat. I send a notice to my school saying I'm sick. It's last minute, and I've never used a sick day when I wasn't before, but nothing about life seems normal anymore. So many thoughts are racing around in my head. I don't understand why my mother lied to us and continues to do so. The more she doesn't come completely clean, the harder it gets to control the boiling rage in my blood.

Within minutes, the car parks outside Nolan's house. Gavin escorts me to the front door.

Nolan opens the door. He's shirtless and barefoot, wearing only pajama bottoms. I try not to gape at his ripped, tattooed torso. There's no doubt he's an O'Malley, but everything about Nolan, I'm unsure of. On the one hand, I'm grateful he's protecting my sister. While the other part of me is always worried about whether he's being nice or a dick to her. Every time I see them, one of them seems pissed at the other, so I can't imagine how they are cohabiting together.

His cocky expression grows, and he arches an eyebrow. "My eyes are up here."

"Shut up," I blurt out and shove past him, trying to control the heat crawling into my cheeks. Before he ever met Gemma, I thought he was this sweet hottie. Something about my sister seems to bring out a different side of him. Or maybe I just never noticed. Either way, I don't need him gloating over me gawking at him. "Where's Gemma?"

The sound of the door shutting hits my ears. "Good morning to you, too, Hailee. Gavin, you want some espresso?"

"Nah. I'm good. Thought you didn't drink coffee?" Gavin asks.

"The princess requires it. She isn't a fan of my morning drink," Nolan reports.

"Smart girl. That shit is gross," Gavin replies.

"See, I'm not the only one who doesn't agree with raw egg smoothies." Gemma smirks, stepping through a doorway and into the room. She's wearing black silk pajama shorts and a matching button-up top.

I glance between Nolan and Gemma. "You two do know it's past eight, right?"

"Your point?" Gemma asks.

I roll my eyes. "The rest of the world is awake and has clothes on."

"Clothes are overrated," my sister chirps. She takes a mug and fills it with espresso. "Want one?"

"No, thanks. Can we talk in your bedroom?"

Her face falls. "Sure." She motions for me to follow her. I expect to go into the bedroom she came out of, but she leads me down the hall. The bed appears freshly made, and there are no signs of her things anywhere.

Suspicion fills me. "Where are your clothes?"

"Put away. What's going on?"

"Since when do you make the bed when you first get out of it?" I pry.

Her face turns pink. "I'm a guest. I'm trying to be polite. So, are you going to talk or ask me about house cleaning?"

I study her.

"Talk, Hailee," she warns.

I put my hand on my hip. "Why were you in Nolan's bedroom?"

"Shoot me for wanting to brush my teeth and running out of toothpaste." She tilts her head. "Is there something you came to talk to me about?"

I shut the door and whisper. "Are you sleeping with Nolan?"

In a firm voice, she asks, "Hailee, why are you here?"

I step closer. "I thought you hated each other?"

"I never said I felt that way. Did he say he hates me?" she asks with a hurt expression.

"So you are?" I ask.

Gemma crosses her arms and glares. "I'm going to leave the room if you don't get to the reason you called and woke me up so early."

I sigh and sit on the bed. "Fine. I can't find anything to prove Mom couldn't have killed Riona. But I think Mom lied about some other things."

Gemma sits next to me. She swallows hard. "Like what?"

I try to find the right way to tell her but decide there isn't any way to gentle the blow. "I think Mom is a Ryan and Riona was her sister."

Gemma's jaw drops. Several moments pass. She puts her hand on her stomach. Her face begins to turn green, and she slowly says, "So our father was screwing Mom's sister?"

My gut flips. "Yeah."

"Eww. How much grosser can he get?"

"I know."

"But..." She puts her hand over her mouth. "How could Mom kill her sister?"

It's a question I can't find any rationale for. My sisters and I would all die for each other. I shake my head and reply, "We need to talk to Mom. If she's Jane Ryan, she needs to explain why she continued to lie to us."

Gemma scrunches her face. "Why? What would be the point?"

I shrug.

Gemma rises and paces the room. She twirls a lock of her strawberry-blonde hair around her finger. "So we're part of these Ryan people, too?"

The air in my lungs becomes stale. I don't want it to be true. It's bad enough we have Bailey blood in us. This new information seems to hurt even more. "Yeah. And Liam told me our father never married."

Gemma freezes. "What? Why did she tell us she was married and divorced?"

"I don't know. She seems to be hiding so much, and I want to know what else she hasn't told us and why."

Gemma opens the closet and takes out a shirt and pair of jeans. "Let me take a quick shower. She had today and tomorrow off. Her boss decided to have the office repainted."

"Should I text her? Or should we surprise her?" I ask.

Gemma wrinkles her nose. "Text her. Otherwise, I'm sure Simon will be there, and who knows what we'll walk in on."

"Gross."

"You don't know the half of it. Listening to Mom giggle all day drove me nuts. I'm sure Simon moved in the moment I moved out. He was always there anyway," Gemma reveals. She pins her hair in a claw clip, goes into the attached bathroom, and shuts the door.

I text my mom that we're coming over and need to talk to her in private. Then I text Liam.

Me: I called off work. I'm at Nolan's picking up Gemma. We're going to confront my mom. I think I'll go work on refurbishing the chair after, so I'll be at my apartment if you're looking for me later.

I leave the bedroom. When I get to the main room, Gavin is nowhere. Nolan is sitting on the couch and talking to the server from the pub, Molly. I freeze before entering the room.

"My brother arrives Saturday. My mom wants to have a surprise party for him. Can you come?" she asks. Hope lights up her golden-brown eyes.

Nolan flashes the smile I used to see before he met Gemma. It's kind and soft and looks like the boy next door. "Sure. I talked to Colin last week, but he said he didn't know when he was flying out."

Molly's smile grows. "He called this morning. Well, I should go. I know Gavin is waiting for you outside."

I realize I'm snooping, and I step into the room. "Hi, Molly! He's with my driver."

She glances up. Her face falls, and she scrunches her forehead. "Oh. Hi, Hailee. I didn't know anyone else was here."

"Gemma's showering then we'll be leaving," I tell her.

Molly's face turns red. She looks at Nolan in question. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't know she was still here."

Nolan shifts in his seat. "Yeah. She lives here right now."

Molly looks at the floor then rises. "Right. Okay. I'll see you later." She starts moving toward the door, and Nolan follows her.

"Molly. Hold up."

She freezes, takes a deep breath, then spins. What appears to be a forced smile forms on her lips. She raises her eyebrows.

"Thanks for the cookies. I'll see you Saturday, okay?"

"Mmhmm. Bye." She turns and quickly leaves.

The door shuts, and Nolan stares at it and sighs.

"Are you screwing her and my sister?" I accuse.

He spins. "What? Are you kidding me right now?"

"No. I think it's a fair question."

He shakes his head in disgust. "She's my best friend's little sister."

"So, you're saying you aren't screwing her?"

He crosses his arms. "Not that it's any of your concern, but I promised her brother when he left for a job in Europe I'd watch out for her. She's my friend. That's it."

"Does she know she's only your friend?"

He scrubs his face and groans. "I'm not sure what it is about you O'Hare girls, but don't be spreading rumors around about Molly. She's a nice girl."

I point to the plate covered in foil. "I didn't say she wasn't. But women don't just bake cookies and bring them over to a man's house if they aren't into them."

"We're friends. She knows I like them and made extra. It's not a big deal," he claims.

"Last week, it was a pot of fish stew," Gemma snarls, walking into the room.

Nolan scowls. "This is getting old. Princess, why don't you and your opinionated sister butt out of my friendship?"

"Maybe you should stop leading the poor girl on if you aren't interested," I tell him.

"Right? Glad you see it, too," Gemma adds.

He groans. "What is with you two?"

"She likes you," Gemma claims.

"Yep," I agree.

"You two, stay out of my business. Where are you going?" Nolan asks.

Gemma huffs. "Guess your statement goes two ways, doesn't it? Let's go, Hailee."

"Gemma—"

"Don't start, Nolan. The new bodyguards are here, so I don't have to tell you my every move. Or do you have concerns about them, too?" She glares at him.

He studies her for a moment then shakes his head. "Have a good day, princess."

"Yeah. You, too, Prince Charming," Gemma snaps back and slings her purse over her shoulder.

"How do you two live together?" I question, glancing between them.

Neither answers my question. Gemma gives Nolan one final pissed-off expression, and we leave. Another car pulls up to the curb with two men, and we get in it. Gavin gets out of Obrecht's car and slides in the back seat with us.

"How many bodyguards do we need?" I tease.

"Liam will kill me if I don't go with you."

I can't help but smile. Gavin's right. I know Liam's overprotectiveness all too well.

We stay quiet for the ride. When we arrive at my mother's, Simon leaves. My mom pins her worried blue eyes on us. "What's going on? And why aren't you in school, Hailee?"

"There was a fog delay and then I decided this was more important," I admit.

"What is?"

"What's your real maiden name?" Gemma interjects.

The color in my mother's face drains. She says nothing, and her chest rises and falls faster.

"Mom. You need to stop lying to us."

Her eyes turn to slits. She snarls, "What did the O'Malleys tell you?"

I glance at Gemma. She gives me a questioning look, and I turn back toward my mother. "There's only one thing Liam told me. Orla told Gemma the other piece of information."

My mother shifts in her seat and taps her fingers on her thighs. "What did she say?"

"First, tell us who we are," I reply.

"Hailee—"

"Is your real maiden name Ryan?" Gemma blurts out.

My mother closes her eyes. Gemma grabs my hand. There's no doubt who she is. My insides quiver, and I ask, "So our mother is Jane Ryan, the missing mafia princess?"

Our mom's lids fly open. Pain fills her orbs. "I'm not her anymore."

"But you were and lied to us."

She winces. "You don't know what it was like to be a Ryan, given to a Bailey. I never wanted any of you to know about it or have any part of the Ryans or Baileys."

"Mom, why did you lie and say you were married to our father?"

A tear drips down her cheek. She wipes it away and says, "I was supposed to marry your father. He told everyone I was his wife, so in my eyes, we were married." She laughs and wipes her face as more tears spill. "My father might be sicker than yours. He lost a bet. My sister, Riona, and I were both in the pot. He handed us over to your father like we were nothing but objects to be owned. The ironic thing is, Riona liked it. She had every cruel and conniving trait my father possessed. She loved your father, and it became her mission to see how much she could torment me."

Gemma gets up and sits next to my mom. She tugs her into her arms. "You should have told us!"

"Why? What is the point? I don't want to relive any of it."

My heart hurts for her, but she also needs to come clean and tell us the full truth. I ask, "Mom, did you kill Riona?"

Tension fills the air. She stares at me until her face crumbles and she completely breaks down.

Gemma's eyes widen. She tries to comfort our mother.

I rise and sit on the other side of her and put my arm around her back. When she calms, I ask, "Mom, what happened?"

"I-I had to do it. She found all the money I saved to escape. She was going to tell your father, and he would have put me in the whorehouse. Riona would have raised you girls. I couldn't let her. She was so evil. I-I just lost it. She pulled a gun on me, and I lunged at her. I got it away from her. I-I could have walked away, but she would have come after me. So I shot her and made it look like it was a drug deal gone bad. Then I went home, put a sleeping pill in your father's drink, and that night we left."

Gemma and I spend a few moments attempting to comfort my mother, letting her admission sink in. The visions of my mother putting us in the car and the cold chill of that winter night pops up and digs into my bones.

I push it aside and continue, "Mom, there's something we have to tell you."

"What?"

"He's getting out in two weeks."

My mother gasps then jumps off the couch. "We all need to go, now. This has gone farther than I ever should have allowed. The O'Malleys cannot save you. And they are just as bad as the Ryans and Baileys. We need to get your sisters—"

"No! I'm not running. And I'm not leaving Liam. He's not a Ryan or Bailey, so don't put him in that bucket," I insist.

"I'm not going, either. If we run, we have no protection," Gemma claims.

My mother's hands shake. "You don't understand what your father is capable of."

"What about Simon? Are you going to just leave him?" I ask.

Anguish fills her face. More tears fall. She covers her mouth and says, "If your father gets out and I'm with Simon, your father will kill him."

"I'll get Liam to put bodyguards on Simon, then," I assure her, not even questioning it. Liam would never deny my request, and I know it.

My mother gapes. "Do you think I told Simon any of this? He would flip if he knew who I was and what I did."

Gemma cries out, "If he loves you—"

"This is the mob! It's not some ordinary prisoner getting out of jail. Trust me. Those thugs raised me. I killed someone. I'm not the person Simon thinks I am, and if he finds out—"

"Mom. Stop! I'm calling Liam, and we'll figure this out. You can't run from this anymore," I insist and remove my phone from my purse.

"Do not call an O'Malley. Don't you see? Your insistence on staying with Liam is going to make everything worse. And this is my fault. I didn't put my foot down hard enough. This thing you have going on with Liam and whatever you're doing with Nolan is over. There will be no more O'Malley protection. The two of you are coming with me. We're getting your sisters and leaving," my mother orders.

"What? No! You can't tell us what to do with our lives. We're in our mid-thirties," Gemma barks back.

A dark blue forms in my mother's otherwise-bright eyes. "Do not disobey me."

"Gemma's right, Mom. We aren't children. You can't make us."

My mom haughtily laughs. "Sure I can. I'm a Ryan. One thing a Ryan knows how to do is get what they want. So if I have to tie you up and throw you in my trunk, I will."

"Have you gone crazy?" Gemma lashes out.

I put my arm around Gemma's shoulders. "Let's go." I address my mother, "When you come to your senses, we can talk some more." I lead Gemma to the door and attempt to open it.

My mother's hand slams it shut.

"Mom! Stop acting like a crazy lunatic!" I yell.

"What do you think your father will be like? This isn't lunacy. You don't know what lunacy is," she fires back.

I reach for the door, but she bats my hand away.

"Mom!" I warn, trying to ignore the sting on my skin.

The crazed look in her eyes intensifies. "Go sit down. You aren't leaving until I'm ready to go."

"Get out of our way," Gemma orders and reaches for the door.

My mom slaps Gemma in the face. The sound echoes in the room.

Gemma shrieks in pain. She puts her hand over the red mark. For a brief second, I think she'll back down, but rage fills her expression. She attempts to push my mom out of the way.

I turn the handle and scream, "Move!"

Suddenly, Liam shoves his way through the door with Nolan in tow. Liam tugs me into him, and Nolan grabs Gemma and seethes at my mother, "You hit her?"

My mother's eyes seem to come back to the ones I'm used to seeing. It's like she didn't even realize what she did. She stares at Gemma. Nolan has his arm protectively around her, and his other hand is holding her head against his chest.

"Oh God. Gemma! I'm sorry! I..." My mother puts her hand over her mouth and breaks down again.

I'm torn between wanting to comfort my mother and trying to figure out what just occurred. I glance up at Liam, who's scowling at my mother. "We're leaving now. When you've calmed down, you can talk to your daughters. Until then, stay away. But know this, Jane Ryan. You and your daughters are under my watch, my orders. If you attempt to leave Chicago without my blessing, you won't get past your front door. Understand?"

My mother's face will haunt me forever. It's as if she finally is realizing there truly is nowhere to run.