Unchosen Ruler by Maggie Cole

30

Hailee

No one is sleeping,except Shannon. Everyone is sitting at the table, except Skylar and me. The two of us are pacing.

Aspen rises. "I think we need to open a bottle of wine."

"Don't you mean several?" Kora teases.

"Count me out," Skylar says then yawns.

Sympathy fills me. She's worked so hard for her own fashion line. This should have been an awesome night for her. I comment, "You must be exhausted from entertaining everyone while all this was going on. I'm sorry your grand opening got ruined."

She freezes. "Actually, that's not why I'm tired."

"No?"

She shakes her head.

"Are you going to fill me in on your secret?"

She grabs my hand and drags me to the table. "I'm pregnant."

We all congratulate and hug her. She beams, and Kora says, "All night you kept this from us?"

Skylar winces. "Sorry. There was just so much going on. And I'm still trying to wrap my head around Hailee and Gemma being mafia princesses."

"Ugh. Don't call us that," Gemma groans.

"Yeah. Besides, Hailee isn't a princess. She's Liam's queen," Nora teases.

"Nora!" I reprimand her.

"What? It's true. Now you two just need to get married, pop out some babies, and continue the O'Malley lineage. No pressure," she states.

I groan. "I'll just wave my magic wand and make that happen, okay?"

Nora winks then turns to Gemma. "What's up with you and my brother?"

Anna laughs. "Nora's keeping it real like always, I see."

Nora turns to her. "What? My brothers always interfered in my love life. Seems fair that I at least get to know what's going on in theirs."

"Nothing is going on," Gemma claims, but her face turns crimson.

Nora tilts her head. "You're a bad liar."

"Nothing is going on. What you should ask Nolan is what is up between him and Molly."

Surprise fills Nora's face. "Molly?"

Gemma smirks. "Yeah. She's constantly bringing him food and sending him messages. And how many times can a person really have laptop issues?"

Nora winces. "She tends to make bad decisions and usually finds herself in some sort of pickle."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure some of it she creates so Nolan can save her," Gemma asserts.

Confusion fills Nora's face. "I thought her brother Colin sorted her out?"

Gemma rolls her eyes and reveals, "She's still obsessed with Nolan."

"For someone who says nothing is going on with Nolan, you sure seem annoyed by it." Kora raises her eyebrows.

Gemma rises. "I'm not. I'm going to the restroom."

She goes down the hall, and Nora asks, "Do you know what's going on between them?"

"No." Gemma still hasn't disclosed anything to me. While I'm pretty sure something is going on, I'm not going to throw my sister under the bus. For whatever reason, she doesn't want to talk about it.

I return to pacing, and Gemma comes out of the bathroom. She says, "You're making me nervous."

I stop moving and stare at her. "Sorry. I...seeing him today..." I don't need to say our father. She knows who I'm talking about.

Gemma swallows hard. "When Orla made me visit him in prison, I didn't understand how we could have his DNA in us."

"I know."

Her face turns dark. "I hope Orla is there tonight and they take her out, too."

I put my arm around Gemma and tug her tight to me. "I'm so sorry she came after you. I wish she would have picked me."

Gemma shakes her head. "No. I'm glad she didn't. But, Hailee, I swear to God, if they don't take her out, I will."

I freeze. A chill runs down my spine. "Gemma—"

"I can't deal with it anymore. She's ruined my entire life. I lost my career, my home, and everything I thought I knew about myself. I-I don't sleep at night. She keeps breaking the firewalls Nolan puts on my phone and texting me. Every time he adds something, it only takes her a few weeks to bypass it. He's stopped giving me new phones. It doesn't matter. She still seems to find me. Sometimes, I think I'm going insane," Gemma admits.

"All this will end soon. I promise," I vow to her.

She sarcastically laughs then wipes her face. "I hope it's before I end up in a straitjacket."

"Gemma—"

"Everyone safe and sound?" Adrian's Russian accent fills the air.

I spin and run over to Liam. He wraps his arms around me, and I close my eyes, listening to his heartbeat. He kisses the top of my head.

I glance up. "Is he—"

"They're all dead."

"Orla, too?" Gemma asks with hope in her voice.

Liam's face falls. "We don't have any proof she was there. We'll have to wait and see if she was in any of the cars."

My sister shuts her eyes and walks out of the room. Nolan follows her.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could give her an answer," Liam states.

I cup his cheek. "It's okay. But my father is dead?"

His tone is cold. "Yeah. Let's go home."

Relief fills me. I don't remember ever feeling anything good surrounding my father before I knew he was a Bailey or after. The fact I don't have to worry ever again about him or his threats brings me great comfort. Maybe I should feel some morsel of pain he's dead since he's my father, but I don't.

We say our goodbyes and get into his SUV. It smells like smoke. "Was your dad with you?"

Liam smiles. "Yes. I just dropped him off."

"He was okay to leave the house?"

"I guess so."

"That's good. I told your mom we would go over for dinner tomorrow night."

Liam pulls me onto his lap. "Thanks. It's going to be hard for her when my dad passes. I need to be there for her."

"Liam, I don't hate your mom. And I want you to be there for her," I tell him.

He strokes my head. "I know your mom doesn't trust me and hates my family, but I think now that your father is dead, we should try to have some sort of relationship with her."

Tears fill my eyes. I've stayed away from my mom. There's so much I feel betrayed by. "I don't know—"

"She's your mom, Hales."

A tear drips down my cheek. "I'm not sure how to mend things with her."

He deeply inhales and wipes my tear. "We'll take it a step at a time, okay?"

I sniffle. "Okay." I lean into him. "I'm so glad you're safe."

He holds me until we get home, and we stay up all night talking. I take the next few days off work, and things start to sink in. My father and his brother are no longer a threat. Orla isn't confirmed dead, but the shoot-out was all over the news. The police are still confirming bodies. But Gemma hasn't received any new text messages.

A weight seems to lift off Liam's shoulders. We spend more time with his parents. I have a good talk with his mom, and we both apologize for things. I try to talk to him about his dad's health, but he avoids it at all costs. Two weeks after the death of my father, it's Selena and Obrecht's wedding day. After the ceremony, we eat dinner, and Liam pulls me onto the dance floor.

"It's about time I got to dance with you at a wedding," he says, pulling me closer to him.

I smirk. "Are you complaining we left Nora and Boris's wedding early?"

He laughs. "Nope."

I don't mention Sergey and Kora's wedding. It's in the past, and I don't want to think about our fight.

In the middle of the song, Liam's phone vibrates. He pulls it out of his jacket. "Let me turn—" The color in his face drains.

"Liam, what's wrong?"

"My mom said my dad's at the hospital."

Goose bumps break out on my skin. "Let's go."

We leave without saying anything to anyone. The ride to the hospital is quiet. I hold Liam's hand, and he stares out the window. When we pull up to the entrance, we quickly go inside.

His mom sits in a chair. Her bodyguard is several feet away, giving her privacy. She's quietly saying the Rosary, clutching Darragh's tweed cap. Tears stain her cheeks.

"Mom!" Liam quickly is at her side.

She looks up, and her face crumples. Liam pulls her up and into his arms. She sobs, "They're putting him on a ventilator so he can have last rites. Father Antonio is coming to deliver them."

Liam's jaw trembles, and he sniffs hard. He avoids looking at me and focuses on the ceiling.

"Ruth." A bald man wearing a priest's collar approaches us.

She pulls away from Liam. "Father Antonio."

He embraces her, and she sobs all over again.

I wipe my face and slide my arm around Liam's waist. He puts his arm around my shoulder but doesn't look at me.

Father Antonio releases Ruth and shakes Liam's hand.

A nurse comes out and says, "You can go in now."

We solemnly walk into Darragh's room. He's hooked up to a ventilator, and it's beeping. Ruth and I keep crying. Liam's face hardens. He picks up one of his father's hands, and Ruth holds the other. Father Antonio administers the last rites, and both Ruth and Liam spend a few moments alone with Darragh.

Ruth signs paperwork to remove the ventilator, claiming it's what Darragh wanted. The hospital staff remove it then we all go back in the room and wait.

Several hours pass before Darragh takes his last breath. He never opens his eyes. Liam never cries, nor does he look at his mother or me. He keeps me close to him, with his arm around my shoulder, but continues to avoid me. Father Antonio stays the entire time next to Ruth.

We offer to spend the night at his mom's house, but she claims she wants to be alone. When we get home, it's after midnight. It's only once we get into bed that Liam breaks down.

And it's the only time he ever cries.