Illicit Captor by Maggie Cole

EPILOGUE

Scarlet

One Month Later

The car pulls up to the front door. Aidan reaches for the door, but I grab his arm. He turns his head. "What's wrong?"

My belly erupts in butterflies. I admit, "There's something I've wanted to tell ya all night."

His eyebrows pin together. "What is it?"

"Nothing bad," I insist.

"Then tell me."

I swallow. My mouth turns dry.

He orders, "Petal, tell me what it is. You're worrying me."

I take a deep breath and put my hand on his cheek. I ask, "How do ya feel about being a daddy?"

He freezes. "Are ya—?"

"Yea, I am," I blurt out. Excitement fills me with nerves.

He grabs me and pulls me onto his lap. "Seriously? You're pregnant?"

"Yea. Well, I peed on the stick. I haven't told anyone. I know I should go to the doctor to confirm it, but I took two tests. They were both positive. Then I bought another box and took two more. I got the same results. And I thought maybe I should go to the doctor and confirm before telling ya, but then I worried about finding things out that maybe I shouldn't without ya," I say in a rush.

Amusement fills his face. He kisses me. Then studies me.

My butterflies grow. I order, "Say something."

"You're pregnant."

I laugh. "Don't be so shocked."

"I... Holy fuck. You're pregnant. We're going to have a baby," he says, grinning. Then he kisses me quickly and pulls back. "I can't believe ya kept this from me all night."

"I'm sorry. I've been trying to find the perfect time to tell ya, but I don't know. I mean, the food was good, then we were playing Would Ya Rather, and I was really, really hungry."

"Is that why ya didn't drink your wine at dinner?" he questions.

"Ya noticed?"

"Ya didn't touch it all night. But sometimes ya don't drink, so I thought ya just didn't feel like drinking."

"I was trying to figure out how to tell ya. I wanted it to be special. Plus, I didn't know how you'd take it."

He jerks his head backward. "Did ya think I wouldn't be happy?"

I toss my hands in the air. "I wasn't sure. No, wait! I knew ya would. I just... I don't know. It's just... We're going to have a baby!" I exclaim.

He chuckles. "Let's get out of this car and go celebrate."

My insides light up. "I'm not going to complain if ya want to do that thing to me ya did the other night."

He grins. "You're referring to Thursday?"

My face heats and I nod.

A light in his eyes sparks. "Noted." He chuckles and gets out of the car. He reaches in, helps me out, and leads me into the house.

I've never been so happy. I might as well be floating in fluffy clouds. Aidan's the best husband ever. And now, we're going to have a baby. Plus, our baby can play with Alaina and Brody's baby, which seems too perfect.

We walk through the door, pass several rooms, and Brody shouts, "Aidan, we need to talk to ya."

My gut drops. I glance up.

Aidan closes his eyes and shakes his head. He mutters, "Always something. We have to get our own place." He leads me into the den.

Alaina paces with her arms crossed.

Brody's scowling.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

His face darkens. He announces, "Those dumb brothers of ours went to Dublin for a night out."

Aidan snarls, "I ordered them to stay in Belfast."

"Brody, where are they? Can ya pull it up?" Alaina questions.

He glances at his phone and scrunches his face. "Somewhere called The Confessional."

"They went to church?" Aidan blurts out.

The blood in my face drains. I look at my sister, and she has no color either. We lock eyes, and I reach for Aidan's arm.

He asks, "Petal, what is it?"

I swallow hard, answering, "That's an O'Leary pub."

Brody claims, "It's not on our list."

"That's because it's an Ahern pub. Tommy's sister, who got married and has a different last name, owns it," I inform them.

A tense silence fills the room.

Brody seethes, "They just turned their phones off and are ignoring my orders to return to Belfast."

I turn my head, feeling sick, and squeeze my eyes shut. I say to my sister, "This isn't good."

She agrees, "No. It isn't."

"If it's not on the list, then hopefully they can fly under the radar," Aidan states.

"No. They...oh jeez," I fret.

"Petal, what aren't ya telling us?"

I stare at my sister.

Alaina answers with disgust in her voice. "It'll be swarming with Ahern and O'Leary men. One thing I can guarantee ya is they won't be too kind to O'Connors paying any attention to their lasses."

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