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The Billionaire Impotent son-in-law 155
EOINThe ringtone that woke me up wasn’t one I automaticallyrecognized, but some part of my brain knew that it was someone I should talk to. Moving more out of instinct than anything else, I picked my phone up from the nightstand. I accepted the call before I’d completely processed the name I’d seen on the screen.“Sorry to wake you up, but I knew you’d kick my ass if I left you out of this.”Cain sounded way too awake for whatever hellish hour it was.“The hell?”“We’re going back.”I sat up and shook my head, trying to clear out the last of the cobwebs. “What are you talking about?”“I heard back from my army contacts.”Now I caught what I hadn’t before. Cain was pissed and worried. Never a good combination.“The other prisoners that group was holding, they were gone by the time our guys showed up.”“Fuck.” Aline didn’t need to hear this. I got out of bed
The Billionaire Impotent son-in-law 156
ALINEI probably looked as stupid as I felt as Eoin walked out of thebedroom without a look back, but I was still reeling from what’d happened. If I even understood any of it, to begin with.I’d been startled awake by a jarring ringtone that had left me confused for a moment, but when I’d heard Eoin talking, I’d started to relax. Then his tone had shifted, and he’d gotten out of bed. I’d been coherent enough to figure out that whatever it was, it was important, but he’d been speaking too quietly for me to hear even his side of the conversation. Curious, I’d resisted the urge to try to go back to sleep and waited to see if he wanted to talk.He hadn’t wanted to talk, especially to me, something that had become painfully clear by the way he’d answered my questions. When we’d been running – and hiding – for our lives, I’d understood why he’d been abrupt, even rude. I hadn’t made the wisest decisions then or presented
The Billionaire Impotent son-in-law 157
EOINWe spent the beginning of the flight putting togetherinformation, taking stock of everything we had, and coming up with a plan. Well, two plans for me, technically. The other guys didn’t know about the information I was filing away for other possible use. If we took out the entire group when we went in to get the hostages, then I wouldn’t need to use it, but I wanted to have a back-up plan in case that wasn’t the way things went.I was honestly surprised that Cain hadn’t said anything during the briefing, but he’d kept his mouth shut. It was probably a test, seeing how I handled the situation.I wouldn’t put my team or the hostages at risk by putting my need for justice above their safety because I knew none of the men who’d been with me that day would want that, but I wasn’t concerned about my own safety. Yeah, I felt guilty for thinking that way when I knew how much it’d hurt my parents to lose me, but I trusted
The Billionaire Impotent son-in-law 158
EOINWe’d landed on Sunday morning, and it was now Mondayevening, but if anyone had asked how many hours we’d been in the country, I’d have no idea. Honestly, the only reason I even knew the day was because Bruce had announced it when he’d come out of the bathroom at the shithole hotel where we were staying.Bruce was a morning person.We’d landed on an out-of-the-way runway a friend of Cain’s had directed us to, paid a bribe to the man in charge there, and then took a piece of junk van that looked like something a serial killer would use to lure victims.The pilot stayed with the plane, both to keep an eye on it and in case we needed to take off fast. I didn’t know much about him other than he was a scary-looking son of a bitch, and Cain trusted him. That was good enough for me.All the intelligence that Cain had gotten said the kidnappers were in the area, but we’d still had to do some legwork. So
The Billionaire Impotent son-in-law 159
ALINEMost people’s favorite holidays were either Christmas orHalloween, but not mine. Mine had always been Thanksgiving. I loved buying people gifts, giving out candy, and even the whole Easter basket thing, but there was something about a time of celebration that was about appreciating what you had rather than thinking about what you were giving or getting.It wasn’t some pious, high-minded thing that I liked to say so that people would think I was a good person. I genuinely enjoyed spending a day with my family, eating and talking and laughing. Appreciating all the things we’d worked for, the blessings we’d been given.Every year, even when Freedom and I had been in college, we’d make a point of coming home Tuesday night so that we could spend Wednesday making all the recipes that could keep overnight or the things we could pre-prepare like the turkey. Unlike a lot of our peers, both Freedom and I not only knew how t
The Billionaire Impotent son-in-law 160
EOINI had no idea how Mom had managed it, but everyone was herefor Thanksgiving. Everyone. And it wasn’t like all of us were close by.Austin was just in San Jose, but as CEO of Carideo Tech – the company Austin’s father, Marcus, had created – he had the sort of obsession with work that made the rest of us look like slackers, which was saying a lot. He’d missed family events almost as often as I had over the years.Alec and Evanne had brought Lumen, which Mom had immediately taken to mean that their relationship was serious. I tended to agree, but I wasn’t going to bug them about it. I left it up to the others to bombard the happy couple with questions. Evanne had already made the rounds to all her aunts and uncles before heading off to the kitchen to ‘help’ with the cooking.The oldest of the cousins/siblings, Blaze, had flown in from Baltimore on Tuesday evening since his being a professor gave him extra
The Billionaire Impotent son-in-law 161
ALINEOn the surface, everything about today had been perfect. If Iasked my parents, they’d say the same. Freedom, however…I wasn’t entirely sure how she felt. She’d seemed a little off. Like her smiles had been a second too late, or she’d had to pull herself out of her head before she could answer a question.I wanted to ask her if she was okay, but if she took the question badly, it could’ve ruined the whole day. So I didn’t. Tomorrow, we’d have to talk about what we planned to do next, and if it still seemed like something was bothering her, then I’d ask.The fact that my parents and Freedom hadn’t hovered all day made me extremely optimistic about what the future could be. Maybe they’d just needed to work through their own fears and concerns themselves, and now things could go back to normal. Or whatever our new normal would be now that Freedom and I weren’t in school anymore.I had some ideas about how that might
The Billionaire Impotent son-in-law 162
EOINAline and I had talked for nearly two hours on Thursday,then another hour yesterday, and it’d been surprisingly easy the whole time. Sure, there’d been a couple awkward silences at first, but after that, it’d been good. I honestly hadn’t been able to remember a time I’d talked so much, especially not to the same person. I was positive that I hadn’t talked to a woman I wasn’t related to for that long.I also hadn’t been this nervous in a long time. Not like this. When I’d picked up a woman to fuck for the first time since the ambush, I hadn’t exactly been calm, but those nerves had been about my ability to perform. This was different. In some ways, it was almost like my first date ever.Sure, I’d taken women out to eat, that sort of thing, but it’d always been leading up to getting them in bed. I mean, I’d gone from high school straight into the army. Being with a woman had always just been about sex. Yeah, I want
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- The Billionaire Impotent son-in-law
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EOINI’D JUST BEEN READY TO CALL ALINE WHEN A TEXT CAME THROUGHthat she was coming back and we needed to talk. I went back and forth between anxiety and relief while I waited for her. We couldn’t keep doing this.Our lives were linked, and we didn’t have the luxury of waiting until we had our shit figured out before deciding to start a family. The baby was on the way, and no matter what she and I disagreed about, I had no doubt that we were on the same page when it came to being the best parents we could be. To do that, we needed to work this out sooner rather than later.Since I didn’t know if Aline had her key, I unlocked the door and then spent the next fifteen minutes or so pacing from one end of the living room to the other and back again.When she came in, I wanted to just blurt out an apology and explanation, but I also didn’t want to come on too strong. How the fuck did people do this? How did they know what to say or how to say it? I didn’t know the ans
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EOINTHE MOMENT THE WORDS CAME OUT OF ALINE’S MOUTH, I COULD SEEthat she wanted to take them back. Not because she regretted accepting my proposal or didn’t want to live with me, but because blurting it out like that had been like dropping a bomb.Now, we were just waiting for it to explode. I could read it on their faces. I read it on her face too. She realized the impact of what she’d done.And then Freedom turned on me, her expression furious.“What the hell did you do?!” She pointed at me, her clear blue eyes flashing. “How dare you take advantage of her when she was upset! Out on her own for the first time and vulner–”“We’re engaged,” Aline cut her off, clearly deciding to get it all out now that things were in motion for a confrontation. “And I’m pregnant.”Freedom’s jaw dropped, and her face went white. Aline’s jaw tightened. “So, back off.”“What?”The word came out as a whisper, confirming for me that Aline had never spoken to Freedom that way before.“Eoin is m
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EOINIF I DIDN’T QUIT SNEAKING LOOKS AT ALINE, SHE WAS GOING TO CATCHme and want to know what the hell I was doing. Then I’d be put in the very awkward position of either lying to her and her figuring it out or telling the truth and pissing her off. Neither scenario ended well for me.She’d agreed to tell my parents about our engagement and the baby, and I was going with her tomorrow to spend Christmas Day with her family. Both of those were things that I wanted, but I kept feeling like some other shoe was going to drop and ruin it. That she’d suddenly recognize the fact that she could do so much better than me and decide that, while she might want the baby, she didn’t want me along with it. Or she’d think about how pissed Freedom was going to be when she saw me and realize I wasn’t worth the headache.Death wasn’t the only thing that could take someone away.So, I kept watching her, paying close attention to every expression, to every shift in body language.I’d been worried at Marti
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EOINTHE SCENT OF PEACHES WOKE ME UP, AND IT TOOK A MOMENT FOR MEto remember why my bed smelled like fruit. Aline. My eyes opened, my need to reassure myself that she really was here greater than me wanting to sleep a little longer. Once I saw her, I couldn’t look away.We were both on our sides, her back to my front. Her body was curled up, making her look even smaller than she was, and a surge of protectiveness went through me. I slid my hand from her hip to her stomach, wondering when I’d be able to feel the changes to her body, when the baby would start to move, how big it was right now.Was it a boy or girl? Would Aline want to know before or have it be a surprise? When would we be able to tell?I had a lot of research to do, I realized. I wanted to do this right, and that meant not leaving everything up to Aline. Some of the questions colliding together in my brain were the kind that she and I could talk about. I could find the answers for all the others myself. S
- The Billionaire Impotent son-in-law
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EOINI PUT MY PHONE DOWN ON THE COUNTER AND GOT A BEER FROM THEfridge. If I wasn’t driving anywhere tonight, I didn’t need to worry about how much I drank. If I couldn’t be with Aline, taking care of her, getting a little drunk sounded like a good idea. Not so much that I’d be hung over tomorrow, but enough to take the edge off.It was a hell of an edge. Pregnant.I was going to be a father.Maybe. Aline could decide to terminate the pregnancy, but after how her parents had struggled to have kids, I didn’t think that was going to be the route she took. If she did, I’d be there with her, but even as shell-shocked as I was right now, I was hoping she’d have the baby.My baby. Fuck.I needed to sit down, but the few chairs I had were covered with shit from my storage unit. The floor would have to do. I leaned back against my refrigerator and took a long drink.I’d never really thought about being a father. My parents never pressured any of us kids about giving them
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EOINI DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHY ALINE WOULD – AGAIN – THINK I DIDN’Twant her. I knew her family was really overprotective of her, but I couldn’t imagine that translating into any type of emotional abuse. She was a certified genius and one of the most selfless people I’d ever met. And she was gorgeous. The fact that she’d been a virgin – barely even kissed if Freedom had been right about that too – confused the shit out of me because she had to have had guys all over her.Just the thought of any other man near her made my arms tighten around her. I still had my hand in her pants, could hear her ragged breathing slow and even out…and I was jealous of men I didn’t even know, men who might not even exist.Men I didn’t want to exist.I wanted to be it for her. The only man who’d ever know what she looked like when she came.Shit.The thought should have terrified me, but it didn’t. Even though I was painfully hard, I was content to stand here, holding her, rubbing her back with my free hand.
- The Billionaire Impotent son-in-law
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ALINEEOIN’S PLACE WAS GORGEOUS. AND HUGE. NOT AT ALL WHAT I’D BEENexpecting, even after he’d told me that he’d leased a condo rather than an apartment. I’d already known that he’d come from a wealthy family, so it wasn’t the cost of a place like this that surprised me. It was more that this didn’t seem like the sort of place that a single, not-quite-thirty, former military man would live. This was more of a…family home.A beautiful one, but I was starting to feel like seeing all of it, being here with him while such a large question was looming over us, was untethering me from reality. I had experienced this strange disconnect only a few times in my life, most of them recently.“Hey.” His hands were on either side of my face, his skin hot against my cheeks. “It’s okay.”I looked up at him, and then his mouth was on mine, firm pressure without being aggressive, and the contact sent a wave of warmth washing over me, pushing away thoughts of anything else.This man could distract
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EOINMY BROTHER, ROME, HAD OUTDONE HIMSELF WITH THIS CONDO, ANDI’d made a point of telling him that when he’d met me there before I’d gone to pick up Aline this morning. I hadn’t, however, told him about what was going on.I wanted her to meet my family. I knew that by now, but I didn’t want it to happen with a question mark over our heads. So, until we got those test results, only Alec knew that this was a possibility. No matter what happened, though, I wanted her to see my new place because, at some point, I planned for it to be our place.Some of my tension had left when Aline had told me that she was okay and that the IUD debacle hadn’t been my fault, but it’d been such a small bit that as we moved into Playa Vista, my stomach was one giant knot of nerves. Most of it was because we still didn’t know for certain whether or not she was pregnant, but there was still a part of it that had to do with how she felt about my new home. I wanted her to love it.I took her hand as we w
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ALINEI DIDN’T KNOW IF I’D THROWN UP FIFTEEN MINUTES AGO BECAUSE Ihad morning sickness or if it’d been nerves, but either way, it hadn’t been pleasant. I’d been able to force down some crackers, and they’d helped with my upset stomach, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to completely quell my anxiety until I had the results of the blood test. Even if I was pregnant, the waiting was far worse than either answer would be.Eoin seemed to share my sentiments as he arrived nearly twenty minutes early, and apart from the drive, hadn’t been able to sit still. Even in the car, he’d been moving, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel or on his leg, flipping through radio stations, that sort of thing.The latter would have annoyed me normally, but nothing about this situation was normal. And if I were to be entirely honest, I didn’t mind the radio being on because neither of us had said more than a few words, and I preferred the background noise that prevented a total awkward silence betw
