“Patrick.”
“Patrick?” My brows furrowed in confusion. “Who the hell is – oh my god.” My eyes widened to saucers. “That lad from the Tommen party?”
Grinning, she bit down on her lip and nodded. “Not too shabby for a girl from Elks, huh?”
“Wait.” I choked out a surprised laugh. “Isn’t he like a fourth year?”
“He’s seventeen and in fifth year. And like you can talk,” she laughed back. “Isn’t your baby daddy younger than you?”
“Oh yeah, by three whole months.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m the ultimate cougar.”
“Yeah, well, enjoy sitting your ass on the couch tonight growing your cub, because I am going on the prowl.”
“Hey, don’t diss the couch life,” I grumbled. “Where’s he taking you?”
“The backseat of his car, if he’s lucky.”
“Wow. Make him work for it, why don’t you?”
“Stem the bitchy pregnancy hormones, un-virginal Mary.”
“I’m more virginal than you,” I huffed. “At least I’ve only had one dick inside of me.”
“Yeah.” She snorted. “One un-protected, over-productive dick.”
I grinned. “I’d take his dick any day over Sticky-Dicky.”
“Hey now, don’t knock Sticky-Dicky.” She waggled her brows. “It’s not all about the size of the boat, Aoif, it’s the motion in the ocean.”
“Whore.”
“Blasphemy.” She feigned a gasp. “Who’s the one living in sin here? For shame, Molloy. What would Sister Alphonsus say if she saw you now? Tut-tut.”
“There’s something seriously wrong with us, isn’t there?’
“Probably,” she agreed with a laugh. “I blame you.”
“And I blame you.”
“So, Joey was really okay about the baby, huh?” she asked, sobering her features, as she toed on a pair of six-inch heels. “He was supportive?”
“He took it so well, Case.” I blew out a breath. “I was so scared about how he would react.”
“Nah, I knew he’d stick by you.” She waved a hand around aimlessly. “Say what you want about that boy, but he’s good with kids.”
“He is good with kids,” I agreed with a sigh. “He practically raised his youngest brother.”
“Well then. At least one of you guys will know what you’re doing,” she replied, flopping down on the bed next to me. “So, any idea about what you’re going to do about your brother?”
“Don’t, Case,” I grumbled, feeling a swell of anger rise up inside of me at the mere mention of Kev. “I’m so done with him.”
“You can’t be done with him, Aoif,” she replied with a weary sigh. “Not only is he your brother, but he’s your twin. You guys shared a womb.”
“I know, and that’s what makes it worse,” I bit out, scowling. “He really screwed me over, Case.”
My phone rang then, and I was glad of the reprieve.
Unwilling to talk about Kevin, much less consider forgiving him, I reached into my jeans pocket and smiled when Joey’s name flashed on the screen.
“It’s Joe.” Springing to my feet, I grabbed my bag and threw it over my shoulder. “He’s ready to get picked up.”
“Fine.” Casey rolled her eyes and waved me off. “Abandon me for your baby daddy.”
“Enjoy your date,” I called over my shoulder as I swung her bedroom door open and hurried through her tiny sitting room-kitchen to the flat door. “Text me all the details tomorrow.”
“Will do.”
“And use a condom.”
“I always do,” she sang out. “I’m not you.”
Laughing to myself, I closed the flat door behind me before clicking accept and putting my phone to my ear. “Hey, stud.”
“Aoife,” a young voice came down the line, followed by the sound of sniffling. “Aoife, can you come get us?”
“Ols? Is that you?” Frowning, I readjusted my bag on my shoulder and hurried down the communal stairwell to the ground floor of the building. “Are you okay? You sound like you’re crying? Where’s Joey?”
“You gots to come get us,” he cried down the line. “Please, Aoife, please. You gots to come quick.”
“Okay, okay, I’m on the way right now,” I tried to coax, panic setting in, as I hurried outside to my parked car. “I’m getting into my car right now, Ols. I’ll be at your house in two minutes.”
When I pulled up outside Joey’s house a couple of minutes later, and climbed out of my car, I honestly felt like my heart was trying to beat its way out of my chest.
I didn’t want to go into his house, but the terror in Ollie’s voice had me doing just that. With sweaty palms and a racing pulse, I moved for the front door, feeling my panic climb with every step I took.
“E-fa.” Trip-tumbling off the front doorstep, Sean came barreling towards me with tears streaming down his cheeks. “E-fa.”
Oh God.
This was bad.
This was so fucking bad.
“Hey, Seany-boo,” I strangled out, hoisting him into my arms, as I kept moving for the door. “Are you okay?”
“E-fa.” Sniffling, he burrowed his face in my neck and the feel of his small body trembling caused my heart to seize with dread. “O-ee.”
“I called an ambulance,” Tadhg choked out, greeting me at the front door. “I think she’s dead.”
“He killed her,” Ollie was screaming from the hallway. “Daddy killed Shannon.”
Feeling faint with panic, I stumbled through the front door with Sean in my arms, only to be greeted with a scene right out of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
There was blood everywhere.
“Joey,” I called out, feeling lightheaded, stopping in the kitchen doorway with my eyes clenched shut, almost afraid to see what was beyond the doorway.
If anything had happened to him, I wouldn’t cope.
I couldn’t think about it.
“Joey!” My voice cracked and I clung tighter to his baby brother. “Joey, please tell me you’re okay!”
“Molloy,” I heard him call back, and the sound of his voice gave me the courage I needed to cross the threshold of the doorway and step into the kitchen.
I knew what I was about to witness would be bad, but nothing could have prepared me for the sight of my boyfriend, bloodied to a pulp, slumped on the kitchen floor, cradling the lifeless body of his sister in his arms.
The fact that Teddy was nowhere to be seen gave me little comfort in this moment.
Because I knew that he had been here.
This brutality had his name written all over it.
“What’s wrong with her?” I demanded, almost dropping Sean from the fright I got when my eyes absorbed the carnage in front of me. “Oh god, why is she bleeding out of her mouth?”
“She’s dying,” Tadhg screamed, shaking his mother’s shoulders. His mother who was sitting on the kitchen floor, holding a bag of peas to her daughter’s chest like it was the solution to everything. “He killed my sister and you’re doing nothing.”