Kane(47)

"You fuckin' eejit!" I shouted and stalked forward, shoving Nico in the  chest. "Don't ever do that to him again. You were suffocatin' him!"

Nico grunted as he slightly stumbled. "It's the only way I can get him to stop when he starts."

"Starts what?" I asked.

He looked me in the eye. "When he starts fighting... he blacks out and doesn't stop until he is forced to."

Like when he was fighting James a couple of months ago.

I swallowed and looked away. "Bring him home. I have to make sure me friend is okay."

"He had a few drinks more drinks when you went to the bathroom. Your  brothers challenged him to a shot contest. He is drunk and saw Skull  kiss you on the cheek, he got the wrong idea," Nico said when he grabbed  my arm to keep me put in front of him.

"Why're you tellin' me this?" I asked.

Nico shrugged. "So you go easy on him when he is sober."         

     



 

"Fat chance of that," I replied.

Nico smiled. "Come with me, I'll bring you home."

I looked over my shoulder for Skull, but he was gone, and the crowd that gathered outside the pub was already breaking up.

I sighed, "Comin' here was a stupid idea."

"Tell me about it."

"I have to tell everyone goodbye-"

"I'll text Bronagh to make something up. She'll say goodbye for you and Kane."

I sighed but nodded my head.

He turned away from me and helped his stupid older brother up to his  feet then slung an arm around his waist as he guided Kane to their  parked Jeep in the car park. I silently followed behind them.

Nico settled Kane in the back of the Jeep, buckled his seatbelt and  muttered curse words when Kane fell to the left and instantly began  snoring. "Heavy bastard," he grunted.

I smiled to myself as I rounded on the passenger side of the car and  climbed into the front seat, buckling myself up. When Nico was settled  in the driver's seat, he started the fifteen-minute journey to get us  home. For the first few minutes, we were silent until Nico began to  talk.

"He likes you. You know that right?"

I didn't reply because I didn't know what to say.

"He does. He just has a funny way of showing it, but he likes you."

My heart thudded lightly against my chest.

"He can't stand me, Nico."

Nico laughed, "Get real, Aideen. He only argues with you because he doesn't know how else to approach you."

That was stupid.

"So he's just a dick to me because he likes me? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"I never said he was smart."

I grinned a little at that then frowned when Kane snored behind us.

"I... I don't know if I can spend time with someone like him. His  temper... it scares me. I like him too, but I don't know if it's  enough."

"He would never hurt you," Nico assured me.

I nodded my head. "I believe that, but his ability to hurt other people frightens me just as much."

Nico set his jaw. "It's not his fault that he's the way he is."

I blinked. "Whose fault is it then?"

His hands tightened on the steering wheel of the car. "People from our past."

"Ah," I said and snapped my fingers. "Marco? He made you a fighter and Alec an escort, right?"

Nico mutely nodded his head.

"What were Ryder and Kane's jobs for him?"

He glanced at me. "You don't know?"

I huffed, "No. The girls are all about ‘respectin' their men's privacy' or some bullshit like that."

Nico laughed, "I bet that kills you."

"You could say that," I admitted.

With a smile he said, "You aren't missing a lot by being in the dark,  trust me, Ado. Being in the dark when it comes to my family is a  kindness."

I groaned, "Not when I'm havin' a baby with a man who is lost in that darkness."

"I don't know what you want me to say, Ado. Kane is my brother, but even  I don't fully understand or know the things he was put through. He  doesn't talk about it. Ever."

I began to feel sick.

"You mean the cause of his scars?" I asked, my voice low.

Nico nodded and kept his eyes on the road. "He doesn't talk about how he got them, and we don't push him on it."

I leaned back. "Why not? If you understood what he went through, you could help him now."

"He is fine," he assured me. "He rarely gets into fights... it's only since... well, since-"

"Since I got pregnant?"

Nico glanced at me then back to the road as he bobbed his head up and down.

"I know you're adjusting to your life suddenly changing, Ado, but you have no idea how huge this is for Kane."

I remained silent as Nico gave me more insight into Kane.

"He has a low tolerance for people. He accepted Bronagh, Branna, Keela  and even Alannah because my brothers and me love them, and luckily he  grew to love them too. He is a funny and kind person... but he is fucked  up, Aideen. I'm not going to sugar coat it-things won't be easy with  him. But just... just remember how difficult this is for him."

I lifted my hands to my face and rubbed. "I need to know what made him  the way he is. It's not right that he blacks out when he fights-it's  dangerous as hell. He is like a machine."

Nico was quiet for a few minutes until he said, "Ask him why. Just pick the right moment."

Until we fully trusted one another to open up and really talk, I just  wasn't sure if the ‘right moment' would ever happen. Kane had a lot of  layers to him, I didn't know if he would ever let me get to his centre.





"I can't believe you paid people to move everythin' into me new  apartment for me. Me old apartment is empty, I just have me bed, a few  clothes and that's it."

I was currently sat on my bed looking around my bare bedroom. I would be  moving out of it for good tomorrow, and I wasn't even sad about it. I  was ready to be moving on to a new chapter in my life.

Keela snorted through the receiver of my phone. "It was all Alec's idea,  but yeah, I was totally on board with it because there was no way in  hell we were havin' a repeat of movin' day. No, thank you."

I shivered. "Amen, sister."

Keela was a little quiet before she said, "Did you ring your landlord yet?"

I nodded my head even though she couldn't see me. "Yeah, I rang him this  mornin'. He knows I'm leavin' here tomorrow. He was a little surprised I  wouldn't be renewin' me lease, but he was fine with lettin' me out of  my current lease two months early if he could keep me deposit I paid him  when I first moved in."

"I'm glad that's sorted for you. I'm even happier you'll be livin' in Upton. Two minutes away, too!"

I squealed in delight. "I know! I can't believe me apartment. It's stunnin'."

"I can't wait for a sleepover."

I laughed, "Neither can Kane from the way he carries on."

Keela murmured, "Nico told us what happened with him last night. Are you mad at him?"

Was I?

I exhaled. "Yes and no. I'm mad he hurt Skull-who I still have to call,  by the way-and how he behaved, but I understand that he got the wrong  end of the stick. He thought Skull kissed me."

"Well, he does have a right to be angry if he thought it was a real kiss."

"What?" I gasped. "You know we aren't together."

"Officially yes," Keela replied. "But you have both been actin' like a couple for weeks now-you just don't kiss and have sex."

"I don't think-"

"I think just get with him already. You're torturin' the poor lad," Keela griped as she cut me off.

"Keela!" I snapped. "You're supposed to be on my side."

"I told you I'm on the side of love."

I groaned, "What does that even mean?"

"It means," she guffawed, "that you two clearly like each other but are  either too stupid to realise it or too stubborn to admit it. It's one or  the other."

I growled, "Are you callin' me stupid?"

"Yes!" Keela cackled.

I seethed in silence until she stopped laughing at me.

"I'm sorry," she said through her muffled laughter. "I just love that you're in this position."

"Why?" I asked, appalled.

"Because," she sassed, "being with Kane is what you want deep down, and  how he acts around you is forcin' it out of you and you hate it. It's  interestin' to watch it unfold."

"You're un-fuckin'-believable."

"I know."

I pressed my free hand to my face. "I'd smack you if I could."

Keela snickered, "I don't doubt it."

I thought about what she said for a couple of seconds and frowned. "I'm  not goin' to lie, I do like him. I like him so much, but say we get  together... what if we fuck things up? I can't risk it with the baby  comin'."

"That's a big ‘what if', babe."

"You're not helpin' me see sense here," I whined.

"I am," Keela countered, "you're just tryin' to convince yourself what  I'm sayin' is bullshit. You know it's not. I wouldn't suggest givin'  things a go with Kane if I didn't think you'd both be great together."