no one would ever know...and he deserved nothing less.
Damn it. Ryker blew out a breath. This was how he repaid the family who trusted him, who was loyal to him when no one else cared?
“This isn’t your fault.”
Her soft voice washed over him, and he let out a curt laugh. “No? Am I the one who pushed his way into your room, tore that dress off and demanded you wrap your legs around me? Or was that another man?”
He threw her a glance just in time to see her flinch. Great. Now he was being an ass. All of this was on him. Laney didn’t deserve his anger—she was just as innocent as the child.
His gaze dropped to her flat stomach, and fear engulfed him. Images of his biological father flooded his mind, and Ryker vowed that second to never be that man. Never would he lay a hand on his child, never would he choose the next fix over putting food on the table.
Ryker’s childhood may be a sad cliché, but that was life and all too often kids were mistreated while other adults turned a blind eye to the abuse.
Ryker looked down. Random scars covered his knuckles, his forearms. His life was made up of more ugly than anything else, yet this beautiful, vibrant woman stood here giving him something so precious and all he wanted to do was...
Hell. What did he want to do? He never wanted Braden or Mac to find out about the night he’d spent with their baby sister. Not that he was afraid of them. He could handle anything thrown his way—almost anything.
They trusted Ryker to keep the family safe, to keep all threats away. Wasn’t that why he’d been ordered to follow her back to her hotel that night? Because there had been a threat against her?
For years he’d kept asshats away from her. A few months ago he’d had to use physical force and pull some major strings to get her ex out of her life. The man had made a menace of himself and had started harassing Laney. He hadn’t told Laney what happened, and he never would, but he knew she wondered. Wondered if Ryker had done something sinister. And maybe that was for the best. Maybe she wouldn’t get those stars in her eyes like she’d had when they were intimate in Miami.
Pushing off the table, Ryker ran a hand down his face. Stubble rustled beneath his palm, and he honestly had no idea what to do next. He’d never faced something this life-altering, this damn scary.
“I don’t expect anything from you.” Laney stood straight, apparently feeling better. Her coloring was back. “But I wasn’t going to keep this a secret, either. I know you don’t want anything to do with me—”
“Stop saying that,” he growled. “You have no idea what I want.”
She tipped up her head, quirked a brow, as if issuing a silent challenge. “Enlighten me.”
If only things were that easy. If only their relationship was about sex and nothing else. If only was the story of his entire messed-up life.
“I will be here for this child,” he told her, turning to face her fully. “I’ll keep you protected.”
“You’ve been looking out for me for years.”
He took a step forward. “Not like this. If you think I was protective before, you haven’t seen anything.”
Laney rolled her eyes. “Don’t do this. Don’t be overbearing. If I hadn’t gotten pregnant, I know you would’ve gone on to ignore me on a personal level. That night we spent together wasn’t supposed to happen, but we were on that path for so long, it was inevitable.”
He hated when she was right. Hated even more that every night since then, he’d had to replay it over and over in his mind because he would never be that close to her again. And she’d ruined him for any other woman.
“I can take care of the baby and myself just fine.” She glared back. “But I don’t want my brothers to know just yet. I’m not ready.”
As much as he hated hiding from anything that threatened him, he was in total agreement. Braden and Mac would find out soon enough, but for now, just no. First, he and Laney had to grasp this news themselves.
Ryker took another step until the gap between them was closed. “Let’s get something straight now. I will take care of you and our baby. You need anything, I’m providing it. You won’t shut me out. If I have to haul you off to my home in London and watch you personally, I will.”
Laney snorted. “Really? Now you choose to let me in?”
“I don’t have a choice,” he muttered.
And maybe he never had...not where Laney was concerned.
So how the hell did he even attempt to keep his loyalty to this family when he’d betrayed them? And how was he going to be closer to Laney than ever before and keep his hands off her?
Ryker Barrett had lived through some rough times, but he had a feeling he was entering a whole new level of hell.
How cute was he, thinking he could be all protective and overbearing? Poor Ryker. He clearly forgot he was dealing with an O’Shea. She may be the baby sister, she may be the one everyone loved to keep safely tucked away behind the computer, but she knew more than they’d ever realize. She wasn’t naive, and she wasn’t blind.
And going to London? Not an option. She was working on something right here in Boston that was so near to her heart, she refused to walk away. Pregnant or not, she’d see this project come to fruition.
Once she’d left Ryker’s house earlier, she headed home, changed her clothes and went for a run. Her doctor had informed her that keeping up with her regular exercise routine was perfectly fine. She needed to release some pent-up energy and blow off steam anyway. Perhaps she should’ve joined Ryker in his punching bag workout. Although she feared he’d have pissed her off and she’d have ended up socking him in the face to knock some sense into that thick head of his.
Why did she have to be attracted to such a stubborn, frustrating man? Why did she still have to feel how amazing he was weeks after their encounter? The imprint of his powerful touch would be with her forever. Laney had always wondered if the reality of being with Ryker would measure up to the fantasy...and it was better. So much better than anything she could have dreamed up.
But now that she was pregnant, she wasn’t going to use the child as an excuse to get closer to him. She wasn’t a pathetic, desperate woman. She may have loved Ryker for as long as she could remember, but she would never use an innocent child to get a man.
She’d worried about telling him, though. Worried because she knew enough of his childhood to figure out he probably had no dreams of becoming a father. Ryker never spoke of his birth family—his family had become the O’Sheas the instant Mac and Braden brought him home after school one day. All she knew was that his first twelve years had been hell, and nothing any child should have to go through.
Ryker may be ten years older than her, but that didn’t make him out of her reach. By the time she’d been old enough to notice boys, she’d had eyes for only one man. Oh, she’d dated, but nobody had captured her attention like Ryker. And for years he’d ignored her.
Then
