He looked down at his family. Regan lifted her chin, her expression sympathetic. “Go. We’ll be okay for another few minutes.”
“I’ve got them,” Robyn assured him.
As he reluctantly followed Lachlan out onto the deck, he snapped, “This better be quick.”
His brother didn’t answer him. He led Thane down the deck and across the yard into his garden.
“Lachlan, where are we going?”
He glanced over his shoulder at Thane, his expression as cloudy as Thane’s. “Trust me.”
Despite the impatient fury boiling inside him, he followed Lachlan into his house and upstairs to the home gym that made Thane’s look pathetic in comparison. Lachlan led him over to the corner—to the boxing bag.
“Robyn’s.” Lachlan tapped it. “I put it in here for her. It’s where she leaves everything that frustrates her. It got used a lot in the first few days of Regan’s arrival. And it’ll be the first place she comes tonight.” His eyes darkened. “One parent, Michelle Kingsley, told us McClintock grabbed Eilidh at the gate, but Regan rushed him. He backhanded her, and that’s what drew Will’s attention. He moved in to help, and Regan got Eilidh free from McClintock. Will got hit and McClintock went for Eilidh again. Regan hit him, dazing him long enough to get her arms around Eils and Lew, protecting them with her body. That’s when the other parents descended on him, but the bastard got a few more kicks and punches in to Regan’s head and back before they subdued him.”
The imagery his brother created made Thane sick with fury; at the same time, his chest ached with gratitude.
“There was no way he would have gotten Eils,” Lachlan assured him, his eyes bright with pride. “Regan would have died before letting that happen.”
Thane found it hard to swallow, his throat so thick with emotion.
“I misjudged her,” Lachlan admitted softly. “I wanted to believe in her for Robyn’s sake, but there was always a part of me waiting for her to show us who she really was.”
He thought of Regan using her body as a shield to protect his children and felt like his heart might explode. “This is who she really is,” he replied hoarsely.
His brother nodded. “The question is why she needed to protect Eilidh. Who is McClintock, Thane?”
“The man Fran had an affair with,” he bit out, knowing the truth was unleashed now, no matter what.
Lachlan looked away for a second, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “She cheated on you?”
“Aye. He was a colleague at her school. I caught them a few months before we found out Fran was pregnant with Eilidh. It had been going on for months.”
“And you forgave her? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Hearing the disbelief in his brother’s voice, Thane bristled. “She was my wife and my son’s mother. I had to try. Especially when she told me she was pregnant again. And I didn’t want you to treat her differently. The only person who knows is Regan.”
Lachlan’s eyes widened slightly at that detail, but then something else seemed to occur to him. He exhaled slowly. “Is Eilidh McClintock’s?”
“No,” Thane growled.
“You did a paternity test?”
“No. I don’t need to.” Thane took a menacing step toward his brother. “She’s my daughter.”
“And if she’s not?” Lachlan pushed.
“Lachlan, brother, unless you want my fist in your face rather than that punching bag, don’t say another word.”
Realizing Thane couldn’t even entertain the thought of another man being Eilidh’s birth father, Lachlan let it drop. He pushed the boxing bag toward him. “Let it go here. You can’t go back into the house the way you are now. You’re seething. And the kids need you calm.”
Taking Lachlan’s advice, Thane shrugged out of his jacket, whipped off his jumper and the shirt beneath it, and brought his fists up to his face. Instead of the boxing bag, he saw McClintock. He saw McClintock terrifying his children. Punching Regan. Regan shielding them while she took blows to her head and back. His rage flooded out of him, and he roared as he threw a punch powered by its intensity.
By the time the worst of it drained out of him, sweat soaked his hair and skin.
Head bowed, hands on his hips, Thane whispered, trying to choke back the tears, shaking with the force of it. “What if she isn’t mine?”
Arms came around him, and he found himself pulled into his big brother’s embrace. “We’ll deal with it … and you won’t lose her. We’re not losing her. I won’t let that happen. Whatever it takes, Thane, I mean it. Whatever favors I need to owe, whatever palms need greased, laws fucking broken—I will do it. Nobody is taking our wee girl from you.”
Thane tightened his hold, needing to believe more than he ever had that Lachlan Adair could do anything he set his mind to.
23
Regan
“Freaking wonderful,” I muttered as I looked into the mirror above my bathroom sink. The kids had been reluctant to let me out of their sight, but as we’d sat on the couch waiting for Thane and Lachlan to finish whatever they were doing, I’d felt cramps in my lower stomach.
With everything that had been going on, I’d lost track of the time, but sitting there, I realized what date it was.
Excusing myself to the annex bathroom where I kept my toiletries and stuff, I discovered my suspicions correct.
My period had arrived.
Perfect.
Nothing like holding a frozen bag of peas to your face and a heating pad to your belly as a visual representation of how shitty your day was going.
Walking back into the main house just as Thane and Lachlan did, Thane ran his eyes down my body and back up again, a deep scowl scoring his brows. “Where were you?”
“I needed something,” I said vaguely, not wanting to announce to the room about my period. Then noting both he and Lachlan had changed shirts and Thane’s hair was wet, I frowned, “Where were you?”
His attention moved to where Eilidh and Lewis were curled on the couch, watching a movie with Robyn. When he turned to me, he looked so shattered, I wished I could embrace him. “Expelling some of my anger.”
Fuck it.
I walked over and put my arms around him, pressing my cheek to his chest, and not giving one shit what his brother or my sister thought. To my relief, Thane closed his arms around me.
Tight.
He took a shuddering breath. “Thank you,” he whispered. “What you did today … I can’t ever repay you for that.”
Lifting my head, my heart in my throat and most likely in my eyes, too, I whispered back, “You never have to thank me for that.”
Thane’s gaze dropped to my mouth, and for the first time since the attack, I couldn’t feel the throbbing in my cheek. All I could feel was the promise of his lips on mine.
The doorbell rang, breaking the moment. We both blinked rapidly, guilt flooding me as I remembered where we were. Pushing away from each other, I caught Lachlan’s eyes over Thane’s shoulder and experienced more than a twinge of concern at the suspicion in his expression.
Before anyone could answer the door, it burst open and Arro’s voice carried toward us. “We brought food! Where are my babies?”