Briar Valley: The Complete Duet

15. Willow

CHAPTER 15

WILLOW

SPOTLESS – ZACH brYAN & THE LUMINEERS

The smell of toast and frying bacon meets my nostrils. Peeling my eyes open, I catch sight of Killian walking in, dressed in a pink, flowery apron. Huh . I’m definitely still asleep.

“Morning sunshine,” he coos.

Blinking hard, I wait for the dream to fade and reveal the real world. Instead of that happening, he places the tray of breakfast down in front of me, a blazing smile on his usually grumpy face.

“Kill?” I moan groggily.

“Wake up. It’s time to eat.”

“Are you… real?”

Cursing, he unties the apron and swiftly chucks it on the floor. “Do you believe I’m real now?”

For extra measure, he moodily stomps on the floral fabric to convince me. From the sour look on his face, tinted with a hint of humour, I realise this isn’t actually a dream.

“Why are you cooking for me?”

“You’re knocked up with my kid,” he replies happily. “Therefore, I am going to stuff you full of food at every opportunity for the next nine months. Get used to it.”

Letting my head hit the pillows, I huff in annoyance. “Great.”

Day one of this bullshit and I am already over it. I knew from the moment I saw their faces that this would send their overprotective instincts into overdrive.

Around me, the pale walls of my cabin are lit by winter sunshine as Killian opens the curtains. I pull myself up and take a bite of toast.

We arrived home late yesterday afternoon from the hospital. Zach and I were discharged after being kept overnight for observation, both roughed-up and heavily bruised.

“Where’s Ari?”

“Eating eggs with Micah.” Killian sits down on the bed next to me. “I convinced her not to come screaming in here for attention.”

“Thanks. My head is pounding.”

“Need some more pain relief?”

Nodding, I wait for him to grab the pills I was discharged with, then I wash the tablets down with coffee. Peering over the rim of the mug, I pin him with a look.

“This is decaf, isn’t it?”

Killian plasters on his best innocent expression. “No idea.”

“You’re such a controlling son of a bitch.”

“You’re pregnant!”

“Shh.” He playfully nips at my fingers when I attempt to cover his mouth. “Don’t go yelling about it. I’m not ready for Ari to know just yet.”

“When can we tell people?”

Lord, I never thought I’d see the day Killian acts like an excited puppy who’s got the bone. All it took was getting knocked up after a protection-less sandwich.

“Not yet! It’s way too early. I need to get to at least twelve weeks, when things are more stable.”

His face softens. “It’s going to be okay, baby.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“But I can promise that we’ll do everything in our power to make it okay, no matter what it takes.”

Reaching up, I stroke his blonde beard until I’m cupping his cheek. Killian leans into my touch, his fire-lit eyes piercing mine and filled with determination.

“You promise?” I ask huskily.

Passion burns in his gaze. “Swear on my life.”

“It isn’t just our lives we’re gambling with anymore, Kill. This baby is at risk now too.”

“Don’t say that,” he murmurs, his big hand reaching around the tray to cover my belly. “You and our baby are going to be just fine. Arianna too. We’re going to fix everything.”

“Lola used to say the same thing to me.” I put down the toast, which turns to ash in my mouth.

Pain flickers in Killian’s eyes. Even he can’t believe that we’re safe. Not here. Not now. We’ve fired the first shot, and that convenient little car accident was Mr Sanchez responding.

“She’d be so fucking thrilled right now,” he says.

“Yeah… She would.”

“Having Arianna around was the highlight of her life… but seeing us have a baby together? Damn, princess. That would’ve been everything to her.”

“If we live long enough to have this baby.”

He leans forward, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not?” I challenge. “It’s true. You think he’ll stop at a car crash? Mr Sanchez obviously knows we’re on to him.”

“Tara and Hyland are outside,” he reminds me. “Armed to the teeth and looking scary as fuck, I might add.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“This was your plan!”

“And maybe I was wrong.” I shrug. “We can’t beat him. Not like this. I won’t risk our lives again.”

Incensed, he looms over me on the bed, pausing a beat before capturing my lips in a breath-stealing kiss. I let his mouth devour mine for as long as he needs. The crash has shaken us all badly.

Seeing Zach unconscious and covered in blood is something I never intend to repeat. But I won’t hide away—that isn’t going to stop Mr Sanchez from threatening our lives all over again.

No.

I’m going to flush him out.

Expose every last drop of his depravity and force him to show his true colours to every single person he’s poisoned against me with his false narratives. Only then will I let Sabre drag his ass to prison.

We’re taking our lives back.

“I need to pee,” I mumble against Killian’s lips. “Don’t get any ideas.”

“Damn,” he grunts. “This kid is being a cockblock already, huh?”

Pushing his shoulder, I quickly relieve myself and find him gone when I return. His shadow looms in the kitchen where another technicoloured, heavily bruised face greets me.

“Morning,” Zach offers.

I have to swallow the bubble of shame that looking at his painful face brings. “Hey. How are you feeling?”

“Like someone rammed a car into me.” He laughs it off. “What about you?”

“Pretty much the same.”

“What about…?”

Trailing off, he casts a side look at Arianna who is happily stabbing the pile of scrambled eggs on her plate. When his eyes duck down to my midsection, I catch on.

“Fine. Just a little nauseous.”

“Sit down.” Killian guides me over to the table. “I’ll bring your breakfast in.”

Before taking the empty seat, I pause to drop a kiss on Arianna’s head. She’s eagerly shovelling her breakfast down in preparation to return to school with the other children this morning.

“Does your face hurt, Mummy?”

I ghost a finger over the bandage covering a stitched cut on my forehead. “It’s fine, baby.”

She freaked out and had a meltdown when we arrived home yesterday, all bruised and battered from the crash. It took hours for her to stop crying out of fear.

“Who are those funny people outside?” Arianna wrinkles her nose.

Just outside the window of our cabin, two figures stand at the front door, one on either side. Tara and Hyland are wearing their usual all-black clothing with thick jackets on top to protect against the wind chill.

“They’re friends of mine,” I quickly lie.

“Friends?”

“To keep us safe, Ari.”

“You mean like knights?” she asks excitedly.

“Yes, like knights protecting their princess. That’s you, baby.”

“Wow! I’ve never seen real knights before. Can I go and say hello?”

I ruffle her perfect braids, no doubt courtesy of Zach. “Of course. Maybe ask if they want a cup of coffee?”

With a huge smile, she skips off to introduce herself. We all stifle laughter as Hyland crouches down on one knee to reach her height, folding his massive body in half to do so.

“What’s your name, sweet pea?”

“Arianna,” she replies matter-of-factly.

“My name’s Hyland.” He sticks out a paw-like hand for her to shake. “You’re gonna come to me if anything makes you feel scared around here, alright, kid?”

“Alright. My mummy wanted to know if you’d like coffee.”

He chuckles. “I think we’re okay, kiddo.”

Tara makes a pout at me then mouths, “So cute.”

When both of them stiffen, pushing Arianna behind them and reaching for concealed weapons, my heart leaps into my mouth. But the tinkle of Aalia’s voice settles me again.

“Morning!” she calls cheerfully.

“Aalia and Johan are here!” Arianna cheers.

She rushes back inside to grab her backpack and coat. I help her pull the pink, sparkly pack on and fuss over her for a few more seconds before eventually dropping a kiss to her cheek.

“Have a good first day back at school, Ari. Be good for Rachel and Miranda.”

“I’m always good,” she sasses, hands on her hips.

“Yeah, yeah. I mean it.”

Arianna rolls her eyes. “I will, Mummy! I promise.”

“Good girl.” I smooth her plaits.

Stepping outside, Hyland secures himself to her side. I move to the door to watch Aalia size up Arianna’s new protection with a visible gulp. He looks even bigger next to my tiny little girl.

“Morning, Willow!”

I wave back at her. “Hi.”

“You new here?” Aalia jokes as she peers up at Hyland’s monstrous height.

The smile that graces his lips is weirdly gentle and patient.

“Something like that. Shall we go?”

“Lead the way.”

“I’ll let you do the honours,” Hyland jokes.

“What a gentleman.”

He laughs and falls to the back of the group, remaining an invisible but ever-looming presence to protect Arianna from harm. They vanish, leaving the three of us in peace, with Tara remaining on guard outside.

We return to breakfast and eat in silence until the front door clicks open again, emitting a shocking sight. Zach’s fork clatters loudly against his plate.

Micah is dressed, showered and walking steadily as he enters my kitchen to make his own coffee. There’s almost a bounce to his movements after weeks of being hunched-over and downbeat.

“What?” He frowns at us all.

“You feeling okay?” Zach chuckles.

“Fine. Just got some work to do this morning.”

“Did you sleep in the studio last night?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “My bed.”

When he vanished after we came home from the hospital, we assumed he was too overwhelmed by what happened and would lock himself away again.

“We should talk about sleeping arrangements,” Micah declares. “We can’t be split across two cabins when the baby gets here. It won’t work.”

Reaching over to Zach, I gently click his mouth shut from where it’s hanging open. “Um, sure. We can talk about that. Bit early, though, isn’t it?”

“Never too early to be prepared,” Micah quips.

Stuffing a banana into his pocket, he takes his coffee and vanishes back out into the early winter morning to head for his studio. We’re left in stunned silence, watching his perky footsteps.

“Did everyone else see that as well?” Zach asks urgently. “Or am I just losing my shit after that head injury?”

“How many fingers am I holding up?” Killian lifts a hand.

“Uh, four.”

“Seven.” He shakes his head. “You’re definitely losing your shit, kid.”

“No!” Zach protests. “That was totally four.”

“Clinically insane, in my professional opinion. That head injury knocked whatever brains you had left out of you.”

Eyes narrowed, Zach grabs an unbuttered slice of toast and launches it at Killian’s head. “Fuck you, Kill!”

“The truth hurts!” he chortles.

Needing to escape their antics and loud voices, I take my coffee back to the bedroom and softly shut the door. Stronger waves of nausea crash over me with each footstep I take.

When they subside, a prickle of anxiety remains. This is really happening. I couldn’t believe my ears when the doctors revealed that I was pregnant again, after being told it was virtually impossible.

Standing in front of the floor-length mirror in the corner of my bedroom, I rest two hands above my slightly rounded belly. It hasn’t been truly flat after having Arianna, and I’m naturally curvy anyway.

“Hey there, little bean,” I whisper to myself.

Inside me, there’s a new life growing. Expanding. Developing senses, neurons, nerve connections. Thoughts and feelings. Hopes. Dreams. So many endless possibilities lie within my belly.

“I’m going to keep you safe. I promise.”

Even to my own ears, the promise doesn’t ring true. I can’t keep my unborn child safe without throwing myself into the cage to fight to the death. Mr Sanchez can’t be beaten from the shadows.

I have to take this into the real world.

I have to speak up for all the victims.

Still cradling my belly, I gently stroke the rounded slope, envisaging the person who will one day stand beside me. Another Arianna, or a younger brother for her to endlessly annoy.

I can picture Micah’s tiny, sweet smile on them, or Zach’s deep, empathetic green eyes. Killian’s strong angles and his gruff, gentle kindness. All the best parts of them.

We’re going to have a baby.

A life. A future. A chance.

I can’t waste that—not for Mr Sanchez.

“Okay, kiddo.” I let my hands drop from my belly. “Let’s do this.”