Page 25 of Tainted Blood

“It would explain why my father hated me so damn much. This was taken before my mother was pregnant with me. Do you know the exact date?”

“I’m sorry, but it was early January.” My eyes slam shut as I process the truth. There is no doubt in my mind that Governor Donovan Saunders is my father.

“Could you leave me?” I say, choking on the words as if they were too thick to get out of my throat.

“Sure. Please let me know if you need anything.” I can see the sympathy in her eyes. I’m sure she wants to ask me what I’m thinking, but right now I’m not sure what to think.

“Okay.” As soon as she’s gone, I set the fucking soup tray on the floor because I’ve lost my appetite. What the hell happened? If they were so in love, why did she stay with my father? Why did he marry another woman years later?

I need answers, and the only one who can give them to me is Saunders, who I’ve never run into. Unlike my brothers, I’ve kept my distance from him because I’m not known for my patience. What if I had killed him out of family loyalty? My mother would have been devastated and my father would have gloated. A sick, pang tears through my gut and I lose whatever I ate. Fuck.

“Ian, Ian,” Connor calls out. I hear them rushing up the stairs. They open the door and say, “Shit. We need to get you cleaned up. The ride must have fucked you up. The doctor just pulled up.”

Jack came in with the doctor and a nurse. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” a middle-aged woman says. “Can one of you boys lend me a hand in getting him in the shower?”

“He can shower?”

“Not until we prep his bandages, but once they’re properly wrapped he can wash up.”

“Good because I don’t need him stinking up my sheet with sweaty balls,” Connor teases.

“You’re always a prick.”

“Speaking of, don’t go getting excited in here,” Jack adds.

“God, you guys are assholes.”

“No, they are brothers.”

“You’d be surprised how common this is,” the nurse laughed. She prepares everything and then messes with the water. “Now come on let’s get you inside and please sit. It will be a lot easier.”

My brothers help me wash and then dress me in a pair of boxers and a tee shirt before I’m led back to bed. Claudia must have changed the sheets while the doctor and the nurse work on the equipment.

“I have to be hooked up to all of this?”

“Only for a couple of days. You’re not as good as you think you are, Mr. MacNamara.”

“You’re truly lucky to be alive,” Jack added.

“I know.” More than they realized. Calista fills my head. I miss the fuck out of her. They set me up and I lie my head down nicely. Everyone leaves me so I can rest. I close my eyes and fight off the pain that’s building, both physical and emotional.

Sleep takes me and it’s full of outrageous dreams, but when I wake up, I know one thing, and that’s you don’t let love get away. “Sorry, Calista Vitale—once I’m better, you will be mine.”

Chapter Eleven

Calista

It’s a warm but breezy day when I roll my suitcase out of the airport. My father’s driver is standing at the curb, waiting for me. I smile and say, “Hello, Tony.”

“Hop right in, Ms. Vitale.” He opens the door, and I see my dad in the car, patting the spot beside him. I grin and climb inside, throwing my arms around him.

“Daddy,” I say, hugging him tightly, unexpected tears falling from my eyes.

“Princess, who do I need to kill?” he snarls.

“No one. I’m fine. I guess I just missed you so much,” I answer, wiping away the tears with the heels of my palms. He always makes me feel like a little girl again. There is just something about being with him that makes me feel safe.

“Well, your mother is over the moon that you’re here and has a dozen things prepared for your short visit.” I roll my eyes because I’m sure she does. After they married, they only had boys, three of them before she couldn’t have any more babies. Their marriage is a true love marriage, whereas I’m the product of an arranged one and yet she never saw me as anything other than her daughter.

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