It was only when I saw that he was unconscious that I took a shaky breath.
“Nobody mention Inessa fucking another guy,” Conor mock-whispered. “He’ll go Hulk on us if we do.”
I whipped around to glower at him. “Shut up, Kid.”
He hitched a shoulder. “Aidan’s right, you know?” His gaze flickered over to the eldest who was blacked out on the floor. “Have you been working out?”
“Always,” I snapped. “He isn’t right.”
“He is,” Brennan dismissed. “Plenty of eligible bachelors out there who’ll let her wear whatever the fuck she wants and who’ll raise your kid if you’re so insistent on being noble.”
I heard the taunt in his voice.
The silent ‘bring it.’
I stepped forward, fists balled, but Declan and Finn surged in. Each grabbed my arms and held me in place.
Finn, ever the voice of reason in this fucking family, murmured, “Eoghan, you need to calm down. We’re here to make sure you don’t fuck up the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”
“Like you’ve never done that,” I hissed.
His gaze was sad as he caught mine. “I’m trying to spare you from that, baby brother. Don’t push her away. You’ll regret it once it’s too late.”
A spasm worked through me as I thought of her with another guy.
Some other bastard raising Bump.
Someone getting into bed with her who wasn’t me.
Someone knocking back her breakfast smoothies and downing burned pancakes because that was all she could cook which was vaguely edible.
The nascent flickers of fury bore fruit and surged into a fiery explosion that had me struggling against my brothers’ hold.
“Let me fucking go,” I spat at them.
“What are you going to do? Knock us all out?” Conor questioned.
“This is the exact fucking reason Ishouldleave her,” I snarled. “I’m a fucking animal—”
“And she has your leash,” Brennan rumbled, stepping closer, heading into the danger zone. “If anyone can keep you in line, it’s her. Don’t pull away from the only woman who can bring you fucking peace,deartháir.”
I ground my teeth together. “I’m not good for her.”
“Are any of us good for our women? Do you see us leaving them?” Finn asked gruffly. “Sometimes, in this goddamn life, you have to cling onto the things that bring you joy; otherwise, you’ll just molder away in the dark until you’re a shadow. Do you want that?
“Selfish as it might be, the way to repay that is to be thankful for the light they bring. You worship them, Eoghan. That’s how you right the balance.
“We all know you love Inessa. We all know you’d do anything for her. This is one thing you have to overcomeforher. Whether or not you’re bad for her, she doesn’t agree. She wants you, you prick.
“Talking about leaving her could trigger a premature birth. Is that what you want? Is that what she deserves?”
I could feel the wrenching in my chest as my heart tore in two. “She deserves the best.”
“So be the best.Herbest. She doesn’t just love you; she likes you,” Brennan grated out, stepping even closer to me. His hand moved to scrub over the top of my head. “You’re not the only one who’s heard our wives talking about their marriages.
“Shelikesyou, Eoghan. You might be a fucking freak, but clearly she is too if she hasn’t left you by now. So be goddamn grateful and stop shoving it in her face.”
The rage was still there, but I dampened it down.