Damien (Slater Brothers #5)(31)

I glared at him, hate flowing through my veins like blood.

“Don’t tell ’er,” he repeated. “I’m beggin’ you.”

“You don’t deserve ’er.”

“You’re right, I don’t,” Da frantically agreed, flicking his eyes towards the doorway every few seconds. “But please don’t say anythin’. She needs to focus on ’er upcomin’ treatment and beatin’ this sickness, Alannah.”

Anger surged through me.

“How dare you!” I snapped. “How dare you use ’er struggle to keep me quiet!”

“Alannah!” Da almost growled. “Hate me as much as you want, but don’t put your ma through any more pain than necessary.”

“Me?” I whispered incredulously. “I’ve done nothin’! You’re the cheatin’ wanker stickin’ his dick in another woman.”

My da’s jaw dropped. “I have never had sex with Olivia.”

Olivia. That was the tramp’s name.

“I don’t believe you.”

“On me life, I didn’t, Alannah.” He swore. “We kissed, and touched, but it never went as far as sex. It doesn’t excuse anythin’, and it is still a complete betrayal of your ma’s trust, but your mother … she is the only woman I have ever been physically intimate with. It’s been her since I was seventeen.”

“It was her until you met that tramp.”

Da’s whole body slumped.

“I will forever be sorry for breakin’ your ma’s trust. I will, Alannah, but please, think about what tellin’ ’er will do to ’er when we need ’er to be at ’er strongest.”

I began to shake with temper.

“You’re a coward,” I told him. “You’re a fuckin’ coward.”

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I know.”

I heard footsteps descend the stairs, and I felt my da’s eyes burn into me with one last plea to keep my mouth shut. I ignored him and focused on my ma as she entered the room. Her eyes were only slightly red, and she had a smile back in place on her beautiful face. She looked directly at me and found I was already staring at her. She came to my side, sat down, and placed a hand on my knee.

“We’re goin’ to get through this,” she told me, her back straight. “There is nothin’ the three of us can’t beat together.”

The three of us … together. Fuck.

When she hugged me, I looked directly at my da, and when I gave him a slight nod, he practically deflated with relief. I turned from him, closed my eyes, and focused on my ma. I would keep my da’s harrowing secret from her for a little bit longer because he was right about one thing—we needed her to focus on beating her sickness, not on him breaking his vows.

“I love you so much, Mammy.”

She squeezed me tightly. “I love you more, baby.”

Fear wrapped itself around me.

Please God, I thought. Don’t take her from me.

I had never known complete and utter helplessness until that moment.





Four hours ago, I found out my ma had breast cancer. After the initial shock, my parents explained to me that it was detected at an early stage. Treatment would start soon, and the success rate of remission was higher, too. None of that comforted me because, at the end of the day, my ma had cancer, and the only purpose of cancer was to kill its host.

That host was my mother.

I had stayed in my parents’ house talking and crying as I tried to come to terms with this life-altering news. When my ma began to show signs of fatigue, I made an excuse that I had to leave so I could go home and prepare for my business interview the following day. It pleased my ma because she wanted me to carry on as normal, but from the look in my da’s eyes, he knew better.

I found myself outside the front door of Bronagh and Nico’s house not long after I left my parents. It wasn’t very late, closing in on nine p.m. I had to park on the road because Kane’s car was in the driveway next to Nico’s, and Ryder’s car was behind both of them, leaving no room for anyone else. Even though I had a key, I knocked on the door and waited.

Keela opened the door, and she smiled wide when she saw me, but slowly, her smile fell from her face.

“What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t answer her; I walked by her and heard her shut the door behind me and quickly follow me into the sitting room where everyone was. And by everyone, I mean everyone. Jax was asleep in his da’s arms, and Locke was asleep in his ma’s. There was no sign of Georgie, so I assumed she was already up in her bedroom asleep in her cot. Nico had her baby monitor in his hand, so he could see her and hear her if she woke up.

“Well, well,” Alec announced when his playful eyes landed on mine. “Look who decided to show her face.”

I didn’t spare him a glance; instead, I focused on my best friend whose eyes were on me as she slowly got to her feet.

“Alannah,” Bronagh said slowly, drawing to everyone’s attention that I wasn’t okay. “What’s wrong?”

For a moment, I couldn’t speak, and then, somehow, I managed to say words that I knew would plague my dreams.

“Me ma,” I rasped as I prepared to say the words no child ever wanted to say. “She has cancer.”