There with You (Adair Family 2)

The reminder that Thane couldn’t sweep her into his arms and bury his face in her throat so he could feel and hear her pulse rushing, alive and healthy, was a gut punch. Instead, all he could do was lower to his haunches before her and place a comforting hand on her knee.

“Are you all right?”

She gave him a wry smile. “Eilidh is all right, so I’m all right.”

At the disagreeable sound Robyn made in the back of her throat, and the way her eyes blazed, he could see she didn’t think so. He turned back to Regan as she shot her sister a quelling look, and he noted the bruise at her temple.

“What the—” He cut off his curse just in time as he stretched to push her hair back. Barely able to hear over the blood rushing in his ears, he demanded, “What exactly happened?”

Regan brushed his hand away and gestured subtly with her head toward the children. Her eyes said “later.”

“Ree-Ree’s going to be okay, right, Daddy?” Eilidh stared up at him soulfully. Lewis wore the same expression.

“I’m fine.” She turned, switching the frozen peas to her other hand so she could pull the children into a one-armed hug. They both tried to plaster themselves to her side, and his gut tightened at how shaken up they all were.

He stood abruptly, leashed fury burning his nerve endings.

McClintock was going to fucking die for this.

“Robyn, why don’t you call out for some food?” Lachlan was suddenly at his side, his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I’m going to take Thane outside for a minute.”

“I’m not leaving them,” Thane growled.

“You need a minute. And I need to fill you in on what happened.”

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?”