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Chapter Twenty-Seven
Finn
The last thingI wanted was to drive to the O'Donnellys’ home.
Not only was I in for a round of shit from Aidan about not attending church, but it would be the first time I faced Lena knowing what she did.
After just having heard yet again that my wife loved me,loved meafter I’d gotten her shot, almost kidnapped and… well, she didn’t know about the shit with her mom, butthattoo? I felt like the luckiest man alive to have her heart.
I’d never break it.
Never.
It was a vow most men thought they made when they married their wives, and it was a vow they broke too. Even Aidan had by fucking around and siring me. But I wouldn’t.
I couldn’t.
Aoife had lost so much because of me, and I wanted to give her the world in return. Not because of a debt, not out of loyalty, but because she was mine, goddammit, and what the fuck was I working so hard for if it wasn’t to give her the sun, moon, and stars?
What I wanted was to go home and fuck her. But she was sore. She hadn’t told me—which I was still pissed about, but it would take time for her to be comfortable with talking about certain things with me. I knew that and accepted it. Didn’t mean it didn’t piss me off, though.
I’d been on her like white on rice these past few days. Fucking her to forget my thoughts, fucking her because I loved being inside her, and then fucking her because the pleasure she gave me was unique. Honestly, she wasn’t the only one suffering. My back was killing me after I’d fucked her on the console table beside the front door. Jesus. Was I getting too old for acrobatic sex with my woman?
I had to hide a snicker—not goddamn likely.
But a rest would do us both good, and though going home for the first Sunday lunch since lockdown wasn’t what I wished we were doing, it was what I was going to do.
Tear off the Band-Aid in one go. Shit like that.
As Jimmy opened the gate for me, tipping his chin at Aoife in a respectful greeting, we drove down the manicured driveway that led to the grand house.
It was built like some kind of old English manor. Ironic, considering Aidan hated the English. The place was three stories, a perfect cube with Palladian windows that he’d bought from a wrecker’s yard somewhere in the UK.
All around, there were flowerbeds and neatly manicured lawn. Sometimes, when I drove here, it was hard to remember we were in the center of the city.
The driveway was full of cars—my brothers’. Not just in my heart, but by blood.
The concept still had the power to stagger me, even as I felt the ties that bound me to this family grow ever tighter. I couldn’t resent or regret that. I just wished learning of my heritage wasn’t tied to a secret that had the power to destroy my marriage.
The only consolation was that Aoife would never discover the truth. Lena wasn’t about to tell her, neither was Aidan. It was a cover up of the worst kind, but with no alternative, I just had to make sure I gave Aoife the best, the most joyous and contented of lives as an apology to her mother.
Michelle sounded like a good mom, and I knew most mothers wanted nothing more for their kids than someone who would love them and who would stick to their vows.
Even without this dirty black secret on my soul, I’d always intended to have and to hold Aoife for the rest of my life. Not just because I was Catholic, but because she was it for me.
It with a capital I.
When I parked the car behind Declan’s, I climbed out and moved around the vehicle to open Aoife’s door. Even though she had arms and legs of her own, here? It was old school, and I quite liked it. At the hotel, I’d just glared at her but hadn’t said anything, here she knew to follow the unspoken rules.
Aidan had taught all the boys to treat their women like a queen. To open doors for them, to help them out of cars, to ease them into a seat at the dining table.
Little gestures, but ones that were respectful and loving.
When she slipped her hand into mine, she shot me a knowing look. I’d never said that she had to act like a ‘lady’ around Aidan, but she was remarkably perceptive.
When a throat cleared, my head shot up and I saw Aidan glowering at me from the house. When Aoife was out of the car, I slammed the door shut, glowering back at Aidan all throughout the walk to the front door.
“Why weren’t you at church?”
