AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Twenty-Two
Aela
As I rubbedmy hair dry, I watched Declan as he started to stride from one side of the bedroom to the other. I knew he was on the phone with Conor, and the reason I was listening in was because I’d heard him mention Caro’s name a few times. As well as a couple of curse words in reference to her.
My childhood was too deeply ingrained in me to think of her as anything other than a pig, but I was infinitely curious about why Declan was so pissed. Caro had been investigating me and my clients, a case that had disappeared thanks to the four-grand-an-hour attorney the family had procured for me, so I wasn’t sure why she should be causing the O’Donnellys much of an issue.
Trouble was, in my position, I didn’t expect to learn all that much. Women never did.
Heaving an impatient sigh at the outdated thought process, I alternated between wanting to know and sulking over the status of women in the Five Points. I mean, it wasn’t like Iwantedto get involved, but being out of the loop sucked.
When Declan turned around and saw me, I could tell he hadn’t realized I was in the room.
Because that meant I was slipping under his defenses which, in my opinion, boded well for our future together, I watched him end the call with his brother before I asked, “What’s Caro doing now?”
“You heard that much, huh?” he questioned sheepishly, rubbing a hand over his chin as he eyed me up like I was his ma’s apple crumble.
I’d eaten that today, so I knew it was the bomb.
“I did.”
“We have to pay her a visit in the morning. Conor was just setting it up.”
“How come?” I arched a brow. “Didn’t realize FBI agents were on speed dial for mobsters nowadays.”
“Now, now,” he chided, lips twitching. “You know we prefer to be called businessmen.”
That had me snorting, even as I tossed the towel I’d been using to dry my hair behind me into the bathroom. All the while, he watched me, his gaze trickling over me like liquid silk that he poured over every inch of my body.
While the day had been long, hella long in fact, I was beyond grateful to be home and for the ordeal to be over, but the heat in his eyes made my fatigue vanish in an instant.
I’d never thought to experience the likes of it again, and I was enamored by the way he made me feel as if I was fifteen once more.
“I didn’t expect that today.”
Because my mind was on sex, and his wasn’t, it took a few seconds to register what he was talking about. “Seamus? You mean him defending you?”
“You mean him doing what no one in my family has ever done?” His scowl took me aback before he muttered, “No one has ever understood my love of the arts.” He strolled over to the wall safe, and started the process of opening it.
When the beauties within were revealed, I swallowed at the sight of them, and murmured, “I like the fact that you and these three come as part of a package.”
“She wants me for my art,” he grumbled under his breath, but his smile shone through his eyes, taking away the bleakness buried there after talking about his family. “Funny how they don’t get it, but you do. So perfectly. And Seamus too.”
“He’s my kid. How couldn’t he understand art? It’s fate that you like it as well.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.” I didn’t bother to be wary over what he might ask. There was no point in lying.
The distinct difference between being the aforementioned fifteen-year-old and the sensible woman standing here today was that I didn’t have it in me to play coy.
I was all in at this point, and I wasn’t going to hide it.
“Did you ever expect us to start up again? You said you knew the day would come where I’d find you… did you expect us to get together?”
I blinked, but replied honestly, “No. I didn’t. I thought you’d be married by now.”
“So you just thought I’d set you up in an apartment?”
