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Thirty
Savannah
The day had not gonehow I’d imagined, but I was starting to see that that was the way my life was going to be from now on.
It wasn’t even Aidan’s fault.
It was mine.
He was right—I was the one who had dived into this with the Sparrows. I was the one who’d brought just enough danger to myself that Aidan had pushed aside his guilt, and had let his fear for my safety trigger him into acting because, in his mind, it was far better for him to be the monster in my life than the ones waiting out there in the shadows.
I didn’t regret it, was truly fascinated by the turnabout, and when I walked through the front door to the family home and was confronted with seemingly hundreds, maybe even thousands of photographs, it was like ET had phoned home and had gotten a direct ride to his planet.
Eyes big, I stared at them all, scanned them for the faces I knew, ones I didn’t, eager to absorb as much information as I could. When Aidan started laughing at my side, I didn’t even notice, but someone else did.
Someone I didn’t see until she stated, some confusion to her tone, "Junior?"
Tearing my attention from the photos, aware I was salivating and that it was weird, I came face to face with Magdalena O’Donnelly.
The matriarch to Aidan Sr.’s patriarch.
The woman he’d gone to war for.
The woman in whose name he’d committed unspeakable acts.
She was his wife, the mother of his children, but everyone knew she was more than that to Aidan Sr.
She was his queen.
"All right, Ma?" Aidan left my side and dipped down to kiss the cheek of the woman who’d appeared in the doorway. "Merry Christmas."
I gaped at him, at his ease with her, then shook myself because this was his mom. What was he supposed to do? Bow? Just because she was unofficial royalty didn’t mean her kids treated her that way.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "And what about Thanksgiving, hmm? Not a call or a message."
He winced. "I’m sorry."
She scoffed, but begrudgingly muttered, "I’m sure you’ll have a damn good reason for it. I’ll leave you to explain that to your father. Merry Christmas, son." She reached up and grabbed his cheeks, her thumbs digging in. Not to hurt, but so she could tilt his face this way and that. "You look brighter." Her lips pursed as she assessed him.
"Feel it."
I didn’t see what silent communication they had going on with their eyes, but Magdalena hummed and let him go. Then, she turned to me and with a false smile, asked, "Now, who’s this?"
"She’s trouble," Aidan teased, limping over to me and tucking me into his side.
I shot him a sheepish look, then untangled myself from his grasp and walked over to her.
A part of me really wanted to curtesy. And the way she was looking at me didn’t help matters. I half expected her to call out, "Aidan, come lop off her head," but she didn’t. Just carried on looking me up and down as if I were a gnat.
"My name’s Savannah. It’s a pleasure to meet you," I greeted, then when she said nothing, I tacked on, "Merry Christmas."
"Ma," Aidan warned, strolling over to me and tucking his arm around my waist again.
"You boys are going to be the death of me," Magdalena muttered, her gaze on the way he held me close. "He’s already up in arms about Brennan. Now you bring another girl over?"
I cleared my throat. "With respect, I’m not a girl."
"You are to me." She pinned me with a glance. "You’re from that TVGM show, aren’t you? The one who punched the executive in the nuts?"
