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Everything else might have changed, but his grip was the same. A handshake was a handshake with him and not an act of war like it was with Senior.
After, we stood there awkwardly until Jen laughed, and it stirred me into action.
As I shuffled him down the hall toward my office, he asked, “Who’s laughing?”
I could have told him who Jen was to him right then and there, but I didn’t have the energy. That explosion in the kitchen had taken everything out of me. I just wanted to get into bed and sleep for a goddamn decade.
“A friend of Aoife. Aoife’s my wife.”
“I remember.”
Nodding, I chivvied him down the hall, keeping it low because it was Jake’s nap time.
Only when the door was closed behind us did I drawl, “Never thought I’d see a day where a ghost would be in my office.”
“You’ve come up in the world,” was all he said, his gaze circling the space as he shook his head. “You all have. Penthouses, the lot of you.” His smile was sheepish. “And I thought we were flush with cash when I left.”
“Times change.” I arched a brow at him. “Need a drink?”
“Thought you’d never ask,” he said dryly, heading over to the sofa in front of my desk and taking a seat.
Aware he was looking around the shelves that lined the room, each loaded with books that he had no way of knowing were first editions and taking note of the artwork on the walls that cost a cool couple million, I poured him a drink, myself another, then moved over to the sofas.
Passing him the tumbler, I took a seat then sipped deeply from the glass.
With his eyes back on me once he’d done the same, he asked, “Brennan said the family’s made it because of you and Conor. That true?”
I shrugged. “I’m good with figures.”
He scoffed. “Good with figures? There’s being able to do trigonometry, Finn, and then there’s creating a billion-dollar industry.”
“Surprised you know what trigonometry is,” I mocked.
The O’Donnellys didn’t exactly applaud educational endeavors.
“Had to help Liam out with school. Amazing what you learn as they grow up.”
Tipping my chin up in understanding, I explained, “You’d already set the groundwork. You, Frank, and Aidan had a great portfolio of properties thanks to your da, and I couldn’t have done this without that.”
Pride had his shoulders straightening. “Really?”
I nodded. “Really. Conor’s good with figures, so he helped me earn more profits—”
“By cutting the IRS out of the loop?” Paddy queried, a gleam in his eyes.
I smiled over the rim of the glass. “Maybe.” I tilted my head to the side, took in the shitty suit and the collar on his shirt that had been laundered several dozen times. “Liam’s gone back home? That’s what Aidan told me.”
He pulled a face. “It’s the middle of the NHL season. He didn’t want to miss any more games.
“Didn’t he need a break?”
“I think that was the last thing he needed. My son’s very determined.”
“I wonder where he gets that from.”
Paddy snorted. “Yeah. I wonder.”
Curious, I asked, “You don’t speak much, do you?”
