AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Shay huffed. “I actually vomited.”
“She didn’t think you had food poisoning though, did she? And still made you go and sit that exam, no? That means you lost and I won. Pay up.”
Shay had pretended to have food poisoning to get out of an exam and Aela had caught him in the lie?
“Teenagers,” I muttered under my breath, relieved I didn’t have to deal with that for another eleven years.
Deciding to leave them to it, I headed onto the decking at the back of the house and found Padraig having a smoke.
“Finn,” he greeted, beaming at me as he went in for a hug.
I smiled at him and said, “Good to see you, Paddy.” I meant it. He was free from the BS guilt and anger that filled me whenever I saw or dealt with Lena and Senior. “Nice flight?”
He whistled. “You shitting me? Didn’t realize Junior was gonna send me first-class tickets. I had a ball.”
“You’ll get used to it.” I laughed when he shook his head.
“Nah. Things have been tough, Finn. Been in some rough places. But being back with the fam, it’s good, you know?”
“Why don’t you move back to New York? You miss it, and we can find you someplace to live. Hell, you could even stay in my penthouse. No one else is living there.”
He gaped at me. “Me?”
“Yeah. You.”
“You want me, by myself, to live in that massive penthouse of yours?”
“Well, it’s empty because my realtor says it’s ten million over market price. You might as well use it.”
His mouth rounded at the ‘ten million,’ then his shoulders hunched. It was his massive tell. He did it in life and in poker. “I don’t know, Finn. It might not be safe.”
“You weren’t an enemy of Eamonn Keegan,” I pointed out. “Just Michael Byrne. He’s not a problem anymore, is he?”
Paddy pulled on his collar. “No. Conor told me about that.”
I shot him a look. “How’s he doing? I still can’t believe you used to be his confessional.”
“Well, I ain’t exactly a priest, Finn,” he said with a chortle. “But Con and I…” He twined his middle and pointer fingers together. “…like that. I always wished Liam and—” He sighed. “Some shit isn’t meant to be.”
I clapped him on the back. “I know Con’s glad to have you here.”
“Wish Jen were,” he said mournfully.
“You keep calling her?”
“Yeah. This is the first time I’m seeing her. I’m nervousen tabarnak.” He raised his hand, and I saw the wobble, but it was the shift intoQuébecoisthat rammed his anxiety home. “Look at me. Shaking like a virgin on her wedding day.”
My lips quirked. “Not this wedding.”
Paddy snorted. “Nah, Junior’s not the sort. Locked her in nice and tight. Some women you’ve got to do that with before they fly off. You seen him in a temper?” He whistled. “That kind of fire needs a woman like Savannah. She’ll be a good match for him. Won’t let him get away with shit.”
“I agree. I didn’t push Aoife, but I kind of told her some stuff about you. Tried to get her to ease the path.”
“You did that for me?” he asked rawly.
“Sure. I can see you want to know her. Jen’s difficult though,” I warned. “She’s not an easy person to get to know.”
I watched him preen. “She’s an O’Donnelly, Finn. She was born difficult. Your grandma used to say all O’Donnellys are born breech.”
