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“There was never any choice. I’m not sure when it happened, but I fell in love with your brother. And Maddie, well, we all know when she fell in love with you. Sometimes, I think she prefers you to me.”
“Oh, there’s no doubt about the fact she prefers me to you.” I roll my eyes as he winks at me and laughs.
We stay in the café for about another thirty minutes, until Maddie can’t eat anymore ice cream and Finn drops us off at home.
“Uncle Finn, where are you going?”
He bends down so he’s eye level with her. “I have to go to work, honey, but I’ll be back later. Grandma Mary is making shepherd’s pie for dinner tonight. You be good for Momma, okay?”
Placing a kiss on her forehead, he stands, giving me a chin lift and then leaves.
“Hey, Liv. Hey, beautiful. You wanna go see Grandma Mary in the kitchen? I think she might want you to help her.”
“Hi, Aunt Bella, okay.” Maddie skips into the kitchen to help Mary, while Bella and I head into the front room.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing. Killian called me, they’re heading back tomorrow afternoon. It was a bust, no new information.”
“Do you know if Ronan is okay?”
“Yeah––pissed they didn’t get any answers, but he’s fine. Killian said Ronan has ordered you a new phone, it will be here tomorrow. Try not to drop this one in the bath.”
She smirks at me, and I shake my head at her.
“Have you spoken to Alex?”
“I haven’t. They are in Ireland––Connor wanted to give her some time away. I can’t believe her ex is back. She’s actually pretty calm compared to Connor. When she was taken last year, Connor almost lost his shit. The fact that they never found J kills him.
“I can’t imagine what she went through, what you’ve all been through in the last eighteen month. I hope Ronan and Killian find them soon, you all deserve some closure.”
Mary brings us some drinks and we sit and chat while waiting for Finn and Niamh to get back.
Maddie climbs into Mary’s lap, her thumb in her mouth as she snuggles in. She’s asleep a few minutes later.
I shake my head. “I’m sorry, Mary, it’s all the sugar Finn lets her eat. Let me grab her.”
“Don’t apologise, and you’ll do no such thing. She’s comfortable where she is. Let me enjoy some cuddles before Finn gets back and she ditches me for him.”
Both Bella and I laugh. “Are you jealous of Finn?” Bella asks, already knowing the answer.
“Yes. She adores my boy, and I love that she is so comfortable around us all, I just wish she loved me as much as him.”
“You know when he was in Ireland almost three weeks ago, we had to ring him every day because she couldn’t settle without talking to him. She’s taken an instant shine to everyone in this family, and you’ve all been amazing with her, especially when I was in the hospital.”
“Sweetie, you’re family––you and this little one, you belong with us. We’ll always take care of you. Now you two need to go check on dinner, because this little lady is comfortable and I’m not disturbing her.”
“No problem, just shout if you need me to take her from you.” Mary smiles up at me and gives me a small shake of her head, letting me know she’s good.
I’m so grateful for them all. I’m grateful that Maddie has just slotted right in. Being with them feels like home. I’ve never had a family before. Not outside of Diane and Dylan. It feels good.
Chapter 39
Finn
I look down at my phone ringing for the fifth time in an hour. Fuck, I’m guessing by the barrage of calls and messages from Brian O’Malley he knows what happened when I was back in Ireland and he’s out for blood.
I don’t have time to deal with him right now, I need to get this shit sorted then get back to Ma’s––I’m meant to be watching the women. Not that I left them unattended, they all have a security team watching them––of course, they don’t know about it. Except Ma of course, can’t keep anything from that woman.
