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“Is breá liom tú,” Paddy breathes, his lips brushing against mine, and his eyes flutter closed, just as mine do.
My lips are trembling against his as they press together gently. He groans, tugging me into his arms, his hand on my jaw sliding around into my hair as he anchors my head, tipping it back.
His tongue darts out, tracing my lower lip like he usually does with his thumb. I moan, sighing into his mouth, and as my lips part, Paddy’s tongue licks into my mouth.
I breathe deeply despite my busy mouth, sucking Paddy’s comforting scent deep into my lungs. My hands grip his chest as he eats at my mouth.
When we finally break apart, we’re both breathing heavily. Paddy presses his forehead against mine as he holds me tightly against his chest.
“I’ve wanted to do that again for so long,” he breathes. “I have no idea why I was holding back.”
His eyes flutter open, burning into mine. “Last night was the worst night of my life.”
My heart stutters. He can’t mean that. Not really. Surely when his parents were killed…. Paddy sees my thoughts on my face, moving his hands up to cup my jaw, holding my face still as he presses his forehead harder against mine.
“I mean it, lass. The worst night of my life. Ye were in so muchpain.” His voice breaks on the word. “I was so fuckingscared. I had no idea what was wrong. I thought my heart was breaking right alongside yours.” He laughs, but it’s a hollow sound. “God, but I love ye so much,mo chroí.”
Paddy…loves me? Oh my god. He loves me. I’m floating on air, my lungs and heart so full I think they’re going to burst. Is it possible to die from happiness? I have a strange dichotomy inside me. My heart is wrenched apart – the loss of Mrs. Dawkins is one I won’t easily move past –but at the same time, Paddy is knitting it together with words I never imagined I would hear him say to me.
He presses his forehead against mine again, kissing me gently, tenderly. He opens his mouth, but his phone rings, hard and loud against our private moment before he can speak.
“This better be fucking important,” he growls into it, his nose nuzzling against my neck. Whatever is said at the other end of the phone, he freezes, his hand tight in my hair.
“I’m not fucking leaving Lauren here alone,” he snaps, listening to whoever is on the other end of the line. “Fine. We’ll come to yours.”
Paddy tilts my head, dropping his phone, kissing me hard, and sighing.
“Have a shower and get dressed,mo chroí. We need to go to Seamus’s house.”
Now? But I want to hear more about Paddy loving me.
PADDY
Tiggy takes Lauren into the kitchen when we get to their home in West Roxbury while I follow Ronan into Seamus’s den. It’s harder than I thought it would be to be in a different room to Lauren.
The whole crew is already here, Liam flinching as I glare at him.
“How’s Lauren?” he asks, unable to meet my eyes. He’s lucky to be sitting here at all.
“She’ll be grand,” I spit back at him. He nods, still staring at the floor.
“I’ll apologize to her before you leave,” he mutters. Ronan’s head snaps around.
“What the feck kind of stupid thing did ye do now, lad?” he growls, and Liam flushes.
“Nothing. She just lost it -.” He shuts up pretty quickly when my fist smashes into his jaw.
“Ye come into my home uninvited and make my woman cry again; not even Ronan will be able to save ye from a bullet,” I hiss at him. Ronan’s face darkens with fury.
“Ye’ll apologize to the lass once we’re done here, and then after that, ye and I are going to have a little chat, lad.”
Liam’s eyes flicker over Ronan’s face as he swallows and nods.
Seamus clears his throat, and the room falls silent as we all turn our attention to him. I stalk over, propping myself against the windowsill while he taps on the iPad's screen on the desk beside him.
“Gianni’s been in contact with Sean.” He nods to me, and I grind my teeth. “We’ve got the shopping list.”
His fingers stroke over the iPad again. I can’t see it from here, Gianni’s shopping list. The list of things I need to do to make sure Lauren is fuckingsafe. I’ll do them all, no matter what is written there.
