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“The kind that doesn’t mind smacking them around a little bit. Yeah,” Sean said when Aidan bristled. “Declan told us about that too.”
“I don’t like the guy, and I don’t think he’s going to just go away after the wedding.”
“Probably not. But the media is watching this wedding closely. Your article in the paper has drummed up a lot of public interest, and your brother knows the games he’s playing with that shit better than we do.”
“So we do nothing.”
Sean shook his head. “Not nothing. Just not something right now. I’m sure Declan won’t mind giving you your pound of flesh once the public has moved on to the next bit of celebrity gossip. They put Evie’s life in danger too. I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten.”
Aidan wrenched the lid off another crate, leaning on the crowbar while James counted. “I’m counting on it.”
“You ready, then?” James wondered, making check marks on the paper in his hand.
“For what? Ripping that guy’s face off? Absolutely.”
James pushed slowly to his feet. “No, for the wedding.”
“I’m…as ready as I can be, I guess.” Aidan shrugged. “I don’t know. Does it matter if I’m ready or not? It’s happening either way. My job is to get through this wedding and knock her up.”
“And then?”Sean wondered.
“And then what?”
“Once she’s pregnant.”
Aidan pounded the top on the last crate and avoided his uncle’s gaze while James made his final tally. “I haven’t thought that far ahead. I figured I could set her up with a nanny in a nice house somewhere. Make sure she has everything she needs to take care of the kid.”
“You’re going to dump your wife and kid somewhere, and what? Go back to your old life?”
Aidan blew out a breath. “Well, it sounds stupid when you say it.”
“Believe me,” Sean deadpanned, “it sounds stupid when you say it too.”
“Don’t look at me like that,” Aidan said, flicking a hand at them both. “You two know I’m hardly husband and father material. Never have been, never will be. Don’t intend to start now.”
“It’s a learned skill,” James assured him.
“Not for you. I hear actually wanting to be either is a much better place to start.”
“You want her, though,” Sean said. “Don’t tell me you don’t, because we all saw that kiss at the party.”
“Wanting to fuck her and being in a relationship with her are two very different things. It doesn’t matter anyway. She wants this about as much as I do.
James grunted. “You seem pretty sure about that.”
“I am. She’ll have plenty of space and plenty of cash. Hell, she can even have all the lovers she wants as long as she’s discreet.”
He pushed away the sudden pang in his chest as voices echoed from the back of the warehouse. Whatever his uncle had been about to say evaporated from his lips as the rest of the team joined them, and Aidan sent up a silent prayer. He wanted nothing more than to talk about anything else.
“These ready?” Rory wondered, gesturing to the crates on the ground.
Sean took the clipboard from James and scanned it quickly. “Yeah. Pull the second truck inside, and we’ll load these up so they’re ready for later. Then it's just a matter of waiting for word from Brogan that the drop is a go.”
Eager to get away from another conversation with his uncle and cousin about his impending marriage, Aidan helped load the second set of crates into the truck. In truth, he hadn’t spent much time thinking about the after of his marriage lately. He wasn’t sure when he’d stopped or why.
The more time he spent with her, the less he spent thinking about their far-flung future or kids. Instead he was consumed with thoughts of her lips and her ass and the floral scent of her hair. Consumed by the way her laugh made his stomach tighten and how quick she was to match his sarcasm with her own.
Christ. He scrubbed a hand over his face, leaning back against the tailgate while they waited for the signal from Brogan. He needed to stop that shit right fucking now. This marriage was a business transaction. Business transactions didn’t require emotions; even if they did, he didn’t have any.
