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Connor presses his lips together, shrugging and sighing. “If it matters, I’ve asked after the matter for you.”
“And?”
He wrinkles his nose, shaking his head. “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated how? He’s the piece of fecking shite who abused my lass.”
“Aye. He is. Seamus and I made that clear to Uncle Sean.”
“So, what’s the fecking issue?”
“He’s a city councilor, Niall.”
“He’s scum.”
“That’s a given. We need to be careful.”
“Because the coppers are onto your tables?”
Connor snorts, rolling his eyes as he grins easily. “They’ve got fucking nothing on me. This is about something bigger than my tables.”
“There’s nothing more important than Mellie.”
“I understand. Seamus definitely understands.”
“And Sean doesn’t?”
“Uncle Sean is more of a big picture thinker. That’s why he’s got the top job.”
Paddy interrupts my next argument, striding into the room and clapping my shoulder. Setting down my mug, I trail him out of the house, my eyes glued to his messy hair.
Paddy was always well-groomed when he wasn’t fighting in his underground ring. These days, his hair is usually windblown. I think the lass puts her fingers through it when he fucks her. As we slide into my SUV, I put Paddy’s hair out of my mind. We’ve a job to do, and I never give anything less than one hundred percent.
We pull up out the front of the mark’s house, and I make myself comfortable. We could be here for hours yet. Paddy trains his eyes on the house's stoop, his fingers brushing back and forth over his lips, a small smile tugging at his lips.
Paddy seems different. For as long as I’ve known the lad, he’s been full of darkness and rage. Now he looks –not mellow, I don’t think that’s possible for him – but he seems different. I believe the lass is responsible.
“Ye’re very free with yer affection for the lass, Paddy.” I test the waters of the conversation, keeping my eyes on the stoop across from us.
“And so I am, Niall,” he agrees easily, shrugging. “I love her. I know it.Sheknows it. Why would I hide it?”
That makes sense, I suppose. This is why I wanted to talk tohimabout this. Seamus tends to talk in riddles, and the others haven’t any more of a fucking clue than I do. Paddy’s a straight talker, and he’ll be just as uncomfortable in the conversation as I am, so he’ll not breathe a word of it back to the lads.
“How d’ye know it?” I ask after a beat, brushing my thumb over the steering wheel.
I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit. I think I might love Mellie. I get agitated when I’m away from the lass for too long, and I don’t like it when I don’t know if she’s okay. And when she’s with me, Ifeeldifferent. Lighter, somehow.
“I just do,” Paddy splutters after a long pause. “It’s just a feeling you fucking have.”
Well, Mellie makes me have alotof fucking feelings. How do I know which one of them is love?
“Aye, but….” I pause, getting the words right in my head. “How d’ye know that’s what the feeling is?”
I’ve never seen love like that. Not really. I’m not around Seamus and Tiggy enough, and I’ve not really seen Paddy with his lass. My father died when I was a little lad, and my mammy, I don’t think the woman was capable of feeling love.
“D’ye want to do things for her?” he grits out, clenching his fists. “Like, things you wouldn’t do in a million years otherwise?”
Like not rip her fucking stepfather’s spine out through his teeth just because she begged me to wait? Aye, I want to do things for her.
