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Damn, I was starting to like how that sounded coming from her lips.
“It’s okay, MaryCat,” I crooned. “He won’t hurt me. Will you, O’Donnelly?”
The older man’s top lip curved into a sneer. “No, I won’t. If you don’t keep on pissing me off, that is.”
“Put the gun down, MC,” I gently ordered.
She swallowed. “I won’t let him hurt you.”
Back my woman into a corner and she had guts—got it.
“I know. You’re such a good girl. Thank you. But you don’t need to do this.” I held out my hand. “Give it to me, sweetheart.”
Her bottom lip trembled but, nodding, she carefully moved it away from Senior and placed it on my palm. As my fingers tightened around the gun, Aidan’s head whipped to the side to glower at her.
“What did you think you were doing, Mary Catherine?” he chided. “Don’t you know you shouldn’t pull a gun on a man without knowing how to shoot? If you’re going to annoy a predator, you make sure you kill it.”
She blinked. “I didn’t want to kill you. I just wanted you not to hurt Digger.”
He squinted at her then at me. Which was when I realized his sons had told himeverything.“You keeping her?”
Taken aback, I didn’t even have a chance to think before I was nodding. You didn’t do shit like that in front of a man like him, not without meaning it. Not without it having repercussions that’d send shockwaves through a city.
As she released a startled exhalation, Aidan was grunting. “Then you teach her how to shoot properly.”
“I showed her the right moves earlier.”
“That’s not enough.” He sniffed. “Her father’s obviously a worthless piece of shit so I doubt he’s given her the means to protect herself from him.
“It’s come to my attention, Mary Catherine, that you don’t have my number.” He opened his jacket and carefully plucked something out of his pocket. “There.” He passed her his card. “If this jackass hurts you, you come directly to the source. No more running off, you hear me?”
Gulping, she nodded. “Yes, sir.”
He harrumphed. “Now then, if you’re old enough to wed, you’re old enough to appreciate this.” His look was a warning as he retreated a step then ordered, “Come with me.”
I turned to look at MC, who had stars in her eyes.
“You told Uncle Aidan…” Her whisper faded.
“O’Donnelly’s right.” Took getting slammed in the wall by a madman and then having that madman held up by your wife to put the fear of God into a person. This could have ended with her… Jesus, she could have died. My voice was hoarse as I said, “You’re old enough to make your own decisions and you’re smart enough to know what you want and when. I’m a dumbass. So, areyoukeepingme?”
“You know I want to. I-I mean, if we hate each other, then there’s always divorce?” She whispered that last part so O’Donnelly couldn’t hear, I assumed.
I knew there was a twinkle in my eye as I rumbled, “No divorce when you’re Catholic.” At her widening eyes, I pinched her chin. “We’ll take this slow, MC. You hear me? There’s no rush. We got chemistry and that’s half the battle, and so is communication. You want me, you can have me. As fucked up as I am—”
“You think I’m not fucked up?” She bit her lip as she slid her fingers around my wrist. “Can’t we be fucked up together?”
“We can. But there’s no reason we can’t build something beautiful together too, no?”
She beamed a smile at me, one that started to seal the jagged parts of my heart that were ruptured from the crap I’d been through over the years.
“We can take it real slow and—”
“I don’t have all goddamn day.”
Both of us jolted in surprise at that, but we turned and saw O’Donnelly glaring at us.
My grin was sheepish as I turned to her. “You ready?”
