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I understood she wanted to mend fences here, but you didn’t get that by breaking bridges.
Huffing, I muttered, “I’m his fiancée, actually.”
Jennifer’s brows lifted. “He proposed?”
I waggled my hand. “Got a ring and everything.” Swaggering deeper into the room, I settled my ass on the couch and was immediately joined by the cat. “Come on, Paddy.” I flicked the other woman a look. “Tell me something about Conor that’ll embarrass him later. Something that only a godfather would know.”
Paddy’s chuckle was wary, but he peered between the three women in the room and, seeming to sense that I was his best chance of survival, edged toward me and planted himself at my side.
I knew the whole story about how Jennifer was Paddy’s kid with some two-buck whore, and when he’d done his disappearing act, he’d left his daughter in a lurch.
Savannah claimed Paddy didn’t know about Jennifer, but who the fuck knew with that generation of O’Donnellys?
I wasn’t sure why, but Kat had removed her headphones and was studying us with interest as Paddy reasoned, “I don’t go around embarrassing the boys unless they deserve it.”
That made me snort. “Katina, you won’t be so lucky. I’ll tell your boyfriends about the embarrassing shit you do.”
“Hey! That’s not fair.”
I winked at her. “More reason to behave like an angel at all times.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
The twinkle in her eyes made me glad she still needed adult supervision.
Behind us, I heard Savannah and Jennifer whispering furiously at each other. I didn’t know if they were angry words, but when Jennifer didn’t storm out, I figured that was phase one of Savannah’s plan underway.
“I won’t use whatever you tell me as ammunition in a fight,” I vowed.
Paddy’s brows rose. “Ammunition in a fight? Jesus, poor Kid. He’s got himself a handful with you.”
I showed him my teeth. “I’m sure that aligns with what you’ve heard about me.”
“True, it does.” He cleared his throat, and his chest rattled—he was a smoker. “Okay, well, Conor wasn’t the brother with the most embarrassing stories.”
Interest pricked, I asked, “Which was?”
“Aidan.”
That was all he had to say for Savannah to swoop in. “Oh?”
Paddy flashed another glance between us, then, cautiously, he stared at his daughter. Her focus was entirely on her baby, but she was there. That had to be enough.
“We knew Aidan was into girls because they kept popping up in the apartment they were living in back then. His da was proud, of course. Especially as Declan was into art—”
My scowl made an instant appearance. “What is it with this family and assuming that art can trigger homosexuality?” To Kat, I stated, “Kat, that’s utter bull so don’t you let anyone tell you otherwise. Sexuality is simple for some and complicated for others. The only thing I ever want from you is to be yourself. Whether you wanna kiss Harry or Harriet, I don’t care. Understood?”
In response, she just snorted.
“She’s right, Katina,” Savannah assured her. “The older O’Donnellys have antiquated beliefs on this subject.”
“I already know I like boys.”
To be fair, I’d known too. What, with her crushes. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t free to be with whomever the fuck she wanted. I’d fought in wars to defend my people’s rights. That was the whole goddamn point of freedom.
“The magazines say my boy is bisexual.”
“And you got a problem with that?” I demanded.
