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“I’ve heard.” That was another reason I didn’t think Dagda needed to die. Anyone who went to jail for mass-murdering Sparrows should be a friend of mine. “I won’t steal more family from you, Aoife.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” she pointed out.
“You let me into your home. You looked after my daughter.” I hitched a shoulder. “I don’t forget things like that. Plus…” My nose crinkled. “I have to apologize but I need to buy you a new guest bed.”
Aoife rolled her lips inward. “Let Conor pay. He’s rich enough.”
“I’m not exactly poor,” I dismissed.
She wafted a hand. “It’s the Catholic in them.”
“For nonreligious men, they’re religious, aren’t they?”
“It’s ingrained in them. Do you want another coffee?”
“Please.” I studied her as she worked, then I mused, “I heard something myself.”
“What?”
“They want to use your bakery as a front?”
She smiled at me over her shoulder. “Yes. Silent investors and royalties on my recipes. I’ll be cashing in shortly.”
“Do you intend on leaving Finn?”
Her eyes widened in genuine surprise. “Jesus, no.”
The tension that had been gathering in my shoulders since I’d overheard Conor and Finn’s conversation last night started to disperse.
“What made you think that?”
“Because that’s what women do. They squirrel money away and then take off in the middle of the night. What Finn did… I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve to be abandoned, but Conor loves you. Like a sister. A true sister. I’d hate for him to get hurt.”
Aoife’s gaze softened. “You love him, don’t you?”
“I do.” My smile was tight. “I’m still not sure what to do with it, but it’s there and it seems to be growing. I’d say it was like cancer, but I don’t think you’re supposed to classify love as a deadly disease.”
Her brows arched. “No, you’re not. With your past, though, I suppose it could be forgiven. Conor told me once you were a spy?”
I grunted.
“In that line of work, it’s not like love would serve a purpose. If anything, I’d imagine it was an inconvenience.”
“Yes,” I choked out, taken aback by her understanding.
“You’ll come to find it’s less of a cancer eventually and more…” She blinked. “Like when you’ve had a vaccine and it stops you from catching a deadly disease.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Trust me. It grows on you with time.” She turned to make me another coffee. “And I won’t hurt Conor. Or Finn. I love him.
"Did he let me down? Yes. Did he choose Lena over me? He did. But…” She sucked in a breath. “She was his mother. His only source of stability in an ever-changing world as a boy where he’d learned that family could and would do heinous things to him.
“She represented hope and love, protection and support. When it came out, he chose me, and in the future, I know he’ll keep on choosing me.
“So, using Ellie's Bakery as a front is very fortuitous because I’ll make a hell of a lot of money, and if Jake decides he wants nothing to do with the Five Points, I’ll be able to bankroll him with my personal funds.” She shot me a smile as she set the now-full coffee mug in front of me. “Savannah talks a lot about women having their own bank accounts, and it’s always been important to me. Finn has had a joint account for us since the beginning, and I know that I can buy whatever I want—”
“But nothing beats knowing you earned that cash and that it’s yours and that no one can question what you do with it,” I finished for her.
