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So instead of helping her I exhale and finally start to take off my tux. Which is exactly when my phone rings. I glance at it and smile when I see Loraine’s name.
“Hey, Lor—”
“OH MY GOD CONGRATULATIONS!!”
My brow furrows.
“For what?”
She sighs heavily. “Yourwedding! Castle!” she shrieks. “Exactly when the hell were you planning to tell me about this?!”
I groan. “Okay, first, it’s not what you think. But second, exactly how did you hear about it?”
“Oh, please, I’ve been following those girls of yours on Instagram for years. They’re so grown up now!”
Right. Neve and Eilish. I frown as I put Loraine on speaker for a second and thumb to the app. Sure enough, there’s a big gushy post from Eilish full of heart and ring and champagne emojis under a bright, sunshiney picture of Callie and me.
Motherfuck.
It’s the moment where Callie fell and landed on top of me, our lips pressed together.
That’sthe fucking picture Eilish posted.
Yes, I know it’s just so the Carvelis and any of their allies see it and don’t question anything. And I mean, she couldn’t have picked a better damn shot for the purpose. You can’t tell that we’ve just fallen. The way it’s zoomed and cropped, it just looks like this adorable photo of Callie lying on my chest kissing my mouth.
I hate to say it, but it’s actually a phenomenal picture of her, not to mention social media gold.
I scowl as I thumb the app closed and bring the phone back to my ear.
“It’s a long, long story, Loraine,” I sigh, loosening my tie. I pour a splash of whiskey into a glass and, taking the bottle, step out onto my little balcony to sink into a chair. “And it’snotwhat you think. And yes, I know she’s young.”
Loraine snorts. “What is she, twenty?”
“Twenty-one.”
“Oh please. What’s the problem? You’re thirty-three, Castle, not sixty. And I waswayyounger than her when Bryce and I got married,” she laughs. “Hell, I was younger than her when Tea was born.”
“It’s really not what it looks like. I can’t be more specific than that, but I just need you to trust me on this one.”
Loraine sighs. I can just imagine her cocking her hip and shaking her head in that way she has.
“I always do, Cas”
I sigh. “You know the feeling when you make it to the top of a mountain of your own creation, but you don’t know what to do once you get there?”
She snorts. “Do I ever. It’s called raising a child.”
I chuckle. “Well, that’s me.”
“Elaborate?”
I take a gulp of the whiskey. “Cillian stepped down. You’re talking to the new, slightly confused, completely out-of-his-depth head of the Kildare family.”
Loraine whistles long and slow.
“Wow. I meanwoah, Castle! That’s…a really big deal, isn’t it?”
Loraine’s vaguely aware of what I do and who I work for. Just not the more sordid details.
