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My sister encouraged me to remember, those were Papa’s sins. Not mine.
“That was easy,” Darragh says when the gates open without so much as a word from one of the guards.
“He’s my father-in-law.” Lachlan cranks his neck back. “I have a pass to enter anytime.”
So much has changed indeed, to think the Irish Enforcer can enter my father’s stronghold any time he wants. Papa must have realized that he fucked up royally with Katya to make such a concession to her husband.
“And do you come here often?” I ask.
“From time to time. Your father never replaced his underboss and Maksim is still out of control,” Lachlan sneers. “I…counsel Alexei when needed. Make sure he gets the facts before Maksim waltzes him into more wars.”
“And Katya?” I ask softly. “Has she been here?”
“No,” he answers quickly.
I’m here to further rub into my father’s face how he’s tied even more to the O’Rourkes.
Papa strolls up the driveway as we follow.
His steps aren’t as strong and quick as they once were.
Papa gets to the house, and stands there holding the kitchen door open himself. A weighty gesture I’m not sure many people understand or appreciate.
“Don’t get out yet,” Lachlan says over his shoulder, unbuckling his seatbelt.
He and Griffin exit the SUV first, and Griffin lingers at my door waiting for Lachlan’s signal.
“I’m not hiding from your father,” Darragh says and opens his car door.
He’s insanely handsome in a charcoal gray suit, white shirt, and blue tie. His hair is neat and slicked back. His face is clean shaven with a strong jaw, but his green eyes simmer with caution behind shades.
He gets to my door and looks up at Griffin. “She’s my wife.”
Griffin steps away with a bowed head.
My husband is still an O’Rourke and commands the respect as one.
Lachlan signals after a brief word with Papa, and I take J.P. out of his car seat.
We loaded him up with breastmilk so he’d sleep most of the way and not be fussy.
Heart pounding, I step out and the smell of the trees and the grass hit me with a strong sense of home and the happy memories I’d had here in a way I wasn’t expecting.
But the human screams and bloody massacre of the day I left, according to Katya, sink in.
With Darragh’s hand on the small of my back, I round the Escalade and immediately make eye contact with my father.
“Papa,” I say on reflex, my heart confused.
“Anastasia,” he says my name back and doesn’t look at all surprised to see me alive. “You’re home.”
Papa’s eyes drift to Darragh, then to the baby in my arms.
“We have a lot to talk about,” I say to him.
“Indeed.”
“You were expecting me?”
