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“Love,” Ewan whispers and strokes my cheek. “You’ll be sleeping under the same roof as me until you move in with Kieran.”
“IfI move in with him. He might reject me.” I clear my throat. “Or I might reject him.”
“On what basis would you reject him? I’ve told you all about him. Who he is. What he needs in a wife.”
“I won’t go through with it if you force him to accept Sadie, Ewan.”
He rubs his chin. “I won’t force the issue, but I planned to play hardball with my council seat votes no matter who I arranged for him to marry.”
The coldness in his words cuts through me, and I pull back, sliding my arm around my daughter. I have her. I’ll make the best of it.
“Kieran will make sure you have everything, love. And I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” I pray he’ll say something to give me hope, something to hold on to.
“The taboo screwing aside, we’re family. You’re my niece. Sadie is, too. You’re a Quinlan. Even if you become an O’Rourke. You’ll always be a Quinlan. That gives you power and privilege in Astoria. Kieran will treat you with respect because he’ll have me to answer to if he doesn’t.” The harshness in his voice sends sparks through me.
I may be promised to another man, but he and I are not parting ways yet. Until he marries me off, we’ll be sleeping under the same roof in the Quinlan house.
The night is just as long in New York as it is in Waterford. It can be just as exciting, too.
Ewan has no plans to marry. And I have no plans to only have a cock inside me to make babies. Myunclemay think he’s done with me, but he’s got another thing coming…
And it will be with me.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ewan
Iscrubahanddown the back of my neck, waiting for our luggage in JFK’s baggage claim. After two weeks in a quiet, small town of rolling hills and a lot of nothing, to be crammed into a small space with so many bodies has me off my game.
While I feel like bugs are crawling over me, Darcy looks energized and thrilled.
Christ, I don’t know how I’ll sleep alone in my bed tonight. For several nights, Darcy has been next to me, and it’s the best I’ve ever slept. Maybe it was the fresh air. Maybe it was the clean water. Maybe it was the break from the stress and chaos of my work.
Maybe you just love a naked body next to you and waking up with a warm, wet mouth around your dick.
That, too.
I hate that I’m already thinking about tonight when everyone’s asleep. My room is a world away from the rest of the house. Even the bedroom next door, Shane’s old suite of rooms, is empty because he lives in that hotel he works in.
The Sterling.
Darcy and I could meet there.
Shite, I shouldn’t be getting my hopes up like this.
Sadie looks exhausted, a listless weight in Darcy’s arms. I lift her from her mum, and as soon as I put the wee one on my hip, Sadie’s little arms wrap around my neck. Man, this feels good. A babe grasping at you like you’re all she has in the world.
Here in the States, Iamall she has. Alltheyhave. They’re my blood. I’ll always protect them.
“There’re our bags,” Darcy says and takes Sadie from me.
The emptiness tears through me, but I beat it away, yanking the brand-new luggage I bought for Darcy and Sadie off the belt. I told Darcy to only pack the basics, that I would buy both her and Sadie a whole new wardrobe.
I find myself looking forward to having tea with the dolls. It brings a smile to my face and makes the long line in customs bearable.
“What’s got you grinning?” Darcy says, smiling back.
