The Enforcer's Redemption (Sins of the O'Rourke Empire #2)

15. Declan

15

DECLAN

T he rehearsal for our wedding was so different from most typical weddings. I'm sure it's left Isla feeling terrified. She's done nothing but cling to me the entire evening. If the speech Ronan gave about the security team didn't scare her, the trip through the weapons cache had to have. He's gone so far overboard to make sure none of Sebastian's creeps sneak in to harm her, and I'm glad. I just wish the look of panic in her eyes weren't so desperate.

"You okay?" I ask for the thousandth time. Isla nods, but her arms wrap around my bicep tightly. She's flushed with perspiration, but she shivers as she holds me. "You look as white as a ghost."

"I'm fine," she says tightly as I walk her out of the large tent Ronan had erected in his yard toward the house.

I'm not sure if it's still the fact that she's being forced into this against her will or if it's really fear. Or maybe it's just pre-wedding nerves. I have a few of my own, but mine aren't centered around the idea of giving up my bachelorhood. Mine stem from the idea that O’Reilly may try something and even the most prepared man can still be caught off guard.

"Time for dinner," Maeve says as she passes by our snail's pace. She touches Isla's arm lightly and smiles at us. With the wedding now only hours away, both Maeve and Ronan insist that we stay here tonight. They prepared a room for us against Isla's protest about the bride not seeing the groom before the wedding.

"Coming," I say, picking up my step. My brothers are all here, all prepared to stand as witnesses to this event that's supposed to be joyous and fulfilling. To this family, it will, but I'm afraid that Isla won't find it that. She'll run the first chance she gets, and maybe that's why Ronan has us stay here tonight. He's thinking the same thing. She wants out, not because she disdains her father or his well-being, but in spite of it, she still feels managed and controlled.

"Can I skip?" she asks, and the large saucer eyes she casts in my direction almost make me say yes to her, but my conscience is seared. My back is up against the wall.

"It will go smoothly, and then I can help you retire…" I keep the words tight and my tone firm, but I allow some remorse to creep out in my expression as I nod at her and gesture for her to enter the dining room first.

Her shoulders sag and she sits in an empty chair. I plant myself next to her and settle in. The chef has prepared a hearty meal of black pudding, Guinness stew, and boxty, and if I know my brother, there will be Bailey's cheesecake for dessert. My eyes devour the feast set out and make my mouth water and my stomach grumble.

One by one, my brothers file in, Ronan and Maeve seated near the head of the table. He offers the traditional Irish blessing and we dig in. I watch Isla begin to relax a little, sipping her wine and only nibbling at the food on her plate. She looks overly tired, and I'm about to suggest that we leave the table early so she can get to bed when Finn chimes in with a topic I wish I never had to hear again.

"So, D," he says cooly, using a childhood nickname reserved for conversation only when family is around, "I hear you have trouble stirring up…" Finn's dark eyes flick up to meet mine, and Ronan takes notice too. He sets his fork down and uses his napkin to wipe his mouth as I finish chewing my bite.

Isla's head hangs, but I can see the way she's so tense. I want to protect her from all of this family nonsense, but she has to get used to it at some point. We do family dinners a couple of times a month, and after tomorrow, she will be attending all of them.

"Yeah, well, we don't have to talk about it," I grumble, and I push the potatoes around on my plate with my fork.

"I think we do," Ronan says firmly, and he folds his hands over his plate and stares at me. I'm sick of being the subject of their conversations, especially over dinner. I wasn't the only one who spoke with our late cousin during his rebellion, but I'm the one who is being pinned to the mat and my life examined with a magnifying glass.

"Ro, please…" I shake my head and shove a potato in my mouth, and Isla looks up at me with curiosity. I hide the wince I want to let sneak out. I'll never live this down, my mistake. My family will hold this over my head for the rest of my life, and it's one of the reasons freedom from this entire organization has been so tempting to me.

"Your own choices brought you to this point, Declan. You can't make a mistake like that and then think you can walk away without consequences. They've lost faith in you." Ronan's eyes are as hard as steel, almost as black too.

"Feck's sake," I grunt. I'm sick of hearing his lectures.

"I'm just sayin', he's stirrin' up trouble." Finn's head dips as he wipes his mouth and drops his napkin onto his empty plate. "Ro's right, D. The family lost confidence in you. I'm worried they're gonna call for your head or at the very least, your dismissal."

My younger brother worries too much. There's no reason to believe my cousins and our trusted soldiers will openly call for me to be removed. I'm here proving myself now. If my willingness to cast the rest of my life into this family by way of arranged marriage doesn't show my loyalty to them, nothing ever will.

"I'll handle it," I grunt, and I touch Isla's knee under the table. I'm more than ready to leave now. I'd like to put distance between myself and my brothers, and I’m sure I will always feel like this every time they bring up my near failure.

"The fact that you entertained Eamon's snakish lies for even a second is all the doubt they need." Ronan continues his lecture, and my eyes meet Connor's. None of them know he actually made the plan to go, to flee, and was trying to convince me to go with him. I will keep that secret to my grave because to betray him would be to betray myself. Blood is thicker than water and Connor knows it. His ears burn bright red but he speaks up.

"Yeah, the family saw, so what? He's here now, doing the right thing." I nod at him, and his shoulders rise and fall in a calming sigh.

"You're right," Ro says, now with his eyes locked on me alone. Maeve looks tense next to him, shoulders squared, head hanging like Isla's. She's been part of these family meals where I've been reamed more than once. She knows how the lecture could escalate to screaming, but this time with my bride to be by my side, I will myself not to snap.

"Ronan, please…" I say again. I'm doing everything in my power to correct my stupid mistake and protect my brother from feeling the same heat. We were both foolish to think Eamon could ever have led this family. I was an idiot for entertaining the idea that Ronan wasn't the man for the job.

"This wedding will go a long way toward appeasing them, and until they fall in line and stand behind you, I told you to handle the problem." He tips his chin. "If you can't do that, maybe you aren't the enforcer I thought you were." His eyes narrow, and I stand up smoothly, nudging Isla to join me. She rises as I nod at my leader, my oldest brother, the chief, and huff out a sigh.

"We'll retire now so we’ll get enough sleep for the wedding. See you all in the morning." And with that, I place my hand in the small of her back and let it ride there as I escort her to the room prepared for us. This wedding can't come soon enough. I'd have done it weeks ago if he let me. And when it's over, if Brynn keeps stirring up shit, I'm gonna bring the hammer down. The man won't know what hit him.