CHAPTER 23
The Princess
The months have been flying by.
Declan is occupying his time with his work, and as I’m supposed to be getting a feel for adult life…
I decided to make something to occupy mine.
I rented a storefront. Redirected Castine’s gossip chain and gave them something to actually talk about.
The invasion and series of unfortunate events at Leviticus House hasn’t been forgotten, just shelved.
If anything, I think the Greys get more trusted business around here.
They don’t look at Sev like some dark smudge on their town anymore.
Now it’s me. The harlot that opened a lingerie shop in the middle of a quaint harbor town and called it ‘Scarlet Sin’.
I love pissing people off.
I sat with my laptop, drinking chocolate milk on the couch with my toenails drying on top on a stack of boxes.
The imports I’m getting in this week are gonna look lovely in the front window.
The old ladies in town like the word ‘scandalous’ lately.
I’m trying to pick out the most fitting pieces to use as rage bait.
“Moving truck will be back around three. Are those good to go?” Dec asked, pulling his hair up into a knot as he walked through our packed apartment. Saturday will be the first night we spend in the new house…and I can’t fucking wait.
“All of it can go. I’m fine with crashing at Malek’s for a couple of nights if we can leave this bitch empty and never look at it again.”
He shut the fridge and cracked open a beer, chugging down a bit as he leaned back against it. “Fine with that too…but you do know the poor sod is fightin’ for his life over there, right?”
“Leave her alone. How would you feel if you grew a massive beer gut in a few months and couldn’t manage to tie your own shoes?”
Dec pressed a hand to his chest. “Are you implyin’ that I’m inching closer to the dad bod, lass? I’ll fuckin’ do push-ups right now.”
“Gross,” I said, punching in numbers on the keyboard. “Old man cringe…strike one.” I typed furiously, sipping my milk again, and…when he didn’t respond, I slowly turned my head to find him staring at me. He pushed his glasses up.
“I got a strike for you.”
“Don’t you dare.” He sat his beer down, prowling towards me and I snapped my laptop shut. “Declan! I mean it! My toes are still wet!”
“Good. I’ll ruin ‘em like I’m about to ruin your—”
“Dec!”
Malek answered the door with a dinner roll hanging from his mouth and I immediately snatched it, popping him in the face as I darted past and ate the rest. “Christ, you make me wanna kill people, brat…again.”
He let Declan in with the takeout bags and I went straight for the empty coffin. “Where’s Mama? She divorce you yet?”
“No, she’s probly dying of fuckin’ starvation, waitin’ on you two. You’re late.”
They unloaded Chinese while I stretched across Sev’s throw pillows and gnawed on buttery bread, shooting Declan a look. “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. Had to say goodbye to the apartment. And by goodbye, I mean…we fucked like rabbits.”
“Must be—”
“You finish that sentence, and I’ll break your fucking nose, Malek Byrne.” I peeked over with a mouthful to see Seven waddling into the living room. Half her tattooed belly was exposed under a tight black tank top, and…
“Holy jugs!” I giggled, leaving my spot to tackle her. “Where’d these come from? Jesus.”
“Exactly,” Malek said, pointing a fork at me. “Jesus. Sent straight from the big lad, himself. Look how beautiful they are.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
Declan sat at the kitchen island, dragging noodles to his mouth while he grinned at her.
“You look like…like Vivian drew on a balloon with a permanent marker.” Rice flew out of Malek’s mouth when he laughed, immediately regretting it when his head turned and Seven pinned him with a murderous glare. Well-deserved, in my opinion.
“Sorry…sorry, love. That wasn’t funny. Declan…you should be ashamed.”
Sev strutted up to the island and grabbed Malek’s plate…and then the egg roll out of his hand. “Don’t be so hard on him. He lights up every room he walks the fuck out of.”
We all laughed then…all except Dec, who gawked as she walked back to the living room like a queen. The door buzzed and Malek answered it while I got my own takeout box and helped Sev into the coffin. She sat the plate on top of her belly and started inhaling MSG.
“The fuck is that?” Dec asked as Malek signed for an enormous package. He helped get it in the door and his face lit up when he looked over at me. “It’s from Mexico.”
“Oh, my gahhh! Open it!” I wailed. We were both on the edge of our seats, waiting for two grown-ass men to figure out the complexity of a cardboard box. “You know…it’s actually impossible to underestimate the two of you.”
Sev snorted, biting off a hunk of her egg roll. “Solid, Bridge. Well done.”
“Holy shit…it’s—Viper, it’s a coffin.”
My heart sank, and the way Seven’s hand immediately went to her baby belly almost had me in tears.
A coffin that size sends a message…and a really fucking dark one.
That box isn’t even as long as the width of the counter.
Sev’s skin turned as gray as her hair, and it won’t surprise me if she pukes into that plate.
When Malek pulled the box apart…there it sat.
A tiny, pink coffin the color of a ballerina slipper.
I got confused when Malek looked over…smiling? I shot up and ran over.
“What in the fuck could possibly be funny right now?”
But then I realized it.
Not a casket…a coffin. The same as Sev’s. Rose pink. Dismembered metal rods laying in the box in the shape of an arc.
“It’s a coffin cradle,” Dec smiled, wiping underneath one of his lenses. “A baby gift.”
Mal lifted the lid, and the inside was lined in white satin, a black teddy bear that looked like a voodoo doll, a card, and a long velvet black box. We followed him like nosy asshats while he took the box and the envelope to Seven.
“What’s it say?” she asked, lowering her plate to sit next to her.
I recognize the penmanship. He really does have the handwriting of a serial killer. There was a photo of Simon and the waitress I almost murdered…and a note. Sev read it out loud. Extra points for reading it exactly how Simon talks.
“For princess. Congratulations. Box for Shamrock. He’ll need it.” She smiled up at Mal and he opened the box. It’s the most gorgeous knife I’ve ever seen. Looks custom-made with his initials carved into the gold and ivory handle.
“That ingenious little three-foot creep.”
I grinned, poking Malek in the cheek. “Are you crying?!”
“No!”
Dec helped Seven out of the coffin and she went to go look at the cradle. I really hate that my immediate thought was something terrible. Maybe I’ll always be looking over my shoulder. Maybe I’ll always expect the worst every time we feel safe…or happy. But I do know one thing…
I’ll always be fucking ready.
And they’ll never take another damn thing from us.
“I still can’t believe this chap ended up on some exotic beach with a spicy Latina. Surely to fuck, he’s gotta have at least three or four inches on us, dude.” I covered my ears…but not my eyes. And Sev looks like she’s about to lose it.
“Oh, she’s spicy, is she?”
Uh oh…
“Viper…baby, I didn’t mean—”
“She’s spicy?! Why don’t you come on over here, Sir Charms…I got somethin’ exotic for you!” She stabbed a plastic knife into one of the takeout boxes and I covered my mouth, trying to reel in my explosive laughter.
“Sev…love, I just meant that—I mean, come on. It’s Simon. You’re really gonna say you’re not impressed and buggered out that he ended up with a lass like that?”
Oh, Mal…no. No, no, no…
“Like what? Not huge and bulbous? Not pissing herself every time she sneezes? One that doesn’t have goddamn hippo hips and an ass the size of a dump truck?!” Her shoulders sagged, and her chin fell…and cue the waterworks.
“Oh, your dump truck is fuckin’ immaculate, Nathair Bheag.” He rushed over, taking her shoulders and poor Sev just broke. Declan leaned into me.
“You made me fat! You fuckin’ did this to me! I gotta grow a whole-ass human and you get to add some hot tamale to your spank bank!”
“Told you…fightin’ for his life,” Dec whispered, covering his grin and squeezing his eyes shut. I elbowed him in the ribcage.
“What can I do, lass? You want a cookie tree? Milkshake? I’ll call Vernon and we—”
“No! You go get it. I want extra whip and chocolate sauce. Get Desiree’s oatmeal pies, and I want two cookie trees!”
“The fuck is a cookie tree?” I reached up Declan’s arm, grabbing a good chunk of skin under his armpit, and pinched, twisting it until he yowled. “Ahhh! Fuck naofa! What was that for?!”
“Can it.” I snatched the keys out of his pocket and went after Malek, grabbing his elbow while his apologies got lost in Sev’s hormonal wailing. “Let’s go, Casanova. Your pussy is showing.”
“You’re gonna leave me here?!” Dec whined.
I winked over my shoulder just in time to see Seven climb onto the counter and start digging through Lo Mein.
As gross as the notion of love used to be for me…
God, I’m so glad these idiots are mine.
I smiled the entire way downstairs.
It’s well past midnight, and Declan is wedged in the coffin, one arm hanging off the side, and drool spotting the side of his mouth while he continues to snore like he hasn’t slept in weeks.
It’s been getting worse lately. Seven is sleeping like an angel on Malek’s chest with both swollen feet out of the blanket.
I laid on the other side of her, watching info-mercials on mute and adjusting myself on the air mattress that—once again—is my bed for the time being.
My eyes trailed over, melting at the way she’s clinging to my brother.
The way his arm fits around her and one hand rests on the side of her fucking adorable belly.
He doom-scrolled on his phone, smiling at something I’m positive is the dumbest thing on the internet.
I smiled to myself, coiling a lock of Sev’s hair around my finger.
“You’d never know she was a Momzilla about three hours ago. Dec said you’ve had it rough over here lately.”
Malek tossed his phone to the side and smiled down at her, smoothing hair out of her face.
“Ya know…I remember when Ma was pregnant with you.” My smile fell, and I glanced up at him.
“I remember thinkin’ to myself…damn, she’s really mad at him.
Which was odd to me, because you know how much he adored her. ”
“Buried his whole life for her,” I added.
“Yeah. Anyway, she had a really shitty day once, and I sat down with him in his office. I asked him if Ma was really gonna yank his bollocks off and sell ‘em on E-Bay. He laughed and told me ‘the big secret’.”
I propped my head on my hand, smirking. “Which was?”
His free hand trailed down her arm until he’d met her hand on his chest, and he squeezed it…
looking at her like she didn’t just come up with eight different ways to murder him earlier.
“They’re makin’ us a legacy. And it’s hard.
It makes ‘em happy, and it breaks their heart all at the same time. It’s the biggest test of a man’s character when a wife carries our child.
They might rip our arseholes wider, but…
all they really want is this.” He brought her hand to his mouth and gently kissed her knuckles…
I think I’m gonna weep. “To know we’re here and that we’re grateful.
And that we’ll always be here…protecting the pack. ”
He started to get blurry and I blinked away gross emotion. “You’re gonna crush girl dad life, Mal. You’ve got a beautiful family.”
Malek smirked, yanking a kernel of popcorn out of the discarded bowl on the bed, and hitting me with it. “Yeah…we do.” The look he gave me made me shift.
I refuse to cry.
No sooner than I reached up to shove my sleeve under my nose, his eyes lit up. I paused, worried that something was wrong. Seems to be a pattern lately. “What’s up? You okay?”
“She’s movin’. Look.”
I dropped my eyes to where his hand smoothed Sev’s tank top aside…and it looked like something out of an alien flick. Seven smiled in her sleep.
“Oh, my goddd…Malek,” I whispered, flattening my palm over the spot. Something equivalent to a doorknob rolled across my hand. I felt a tear shoot down my cheek. “You’re gonna kick ass, Baby Byrne.”
“She will. She’s like her mháthair.”
“Baby Badass,” I grinned.
It got quiet…until a squealing fart rang out behind my head, followed by a god-awful smell. We both looked up just as Declan rolled onto his side and turned his back to us. Malek lost it…then I did too.
“Tough, macho, mafia flatulence,” I cackled, holding my nose. “That sounded like a struggler.”
“They say babies aren’t really smiling at you when they’re newborns. That it’s just gas. You sure he’s a happy bloke?” Bless him, he tried his best to keep his laughs from waking up Sev.
“To be honest, it was years before I even knew he was capable of smiling, dude.”
We settled down, finally, and both of us stared at the two other halves of ourselves. I never would have guessed we’d ever have moments like this. We’ve all come a hell of a long way in almost two years.
“I’m in no way saying that this should happen right now…but since Pops isn’t here…” Oh, God…lay it on thick, you wretch. “You’ve got my blessing, Bridge. Marry that fucker. Or I’ll find out what being Kendall O’Dell is like.”
“Gross.”