14. Blair
FOURTEEN
blair
‘TIL DEATH DO US PART
Today I was reminded I didn’t have a family like Sean, not a real one that showed up for the good and bad.
I cut contact with my dad, brother, and Caden after graduating college. My mom had been the only one to attend graduation and Sean paid for her to do it, offering a spot on his family’s plane.
Because of course he was there to celebrate my achievement. I was fucking valedictorian and no one cared but my man and mom, who hadn’t been around since our disagreement at the dress shop.
This wasn’t anything new. We went days, weeks, sometimes months without speaking.
I stared at my dress wondering how to get into it myself and regretted speaking my mind so harshly.
Esi was camped out watching a decoy shipment move through the network and couldn’t be here either.
Two soft knocks drew my attention from the dress to the door. The staff had set me up in Sean’s wing at the estate.
I was about to call out for the person to enter when they pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Oh. Violet.
Finnegan’s fiancée was… breathtaking to say the least. I heard him call her moonlight and it fit. She had beautiful dark skin and these deep grey eyes that pulled you in without your permission.
I just… didn’t understand why she was here.
We hadn’t really spoken to one another, even when she and Finn popped up the day I got initiated.
She seemed naturally quiet, so I didn’t take it to heart. I knew an observer when I saw one.
Definitely a killer by the way her trigger finger moved absently.
I liked her vibe.
“Finnegan is worried about you,” she said, once our eyes connected.
I nodded, not sure how to respond to that but eventually finding the words.
“Does that bother you?”
Finn, Sean and I spent a lot of time together because we were close in age. And he was book smart, so we shared AP courses all throughout high school.
He protected me like Sean asked of him and we became like brother and sister in the process.
Teenage me appreciated being treated how a sibling should. Adult me was happy to know he still valued our history.
“Oh, not at all…” she waved her hand, not at me but the question. “I’m all Finnegan sees. But it does mean he cares, so I’m here to make sure you aren’t alone today.”
I was caught off guard by the sentiment.
“He didn’t ask you to come here?”
She shook her head.
“Neither of them really had to. Finn’s not the only person worried about you, Sean is too…” her gaze shifted and a slow smile spread across her face. “Your dress is beautiful. Mine will be black.”
“Definitely a black cat,” I murmured. “Thank you. Not just for the dress compliment. I’m used to being alone but it’s nice to have someone here.”
Then, the door opened and Caroline walked in with the twins in tow.
“I have your something blue and borrowed,” Caroline said, her knowing eyes meeting mine as she dangled the floating pearl necklace—I saw her wear often—and a blue silk scarf.
“And this is from Sean,” Siobhan added, handing me a jewelry box. “Your something new.”
Inside was an addition to the pendant around my neck. A set of Celtic knot stud earrings with a diamond nestled between the loops.
They were tiny and delicate and so beautiful. All the sadness I’d been feeling disappeared in an instant.
His family was mine now; I didn’t have to be alone anymore and savored it while they helped me get into my dress, then down the stairwell to the door that opened into my new life.
We were having the ceremony inside with only his parents, Eoghan, the twins, Finn and Violet in attendance.
I hadn’t expected Aoife and Siobhan to be here at all. This wasn’t a celebration.
Either way, I was marrying the love of my life today.
“I’ll check to see if they’re ready,” Violet said as she slipped past me and out the door.
My eyes were closed when it opened again but I knew it wasn’t Violet standing in front of me.
The energy felt heavy, like Darragh or Eoghan instead.
“You aren’t actually here to walk me down, are you?” I asked before opening my eyes and locking with Darragh’s.
“My son told me you think I hate you,” he said, this warm expression in his light browns that didn’t make sense.
He’d always treated me as if I were annoying at best, or a liability at worse.
“Offering marriage for what you did proves otherwise,” Darragh went on, holding his arm out for me to take. “I see your brilliance. And it’s time you let everyone else see it too. Steel and both your half-brothers.”
Our arms had just connected when he said it. I almost pulled away but looked up instead.
“What?”
He peered down at me, unapologetic in his approach.
“Caden is your half-brother. His mother died and your father took him in. Blake is also your half-brother. His mother left him on your father’s doorstep and yours raised him as her own. They all know the truth and you should, too.”
It was so much information at once I could barely take it all in.
What the fuck?
Two affair babies?
Three when counting my nine year old sister.
“You’re angry…” he smiled and looked ahead. “Good. Use it. You’ll need it after today.”
He led me out of the entryway, leaving no chance to respond and ask questions. We moved down the left side of the double spiral staircase and this weird feeling wrapped around me.
After today?
Was he warning me of something?
I cut my eye at him but Darragh had a mask of indifference on his face now. My gaze found Sean’s next and everything I had hoped for today to be changed in an instant.
“What is it?” I asked, pulling away from Darragh the minute our feet hit the floor. “Don’t lie to me either, Oisin. I see it in your eyes.”
He took a step forward and I took one back.
“Amoy, come here…” he stopped and held his hand out for me. “Come here and I’ll tell you. I’ll show you.”
Show me?
My body moved and before I knew it my hand was in his as he led me through the foyer, past the eyes of his family, and opened the first door down a long corridor.
I froze at the sight of a dark grey sheet covering what was clearly a body.
Something inside of me fucking knew; it’s like I could sense death of the only people who ever loved me. I knew it when I looked in my mother’s eyes the day I learned about my nana, and it was the same now.
I rushed forward and fell to my knees, snatching the sheet back and finding exactly who I expected to be there.
Deep down I knew her absence wasn’t right but chose to chuck it up to another uncomfortable encounter of ours.
“Ma,” I whispered, cupping her bruised and battered face. “I’m sorry this happened to you. And I’m sorry I was mean the last time we met. I’m sorry I didn’t get strong fast enough, but don’t worry…” I took in her face one last time, pressed a kiss to her forehead and stood. “I got something for ‘em all.”
Crying didn’t feel right.
Getting revenge did.
“They left her at the gate,” Sean revealed as I turned to face him. “Eoghan has the footage. I haven’t looked at it.”
He’d stayed in the doorway, giving me the space I needed.
I nodded slowly.
“Can we get married now? I’ll deal with this and everything that comes with it later.”
Sean opened his arms.
“We can get married but let me fill you up for a second.”
I stepped into his embrace, arms dangling as he squeezed me tight and slowly let it loosen.
He was my cure all.
“Okay…” I stepped back and looked in his eyes. “I’m ready.”
He gave me his arm, same as his dad had before dropping that bombshell on me.
“When it’s time, I want Caden,” he murmured, eyes cut in my direction as we stepped into the foyer again. “Deal?”
“As long as I can be there, yes.”
He nodded and looked forward.
“It’s a date, Amoy.”
My father silenced my mother and dropped her on my in-laws doorstep. This was for defying him, for marrying an O’Sullivan without his approval.
And even if he hadn’t been the one to do it, I blamed and would punish him for it until I felt better. Until everything he loved was dead or belonged to me.
I couldn’t wait to get started. It’s just… thoughts of revenge left my body the second Sean and I said, “I do” and he carried me back to his wing.
The tears burned as they fell, the sobs just as painful.
Is this what it felt like to lose a parent you loved despite their shortcomings? To grieve them?
Those questions lingered until I fell asleep in the safest arms this world had to offer, my husband .