First Class Family #2
What does he think is going to come through it? A stray seagull?
"Kieran's our friend too." Joy scrunches her cute little nose in thought. "That makes you my friend."
"I'd be honored to be your mate, cailín." Dagda takes a pair of child-sized headphones from the flight attendant before she can hand them to Joy and gives them a visual inspection before passing them on to my daughter.
I smile my gratitude at the flight attendant as she hands Dagda a set of earbuds.
The next six hours just took on a much more relaxing tone.
Neeve watches the exchange from across the aisle, her tablet in her lap. After a moment she says to Torch, "There's a seat here if you want one."
He glances at Kieran, who looks to Sadie for her reaction.
My oldest bites her lip, but nods. "It's okay."
Mom jumps up and scoots to the other side of table to sit beside Sadie. "Here now, you can sit next to Neeve and tell her all about yourself."
Torch is still waiting for Kieran's approval, which he gets with a short jerk of his boss's head. Then the man with the nickname nearly as disturbing as Kieran's sits down.
"Why doesn't Dagda have a nickname?" I ask, the thought popping out of my mouth as soon as I think it.
They call Kieran, Wraith. And Ellie, McLaren. I don't know what Torch's first name is, but I'm sure it's not that.
"Had one once. Left it buried with the guy who gave it to me." He winks at me, but there's something in his eyes that says he might not be joking.
Not that I feel threatened, more like there's a story there and I wonder if I'll ever know it. "Dagda it is, then," I say on a laugh.
Kieran frowns. "You don't need to call him anything."
Instead of wanting to tear Kieran a new one for being so over-the-top about me talking to other men by name, my panties are getting wet.
Aagh! What is wrong with me?
I force myself to disagree. "Um…yeah. I do. Especially if you want him to become part of my daily life."
"I suppose," Kieran says grudgingly then his expression lightens. "Dagda, it's time you and Torch got married."
"To each other?" Sadie asks, eyeing the mob soldiers with more interest than before.
"Nah. I couldn't stand the broody bast—uh, guy in my living space," Torch says deadpan.
Like Dagda's the quiet one. That would be Kieran, but I think Torch is a close second in the taciturn stakes.
"Forget it, Wraith. I'm not getting married." Dagda glares at Kieran. "That's your bailiwick."
The reminder of what this trip is really about sends tension thrumming through me. When we get back to New York, I'll be married to a virtual stranger.
I'm still processing that when Kieran steers me into a seat by the window across from Ellie. He slides into the seat beside me, his big thigh pressing against mine.
Reaching across me, he picks up the safety card discreetly stored in a pocket in the cabin wall and hands it to me without a word.
"Are you serious?" I take it. "I'm a grown adult. I know how a seatbelt works."
"Humor me."
Before I can reply, the cabin door shuts and then the show Joy is watching pauses and the flight attendant goes through the private plane's version of the safety instructions for flying.
When Kieran notices I'm not following along, he taps the card.
I give the eyeroll I avoided from my pre-teen a few minutes ago and jerk my head in her direction. "She's not following along."
"She's watching the video, but it's playing on the television behind you."
I look over my shoulder toward Joy and sure enough her program is gone and a safety video is playing. Neeve is craning her head to watch too.
Ellie is ignoring Kieran, the flight attendant and the video.
"Why doesn't Ellie have to watch?" I wonder.
"I'm certified in plane and boat safety," she says without looking up from her computer.
"Since when?" And why?
"Since Wraith sent me on ops that required it."
Oh.
Kieran's fingers brush mine as he takes the card from my hand before putting it back into the wall pocket. I breathe in his scent and revel in the nearness of his body, even though there's nothing overtly sexual, or even affectionate about it.
But when he sits back, his arm drops to the extra wide rest between our seats. His hand is right there.
My eyes lock on the spot where our hands are almost touching and of its own volition, my pinky covers his.
Kieran turns his hand over and laces our fingers together, holding mine tight.
The jet begins to taxi and Joy narrates the entire process via loudly asked questions of the flight attendant.
I watch Kieran watch my daughters.
There's no judgement in the way he observes Joy's running commentary, or hesitation to the small nod he gives Neeve when she looks up from her book to catch his eye. He is simply paying attention to them the way people pay attention to things they care about.
How can he care about them so fast though?
Troy was eloquent and charming and knew exactly what to say.
Kieran says almost nothing, but his actions speak volumes.
We aren't in love. Not even close. But in hindsight, even I have to admit that this marriage has a lot more going for it than the one with my dead husband whom I did love and who turned out to be a traitor to the mob.
"So, Anaheim," I say, when everyone else is verifiably occupied.
"Yes."
"You changed the plan from Vegas without telling me," I remind Kieran in a low whisper in case he forgot.
"Yes."
"That's it? In case you wondered, yes is not an explanation."
His thumb makes a slow circuit over my knuckles. "Disneyland."
Okay, yes, Disneyland is a much more exciting destination as far as the girls are concerned but… "That's not an excuse for making the change without talking to me first."
"It was operational."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, pulling my hand away.
"The boss asks for input on an op, but after he gets it all operational decisions are on him," Ellie explains when it's clear Kieran isn't going to.
Her voice is low too. Everyone else might be occupied, but none of us are taking any chances in being overheard.
"And you considered our discussion in the SUV the night before last me giving me my input?"
"Yes." Too-serious eyes stare back at me.
And he made sure that conversation happened. "It wasn't just about getting our stories straight."
"No."
"The boss always wants input from the assigned personnel." Ellie grins at me. "He's a little high handed, but he's a good guy."
"I'm not personnel though," I tell Kieran. "I'm going to be your wife." I say the last in a near subvocal, really not wanting my mom or girls to overhear.
"You could have said no."
"And we would have gone to Vegas?" I clarify.
He squints.
"That's a no then."
"This is better."
I can't deny that.
"You're going to be insufferable if I let you get away with this one." I'm not sure he won't be insufferably certain of his own course either way.
Kieran's not a vain man. Not like Troy with his designer watches and perfectly turned-out family. But my soon-to-be husband has his own share of arrogance.
Maybe more than.
"I'm used to making my own decisions," he says.
Which A) is a full thought without prompting and B) implies he might need to get used to taking my opinion into account.
"Marriage works best when both people have a say," I inform him.
He cocks his head in thought and then nods. "That's how my grandparents were."
"That's how I want us to be." No doubt his grandparents loved each other and that's why neither ran roughshod over the other one. "Is that possible?"
"Yes."
There's something about that yes. I look toward Ellie and see she's looking at me, her expression worried.
"You don't think Kieran will respect my opinions?" I ask her.
"If I didn't, I'd have put the kibosh on this plan whatever it took," my BFF promises me. "But he's going to do what he thinks is best. I know you, áine. You'll do the same."
Huh. She might be right about that. "We'll both do our best though, right?"
I'm not talking to Ellie and she's not the one who answers.
"Yes," Kieran replies.
I believe him. Troy loved me, but I couldn't trust him to watch out for me and our girls, even if I didn't know it.
Kieran has no tender feelings for me at all, unless lust is a tender feeling and I'm not sure I believe it is, but despite the short time we've known each other, I trust him to make our protection a priority. And I trust him to keep his promises.
Maybe because it has been such a short time and he's already stepped up and kept his word on multiple occasions.
"Okay." I rest my head back against the seat and let myself breathe for the first time in what feels like six years.
Outside the oval window, the city falls away beneath us, gray and sprawling and small.
Kieran takes my hand again.
And this time, I don't pull away.