26. Amy
Amy
We spent so much time at the beach, I’ve managed to develop a bit of a tan. Kerry, on the other hand, is as red as a lobster. I guess I need to be more conscious of his Irish complexion and how easily he can burn.
The time spent on that balcony cracked open deep wells of intimacy in our relationship.
I told Kerry things I’ve never told anyone else before.
I’m pretty sure he did the same. The cottage brings out a different side of him.
I think his father often haunts his steps, but Cobh is the one place the dead man has no power in.
I feel a bit sad as we arrive back at his soulless magazine-ready house. It’s worlds away from his mother’s cottage.
Kerry squeezes my hand as we get out of the car. There’s already people zipping around to prepare for the ball, making my anxiety spike already. I miss the privacy and quiet of the cottage where it was just the two of us.
Kerry looks at me with a softness in his eyes that belongs to cottage Kerry. I was scared he’d disappear when we left Cobh. “You okay, leannán?”
I shrug and nod. “Yeah, just sad about our trip ending.”
He pulls me into his arms and kisses me, rocking me gently. “We’ll go back soon, I promise. I plan on making a regular tradition of it. Just you and me.”
I smile at him making plans for a future together. Clearly he’s already been giving thought to this. “Okay. I’d really like that.”
He intertwines our hands again as we head inside, and good lord, it’s even worse inside.
Dozens of people work to decorate every surface available.
All of the furniture has been removed, and the atrium has been turned into a ballroom.
A big chandelier hangs from the ceiling, and the wooden floors have been replaced with marble. How did they manage that?
I don’t know if Kerry quite understood what he was agreeing to when he told Alessandro he’d host his grand ball here. I mean, changing flooring is a big deal.
Kerry looks just as shocked as I do, his eyebrows raised, gray eyes wide, lips parted.
Alessandro rounds a corner and practically runs at us. “Ah! You’ve returned! I hope your honeymoon was wonderful. Now, now, I must tell you all of the things…big changes, big changes, all good things. It looks great, does it not?” He gestures wildly to the atrium.
“My furniture and plants—” Kerry starts, sounding slightly horrified.
Alessandro laughs and waves him off. “All fine! Well, mostly. A plant may have taken some damage, but it can be saved, I’m sure. The furniture is fine, in storage. Which is unfortunate, it’s all a crime against the eyes. Hideous. Ask your wife for help next time.” He scoffs.
Kerry looks floored. “I had an interior designer help—”
“Fire them. Ruin their business. They’re awful at their job.” I can’t help but snicker.
My laughter makes Kerry look at me and arch a brow. “I assume, based on your reaction when I took you on a tour through the home, that you agree?”
I don’t want to lie to him, but I don’t think Alessandro needs any help criticizing the place, so I just shrug and nod.
“Aha! I knew I liked her. See? Ask her for help. Toss it all out and start over. You need life! Color!”
Kerry sighs and scratches the back of his head with his free hand. “I had done it on purpose to just be for show. But you’re right, with things changing, I guess that’s what we’ll be doing.”
Alessandro clicks his tongue. “Hm, yes, a show for how bland you want people to believe you are, yes? I saw your office. You do not have bad taste like the rest of this house suggests. I’m sure Amy can pick out something much better.”
Kerry turns to look at me to see my reaction. I just shrug at him again and he sighs. “Okay. We'll do that.”
“We don’t have to,” I tell him quietly, squeezing his hand.
Alessandro gives a sarcastic scoff. “No, but you should.”
Kerry pinches his brows, looking from me to Alessandro and then back again. “Maybe a change would be good. After the cottage, I’m rethinking a lot of things.”
That piques my interest, but I know now isn’t the time to be discussing things. Besides, the sounds of hammering and electric drills are making me wince. I can feel the overstimulation building already. “Okay. We can talk about it later, once the ball is done.”
A look of relief crosses over Kerry’s face, as if he’d been expecting to hash it out and come up with a plan to redecorate in the next five minutes. “All right.”
“I expect an invitation to the housewarming party once you are finished, yes?” Alessandro winks at us before turning and hurrying off before either of us can answer.
“No, no, terrible placement! Move it over! And change the color, che schifo!” I can’t help but laugh and shake my head at the man’s antics.
I don’t have the heart to tell him that most people don’t have a housewarming party just for redecorating a place.
Kerry pulls me into his side and kisses my head. “Let’s take our luggage up to our room and get away from all this noise, hm?”
Now it’s my turn to be relieved. “Yes, please.”
I help Kerry carry the bags inside and up the stairs.
But once we reach the end of the hallway, we both pause.
The heavy wooden double doors are already open, revealing that the room is filled with Kerry’s missing plants.
“That bastard. I’m going to kill him,” Kerry growls, but I can tell he’s not serious. Not much, anyway.
I, on the other hand, am trying not to laugh. “Well, it seems it’s going to be as wild as a jungle in our bedroom for a while.”
Kerry grins at me and squeezes my hand. “You’re damn right it will be.”
“I did not need to hear that.” A feminine voice sounds from behind us, making us turn around. A woman I’ve never seen before with dark blonde hair and forest green eyes stands at the top of the stairs. She’s wearing a floral blouse and jeans, and there’s a potted plant in her hands.
Kerry chuckles and lets out a short breath. “O’Brien. Sorry you had to hear that.”
The woman shakes her head and laughs, walking around us to go into our bedroom.
“No worries. I’m just glad you’re back, boss.
” She has a strange accent. I thought it was American at first, but there’s hints of the Irish accent in there, too.
I assume it’s just wishful thinking of meeting someone from home in a foreign land.
Kerry pulls me by the hand to follow her, dragging our suitcases with us. We have to find a place in the usually spacious room to set them down because of all the plants that now litter the area. “You’ve been on holiday since I was gone, it can’t have been that bad.”
O’Brien scoffs. “Then you’re clearly underestimating De Matteis.”
Kerry pauses and then nods. “Fair point. That man is relentless. O’Brien, this is my wife, Amy. Amy, this is one of my best men, Kieran O’Brien.”
The woman laughs as she sets down the pot on the floor and turns to me, dusting off her hands. “One of your best men, hm? A bit antiqued, don’t you think?”
Kerry just shrugs in reply.
I meet her halfway to shake her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Kieran.”
She arches her brow at my accent. “American? I didn't expect that. Haven’t been around someone from home in awhile.”
Now it’s my turn to raise my eyebrows. “You’re American? I wondered. Your accent…”
Kieran shrugs. “Yeah, I’ve been here awhile so it’s hard not to blend my accent a bit. It just happens over time, at least with me. But nope, born and raised in the States. Where are you from?”
“New York,” I reply in excitement at the thought of maybe making a friend from America all the way out here.
She nods. “Ah, I’m from Vegas. Opposite sides. How did you get married to this dope?” She leans in to whisper to me. “That’s what they call idiots here.”
Kerry snorts in amusement.
I can’t help but grin. “Arranged marriage that got called off.”
Kieran’s eyebrows raise. “But he introduced you as his wife.”
“Yep. It got called off but we put it back on, but this time on our terms.”
She tilts her head, observing me for a moment. “Hm. I like you.”
I take a moment to observe her, too. The loose blouse she’s wearing is pretty but nothing too glamorous. It looks like it would fit right in with my Walmart clothes, as Kerry still calls them. Plain light blue jeans, and ballerina flats with a pretty bow on the toes.
Not exactly what you’d expect from someone who works for the mafia, much less one of a mafia boss’s best men, as Kerry put it. It makes me really curious.
“So, um…if it’s not too rude for me to ask, how did you come to Ireland and start working for my husband? I mean, no offense, but you don’t really…look like you’d work with the mafia.”
Kieran grins. “No offense taken. But that’s kind of my superpower. No one even suspects anything’s amiss when they see me.”
“O’Brien here is my best cleaner. She’s famous within all of the Nameless as being the best. I’m constantly having to fight off all of the other members from trying to steal her from me,” Kerry supplies.
But, unfortunately, the only thing I really got from that is that she’s good at her job and has job security.
I arch a brow. “Cleaner? I’m guessing that doesn’t mean maid.”
Both Kerry and Kieran laugh, and my cheeks heat a bit. Kieran smiles and shakes her head, before leaning towards me and whispering again. “I clean up after their crimes. All of the blood and stuff. Make sure it looks like it never really happened.”
I gawk at her. This nice woman in her ballerina flats and flowy blouse cleans up bodies for a living?! “Whoa. I have so many more questions.
She winks at me. “Another time, maybe. I’ll have to check in with my boss to see how much I’m cleared to say.”
“That’s just…badass,” I admit with a shrug. “Seems like a difficult skill to learn.”
“Meh.” She gives a lighthearted shrug. “It’s really just science, when it comes down to it. Chemistry is cool like that.”
I don’t know whether to laugh or stare at her. Maybe both. “Yeah, okay…”
She waves at us and goes around to leave. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Amy! I’m sure I'll be hearing from you soon, Alasdair.”
Kerry and I work quietly as we unpack. The smell of ocean air clings to my dirty clothes as I dump them in a hamper, making me miss our trip all over again.
Just as I zip up my empty suitcase and store it in the closet, Kerry comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me.
He kisses my hair. “We need to get you more clothes.”
“Hm. I don’t know. Do you have any Walmarts here to go shopping at?”
He laughs and squeezes my waist. “No. But we’ll find some cheap alternatives, I promise.”
I turn around in his arms and peck his lips. “Good.”
A clearing of a throat interrupts us. “Is anyone decent in here? I don’t want to walk in on Adam and Eve in the garden, if you know what I mean.” It’s Jack’s voice, echoing in from the bedroom.
Kerry chuckles and pulls away from me, and I follow him into the bedroom. “We were just unpacking. Good to see you, Jack.”
Jack grins as we appear, and meets Kerry halfway for a hug. They pat each other’s back, and Jack pulls back. “Hope the honeymoon was wonderful.”
“It was.” I smile as Jack turns and hugs me next. “Thanks for taking care of things here while we were gone. It was a magical time.”
“Well, then, it was well worth it. Now.” Jack sighs, crossing his arm. “I hate to burst the honeymoon bubble, but…”
Kerry huffs in amusement. “Pretty sure it burst once we walked in and De Matteis was flapping his hands and changing the entire house for his grand ball.”
Jack grimaces. “I’m afraid this might be far worse.”
This makes both Kerry and I pause. We both turn to look at each other, and Kerry’s hand finds mine.
“What is it?” Kerry finally dares to ask.
Jack takes a deep breath. “There’s a woman at the gate. She’s crying and has an ill set mind. She claims to be here for your wedding, and that she’s Amy’s mother.”
Surprise flashes through me. My mother is here and she thinks our wedding hasn’t happened yet?
I knew they let me go without enough drama. There was always bound to be more.