35. Chapter Thirty-Five #2
I take a shaky breath through my stinging nose and keep quiet. I need him calm, not agitated.
“You have to get them to stop. You have to.”
“I think you owe me an apology,” I whisper. I cock my ear when a sound from outside hits my eardrums, all the while keeping my eyes locked with his.
“I’m sorry,” he mutters. “You have to believe me!”
“I do believe that you’re sorry, Joe, but you’re only making things worse for yourself. You have to make your wrongs right again. You must turn yourself in.”
The dull, blue gaze he aims my way is pitiful. Despite the full beard, he almost looks as if he’s that torn, sullen teenager he was when we first met. The one who would only grunt when spoken to.
“I’ll never get out if I do that,” he whispers in a tight rasp, his throat working on a long swallow. “You know it as well as I do.”
“I don’t. But I know that if you keep this up, the chances of you ever setting foot on green grass again gets slimmer.” I take another step closer and raise my hand. “Come on, now. Give me the gun. Let’s end this. Your mother’s worried about you.”
His mouth wobbles, the tears shining in his eyes.
I almost feel sorry for him.
Almost.
“I don’t…They’ll kill me, Maeve. They’ll get to me.”
I frown at him, the strain on my arm making it shake, but I can’t stop now.
“Who will get to you?”
“The people I work for. They don’t forgive easily.”
“The Gardai can protect you if you just tell us everything you know. Help us bring them down.”
He shakes his head, the tears streaming down his cheeks in a relentless torrent. “You can’t guarantee that. You know that.”
Just as I open my mouth to try and keep talking some sense into him, the doors behind him slide open, and a gust of wind blows inside. He whips around, waving the gun from side to side.
“Joe, don’t!” I call out, but it’s too late. A single shot fills the air, and Joe drops to his knees on a wild scream, but at least still alive. I crumble to the floor next to him and wrench the gun out of his hand, putting it behind me, where someone takes it gingerly out of my grip.
Anger beyond belief comes in one wave after the other, pulling me under.
“You stupid, stupid man,” I spit. My control slips through my fingers, and then I lose it. I fist my hand, pull my arm back, and land him a single blow to his jaw. Pain shoots up my arm, but I don’t care. I want to see him bleed.
“That’s for shooting me!” I yell at him, then fire another blow to his nose. “And that’s for vandalising my beautiful cottage!”
I raise my arm a third time, but I get caught midair by someone behind me.
“Gallagher! Enough!”
I snap my head back, biting down on my lips to stop the torrent of expletives from leaving my mouth when I look at the grim face of my boss staring me down.
“Stand down, Detective. Now.”
I breathe deeply and pull against his hold on me. “I’m calm, Sir. Let me go.”
He gives me a pointed stare, but when I don’t back down, he nods once and releases the tight hold on my arm.
“Fine. Let the paramedics see to his leg. He’s not running anywhere for a long time.”
I can’t look at the bloody mess on the floor, or at Joe, for that matter. I wipe the sweat off my face and push up on my knees, the adrenaline dying down in my blood. When I’m on my feet, a large dose of nausea hits me, followed by a headache, and I sway on my feet.
“Mae!”
I reach out blindly, and when a strong set of arms pulls me closer and a hit of my favourite citrusy scent wafts in my nostrils, I plant my face into his chest, my knees buckling, but I’m okay.
Because I already know he’s got me.
“Aidan,” I sob into his chest, the strain attacking me full force now it’s over.
“You’re safe, sweetheart. I’ve got you.”
Aidan pulls me even closer, his hands on my face, searching, and his mouth leaving gentle kisses on my cheeks, my forehead, my lips. His fingers swipe at my tears as they cascade down, and I hiccup, the pounding in my head relentless but nothing I can’t handle.
“Maeve?” A soothing hand on my back makes me open my eyes, and when I see Franny’s frazzled but gentle eyes on me, I move from Aidan’s embrace to hug her.
“Oh, you’re okay!”
She hugs me back just as fiercely.
“Yes, I was in the loo when I heard him come in, shouting. I’m fine, dear.” She pushes me gently away and pats my cheek. “But I think you need to get your man here to take you home now.”
I blink rapidly, raising my eyes to search for O’Neill. I find him off to the side, talking with a member of the Garda Emergency Response. He raises his eyes at me in question.
“I’ll make sure Sarah stops by later to take your statement.”
“She’ll be at Lynch Farm,” Aidan butts in, pulling me into his side.
O’Neill nods at Aidan, but that’s the only acknowledgment we get before he slips his hands into his pockets and turns away, leaving us alone.
“Come on. Let’s get you home.”
I lean on his arm and wrap mine around his waist, grateful when he tucks me close to his side. As we walk through the sliding doors and outside, I breathe deeply, letting his calm presence soothe me.
“Aidan?”
He pushes on the fob to unlock the car door, his eyes focused somewhere in the distance.
“Mmm?”
“I love you.”
His body jerks and his step falters, but then he pulls me close to his side, his one-armed embrace fierce.
“And I love you.”
I relish the way he says the words to me, with ease and as if it’s as natural to him as breathing, and let them wrap around my heart.
We stop next to the passenger side door, but when I reach out my hand to open it, his hand on the handle on top of mine makes me tilt my head back to meet his serious eyes.
“You picked one hell of a day to give me your love, sweetheart.”
I reach up to trace his lips with my thumb.
“Why wait? I know what I want. I belong with you and Katie.” I smile slowly. “I think you’ll have me.”
He trembles hard and moves his head to place a gentle kiss on the palm of my hand, sending my pulse skittering.
“I’ve always believed that it’s not the place that makes a home. It’s the people.”
My lips stretch into such a wide smile that my cheeks hurt.
“I love that. It doesn’t matter where I am, as long as I’m with you.”
In a bold move I never saw coming, he bends to his knees and lifts me up in the air, his hands around my bum.
A delighted laugh bursts from my lips when he twirls around and around, making my head spin.
My head is still heavy with the aftershock of today’s events, but happiness I never dreamed of has chased most of it away.
“Aidan!” I squeal in his embrace, holding onto his shoulders. “Put me down!”
“Never, my Mae. You’re stuck with me for the next fifty years.”
I lean down to capture his mouth, and only then does he stop and take over my kiss.
And while we become lost in our sweet embrace, I thank my lucky stars that I came here.
This man and his daughter are my forever home.
I know that now.
And I’ll never take their love for granted.