Chapter Twenty-Two #2
“Oh shut up.” I shoved my gun back into my holster.
I didn’t like to think about the fact that Seamus might be right, that Aislinn would run if she found out her sister didn’t need saving, and I liked it even less that it seriously bothered me.
Our marriage was still far from my ideal, but I liked Aislinn, her feistiness, her caring side—even if she hadn’t shown it to me yet—and her wanton innocence.
If she ran, I’d probably hunt and catch her, but it would turn our marriage into something even less like what I aimed for.
After I’d picked up Aislinn and Finn at the airport, we rode home together.
Aislinn never left Finn’s side. She carried Finn up the stairs.
Seeing her motherly side made me appreciate her all the more, especially considering how lacking her sister was in that department as I’d witnessed in Miami yesterday.
She finally set Finn down when I’d unlocked the apartment door and gestured them inside.
He was a tiny slip of a boy. I had several great-nephews and great-nieces, more than I cared to count (I had thirty-two cousins and they all bred like rabbits), and some were his age but definitely taller and sturdier.
He didn’t release Aislinn’s hand as she showed him the apartment.
I had a feeling she wouldn’t have left his side anyway.
The protective vibes she gave off were strong.
She was in mother bear mode and ready to bite my head off if I made the wrong move toward the boy.
I carried the three bags with toys into the guest bedroom. Aislinn had bought Spiderman bedlinen to make it more child friendly. When she entered the small room with Finn by her side, he immediately tugged her toward the bed and touched the linen.
“If you like spiderman, you’ll like some of these,” I said as I set down the bags in the center of the room. Finn eyed them curiously but didn’t approach them. “Go ahead,” I encouraged him.
He looked at Aislinn for approval, and when she nodded, he pulled her toward the bags.
Soon everything I’d bought for him was lined up carefully on the ground.
His favorites were a spiderman figure and an airplane with a remote control.
I watched him and Aislinn for a while, how happy she looked with the boy around, as if a piece of her that had been missing was finally whole again.
With a last glance at them, I returned to the living room then went over to check the fridge.
I grinned when I spotted a container filled with what looked like another stew.
I opened it and took a whiff. Beef this time.
I could get used to Aislinn’s cooking. It reminded me of my childhood, of Ireland, of a time when my only worry had been if I’d be able to prank Balor and get away with it unscathed.
That had rarely been the case. Balor had always been too cautious.
Later when the twins joined in on the pranking, I could blame many of my own devious endeavors on them, though eventually that didn’t work either.
Chuckling at the memories, I grabbed a pot and dumped the stew into it.
Aislinn should open a restaurant. I’d be her best customer and many of my men who missed our home country as much as I did would spend their lunch breaks there too.
Finn’s laughter rang out, followed soon after by Aislinn’s.
I’d lived alone since I moved to New York.
Before that I’d either lived with my family at the manor or shared an apartment with Balor and then later Aran in Dublin.
I hadn’t been lonely. I’d had company—my men, friends like Timothy and Seamus, my brothers when they visited, and for short periods of time women.
I’d always known I wanted to marry and have children.
For many decades the men of our clan had managed to be fathers and gang leaders, had been the brutal hand in business and the strict but fair hand in the family.
But in the last few years, and over many failed match-making attempts of my father whenever I set foot on Irish soil, I started to wonder if I’d ever feel the true desire to marry.
Aislinn caught me by surprise. I was known for rash decisions, for hot headedness, though I had improved over the years, or so I’d thought.
Welcoming Aislinn into my home had never felt like an intrusion. Even if she resisted me however she could, I enjoyed her presence, not just because of the very entertaining sex.
I liked coming home to a woman, even if she rarely smiled at me.
I had a feeling I wouldn’t mind Finn’s presence either.
I didn’t fancy becoming his father figure.
The boy had baggage at his young age, thanks to his horrible parents, and I doubted he’d readily accept me into his life.
But I’d protect him as I would my nephews and nieces.
Seamus had often bugged me about settling down. He’d had his eyes set on Maeve for a long time so their marriage was set in stone and he’d been the annoying type who wanted the same sappy happiness for everyone around him too.
I was always too busy, my mind occupied on expanding our business in New York over the last decade.
Irish clans had business in New York and the East Coast since the nineteenth century, but due to the Irish-Italian mob wars of the 1970s most clans stopped operating in this part of the world and returned to their roots in Ireland or tried to live a normal life.
Our family had never fully left New York but our business had been affected by the war.
Luckily, many of the Italian families had moved on to the West Coast or dealt in other underground businesses than we partake in.
The Italians had their fingers in construction and gambling, and we had no interest in any of that.
We focused on what we did best: racketeering, gun trafficking, and contract killing.
The stew bubbled on the stove.
“It’ll burn if you don’t stir and turn the temperature down,” Aislinn said as she came into the room.
I did as she said. “That’s why I always use the microwave.”
“It’s blasphemous to warm a home cooked stew in a microwave.”
“We’ve been prone to blasphemous actions in the past,” I said with a smirk. Aislinn’s face turned red, and she looked back into Finn’s room. But the boy was busy trying to steer the airplane with the remote control.
“Not in front of Finn.”
“I doubt he’ll understand the innuendo.”
“He’s intelligent.”
“I didn’t say he wasn’t,” I said, regarding her defensive stance.
I wasn’t sure what she’d witnessed in the past, but it was clear she was used to jumping to Finn’s defense.
I put the spoon down and moved to her side, sliding my arm around her waist, despite her tension.
“But sexual innuendos are beyond a child’s understanding.
” She resisted when I tried to pull her in for a kiss.
I chuckled. “I think Finn will survive a bit of kissing.” I kissed her forehead then pulled away .
“Finn, dinner’s ready!” Aislinn called. She was definitely tense, as if she feared I’d jump on her. I’d grown up in an Irish Catholic family in the countryside. I knew to limit my dirty talk and groping when we were alone.
Finn came into the room, the spiderman figure in his hand. He tugged on Aislinn’s hip. She tousled his hair. “Wh-wh-wha-t-t-t-t d-d-d-d-o w-w-w-e eat?”
His stutter was stronger in my presence and I had some trouble understanding him. Aislinn was familiar with his speech and I’d probably get used to it soon as well, and not even notice it anymore.
“Aislinn’s famous stew,” I said with a wink at him.
He gave me a shy smile before he hid behind Aislinn. We settled at the table, each with a bowl of stew.
Finn soon began to recount every second of his journey while picking pieces of potato and carrot out of his stew.
Aislinn shook her head with a loving smile at Finn. My chest constricted seeing it. Fuck. Maybe Seamus was right.
“You set the bar really high letting him fly business class for his first flight,” she said.
“I told you I would spoil him rotten.”
Finn glanced between Aislinn and me, biting his lower lip. He didn’t look like Aislinn or her sister. He’d obviously inherited his looks from his father’s side: light brown hair and pale blue eyes plus plenty of freckles.
Finn put down his spoon after extracting the vegetables from the stew.
“If you want to grow big and strong, you need to eat your meat,” I said with a nod toward the beef cubes in his bowl.
The moment the words left my mouth, I could have kicked my stupid ass.
Those were the same words that my parents and grandparents had nagged me with when they’d tried to force me to eat my vegetables.
He looked down and squirmed on the chair.
“I d-d-d-d-d—” He looked up at Aislinn for help.
“He doesn’t like meat very much, so he doesn’t have to eat it,” she said to me but she was looking at Finn. “Are you full?”
Finn nodded.
“Okay, but you’ll have to stay at the table until we’re done.”
Most of the boys in my family were little troublemakers. Finn was a shy kid. I’d definitely have to reconsider my approach.
After dinner, Finn went back into his room to play some more, though he looked dead tired. He was probably running on pure excitement .
Aislinn cleaned the table, but I could tell she had something to say.
I had to admit I was surprised she hadn’t questioned me about my meeting with Sergej yet.
Even if she didn’t know about my trip to Miami, she thought Sergej had given me information about her sister.
Maybe she wanted to wait until Finn was asleep to avoid him eavesdropping.
It must be hard for the poor kid to be abandoned by his mother like that, especially since his father was absent his whole life too.
“You have something to say,” I said as I stepped up close to her. She turned her back against the counter as I supported my arms on either side of her.
“Please don’t force Finn to eat if he doesn’t want to.”
“It was just a saying I often heard as a kid.”
She swallowed, getting emotional. She rarely got teary eyed around me, and if her eyes filled with tears, they were usually angry ones.
“Finn’s had sensory difficulties in the past. Some textures trigger his gag reflex.
It took a long time to get him to eat chunky food at all.
I don’t want him to regress. He’s moving at his own pace, and that’s okay. ”
I had so many jokes about gag reflexes but even I wasn’t that much of an insensitive oaf. “You’re the boss when it comes to Finn.”
Aislinn raised an eyebrow.
“You’re my good girl in all the areas that matter.”
She huffed and I stole a kiss, my tongue sneaking into her mouth before she could push me away. For a moment she relaxed into the kiss then tore her lips from mine.
“Aren’t you curious about my meeting with Sergej?” I murmured.
She slanted a look toward Finn’s room. “Later.”
I wasn’t in a rush to lie to her. Maybe telling her the truth would have been the right thing to do, but it would only complicate everyone’s lives. Imogen obviously didn’t give a damn about her family. I could only hope that one day Aislinn would manage to feel the same about her sister.