Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Mac
I don’t want to take her home at first. We both had so many things happen, but it seems natural for us to take a holiday in Paris. And why the hell not?
To my brother’s credit, they take care of things at home, and sort everything out with Aitkens. I will never tell Bryn, but Leith paid a dowry in the sum of over a million euro. It’s the largest we’ve ever paid. But he does it without regret, and for that I’ll be forever grateful.
I work hard at making the alliances that I started forming before I met Bryn.
I want to put money back in the Cowen family coffers, and I’m here to do just that.
So I meet the people I need to in the early morning.
There never was a Mademoiselle Black, but there are definitely people here that I need to work with.
I fulfill a contract on behalf of Keenan McCarthy from Ireland. He calls and asks me to and pays me amply for my time. I wire the money straight to Leith.
I manage to secure a direct line with a Parisian mobster, and by the time we leave, I’ve not only made the most lucrative deals of my career, but I have new alliances as well.
Everyone knows that we’ve defeated Aitkens. He’s hated not only in Scotland, but all around Europe. When it’s discovered that I’ve married his daughter and he’s powerless, it’s easy to form neutral alliances with other groups.
During the days we travel through Paris. I take her to every fucking tourist place on the map. Bryn loves every minute of it with the enthusiasm of a child. I’m so thankful for our time together. I fall more in love with her with every day that passes.
It’s fucking beautiful. It’s fucking everything.
I make love to her whenever possible. I take my time, making slow, sweet love in the early twilight morning, and at night have my way with her, tying her wrists to the bedposts, pinning her to the bed while I fuck her.
I make her scream my name. I make her come so hard that she knows she’s fucking mine with every breath that she draws.
I buy her a diamond ring the day before we return to Scotland.
It’s a beautiful, sparkly gem, with blood-red rubies on either side of it.
She picks it out and tells me the reason why she likes it is because it’s a reminder of where we came from.
Our fierce allegiances to our families forged us, and if not for the ties of family, for better or for worse, we never would’ve found each other.
And now we have.
“It isn’t morbid for you?” I ask, gesturing to the ring. “You sure, lass?”
“No, Mac, it isn’t at all,” she says softly. “I love it.”
“And I love you.”
We dine one final time in a little café in the heart of Paris. I bring up a subject that I’ve wondered about for a while.
“What do you want from your future, Bryn? What is it that you want from life?”
She doesn’t answer right away. She puts her croissant down on her plate, sips from her water glass. She looks thoughtful before she responds, but once she’s made up her mind, she meets my eyes and smiles.
“I want to own my own business. It’s because of this, that my father first accused me of betraying him.
He didn’t think that I was capable of having a business on my own, and he didn’t like that I snuck behind his back.
The only reason was because I needed a place of my own.
I needed to prove myself. I was sick of being under his thumb and doing everything that my family told me to.
I had to show them that I was capable of doing things on my own. ”
“Of course, love. I know you are. And I’m so bloody proud of you. So you want to own your shop, that’s easily sorted. You can even stay in Inverness centre, now that I know your family won’t hurt you. We’re not going to compromise on a guard, though.” I give her a stern look.
“Aye,” she says, readily agreeing. “I wouldn’t want to own a shop myself without a guard outside. I bloody well need it.”
I’ll make sure that she stays safe, even if I have to take a post myself outside her shop. We’ll make it happen. She’s bloody talented, and I want to see her fulfill her dreams.
“What else?”
“I want children,” she says. “Or at least a child.”
I nod. “Me as well.”
“I just… well, I want a chance to love a child. I want to raise him or her with as much love as I possibly can.” She holds her chin up and meets my gaze. “In short, Mac, what I want is an opportunity to… break the chain. You know?”
I hold her hand and kiss her fingertips. “Ah, lassie. Of course, love. I do know.” I feel my own voice grow a little thoughtful. I’ve known for a while there’s no love lost between my parents. I’d like a chance to break the chain, too.
“It starts with us, Bryn.”
“Does it?” she asks, smiling.
“Aye, lass. We’re the ones that will break the chain. We’re the ones that start a new beginning.”
“Aye,” she says with a smile. “I’d like that.”
We pack our bags and head home. On the plane ride back, she pulls up a text on her phone.
“What the bloody hell is this, Mac? Oh my God!”
I look sharply at her phone, but only see texts.
“What is it?”
“Jesus, Mac, Fran caught her new husband with another woman on their wedding night.”
“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?”
She glares at the screen. “No.” She sighs. “She’s staying in Islan’s room. They had moved in together, you see, and she has no place to go.”
“What a fuckin’ wanker.”
Her eyes go even wider. “Seems Tate got involved.”
“Did he, now? Can’t say I’m surprised. He’s one of those overprotective types.”
She gives me a look I can’t decipher.
“What?”
“Oh, we don’t know anyone else like that, now, do we?”
I snort. “Well, you know. Not like him.”
Her brows shoot up to the sky. “Not like him? So if someone tried to hurt me…”
“That’s different.”
“How is it different?”
“Well… because you’re you,” I tell her. “I’d beat the crap out of anyone who disrespected you and kill anyone who threatened you.”
“Now, Mac,’ she says, flushing with pleasure, clearly pleased. “Not everything can be solved with fists, you know that.”
“Aye, lass, but I’d fuckin’ try, wouldn’t I?”
She laughs, reaches over, and grabs my face between her hands. She kisses my forehead fiercely. “And that’s only one of the very many things I love about you, Mac Cowen.”
I kiss her back. “Are we keeping track now?”
She giggles. “Nah.”
“Good, love,” I say, giving her another kiss. “Because I lost track long ago.”
She rests her head on my shoulder as we fly home. She reads her book, and I sling my arm around her shoulders. When we get home, we’ll have a right good wedding. Proper, for the sake of family. We’ll keep it simple and brief, so she doesn’t have to see her family for long.
“You should get some sleep,” I tell her, when her head bobs and she nearly passes out on my shoulder.
“Just one more chapter,” she says through her yawn.
“Alright, lass. One more chapter.”
I watch her read, snuggled up next to me, and marvel at the story we’re writing. I’m taking her home. We’ll write the next chapter, together.