Chapter 10 - Present Day
We’d told our story to the next generation gathered in the great room.
Sure, we kept the complete details about the sex to ourselves, but I sure recalled them while recounting it.
And based on the expressions on Brenda, Cormac, and Cyndi’s faces, so had they.
Hell, retelling our story had me raring to take my woman to our bedroom and get hot and sweaty.
Brenda gave me a sultry look from beneath her lashes.
It didn’t matter her age or that her body wasn’t exactly as it was when we met.
Hell, my body wasn’t firm and muscular like it was when we got together, either.
I loved her, and having sex was still as thrilling for me as ever.
Our age didn’t prevent us from still enjoying it.
I was seventy, and she was sixty-five, not dead.
Sure, I sometimes had to do some preparation, and so did she.
The positions we used to love had been modified to accommodate our aging bodies, but those changes were minor.
Our kids were smiling. They’d heard the story several times over the years, but they still loved hearing it again. Gianna was smiling.
“Wow, you guys sure went for it. You were much quicker about it than this one,” she grinned and nudged her husband, Rian.
The rest of us laughed. It was true. He fell for her right away, but took his time analyzing before he went for it.
He didn’t take offense. All Rian did was smile, then kiss Gianna passionately.
When he let go of her, he smirked. It took a few moments for her to regain her voice.
The rest of us were chatting as he did. Gianna waited for a lull, then interjected.
“I love those stories. I have some questions, if that’s permissible.”
“Fire away,” Cormac said.
“Okay, first question, tell me what happened to those three socialites who wanted you three so badly: Maureen, Linda, and Patricia?” Gianna asked me, Cormac, and Patrick.
When we laughed, her curiosity piqued. It was Brenda who answered her.
“After hearing Cormac claim Cyndi and telling them Sean felt the same way about me, you’d think they’d stop, wouldn’t you?”
“No, they weren’t that smart,” Luc chimed in.
“You’re right. They weren’t. Just over two months later, after we were already engaged, by the way, and it had been publicly announced, all six of us were out for the night.
We were celebrating with Patrick and Maeve, marking their first night out since baby Darragh was born.
We wanted to have dinner, maybe a few drinks, and to dance.
The guys indulged us. We went to a different club from the one where the run-in with those three happened.
But it was still in Jacksonville. And wouldn’t you know our rotten luck, those three ended up there.
I still think they were spying on us.” Brenda huffed.
Over forty years later, and she still was pissed.
I relaxed back to let her tell the story.
“So what did they do?” Luc prompted.
“We ladies were on the dance floor. And we should’ve known to put more bodyguards on our guys, but seriously, we didn’t expect what happened.
The guys came in with us, so it should’ve been obvious they were claimed by anyone with a brain.
It had been announced widely that all three of them had been taken.
We wore their rings, and they didn’t exactly encourage anyone to approach them or to flirt with them. They loved glaring at people.
“Still, we happened to glance over at the table not long after we got our groove on. Those three sluts were over at our table, trying to rub up on our men with their boobs and butts hanging out. No way were we putting up with that. So we beat our feet back to them and got in between our guys and those sluts. They weren’t happy.
” As Brenda continued, I recalled that night.
We were trying not to cause a scene, but Maureen, Linda, and Patricia made it hard not to.
They’d swooped in while we weren’t paying attention.
And since they weren’t a physical threat, just an annoyance, our bodyguards hadn’t prevented them from approaching, though a loud throat clearing from one of them made us check our surroundings.
Groans left all three of us when we saw them.
We figured that being in a VIP section at this club, similar to the other one, meant we’d have fewer people to worry about.
Wrong. They surrounded us, each pressing close to the one they wanted. I rolled my eyes at my brothers.
“Good evening, fellas. You look so handsome tonight. Talk about fate. Us running into you was meant to be. You look awfully lonesome over here,” Linda purred as she eyed me.
“You sure do. Why don’t we get a round of drinks and keep you company?” Maureen suggested.
“It’s been ages since I saw you, Patrick. I’ve missed you,” Patricia said softly. She was staring at him as if transfixed.
“Ladies, please move along,” Patrick said firmly.
“Why? I promise that if you let us stay, you’ll see that we’re wonderful company. You won’t ever want anyone else,” Maureen said. She was running her gaze hungrily up and down Cormac like he was dessert and she hadn’t eaten chocolate in a year.
Uninvited, they pulled out the chairs on either side of us, the ones that were our women’s.
I put my hand on the one next to me, as did my brothers.
I was over this. The time of being nice has ended.
Scene be damned, they needed to leave and not bother us again.
My mouth opened along with Patrick’s and Cormac’s when I heard Brenda’s voice.
Her tone said it all. She wasn’t happy. And along with it came the voices of Maeve and Cyndi. I focused on what my woman said.
“I suggest, Linda, if you want to keep that hair in your head and not end up in the hospital, you back the fuck off. How many goddamn times does Sean have to tell you to get lost? He tries to be a gentleman about it. Good thing I’m not a lady.
My different background that you disparage so much is about to come out,” Brenda growled.
She reached up and removed her earrings.
I held back my bark of laughter. I’d never seen it, but one night, while we were all hanging out with the family, she and Cyndi told us about that move and what it meant.
It meant someone was about to get their ass beat.
I saw Cyndi and even Maeve follow suit. Goddamn, we’d be greasing palms tonight to keep their asses out of jail, but it would be worth it.
Signaling the guards, they knew what to do. They moved, forming a barrier between us and those around us. We sat in the back of the VIP section, our backs to the wall, with the emergency exit a few feet away.
“It’s you three again. Why can’t you just leave? We told you. These men are out of your league. They’ll soon tire of you, and then your asses will be back out on the street.” Linda sniffed.
“Oh, so the fact that I married Patrick means nothing?” Maeve asked.
“It doesn’t. You may have tricked him into marrying you and giving you a baby, but he’ll wake up and send you packing as well. Don’t think he’ll let you use his son against him. That baby will remain with the O’Sheerans and will be raised by Patrick’s proper wife,” Patricia said.
Maeve’s eyes narrowed. “Let me tell you something. If Patrick ever decides to divorce me, which he won’t, but let’s say he does.
I can promise you, as God is my witness, he won’t take our son from me, and he sure the hell won’t allow someone else to raise Darragh.
That would be a guaranteed death sentence for him and whoever the bitch is who replaces me,” Maeve hissed.
“A ghrá geal, Beloved, you know you are the only woman for me. You’re my anamchara.
I will never want or love another woman.
Even if you were to die, I would never be able to replace you.
As for taking our son from you, I won’t.
And I know you mean every word you said about killing the other woman and me.
You need to stop. You’re making me hot,” he purred.
As Maeve gave him a wink and blew him a kiss, I watched the outrage blossom on Patricia’s face.
She sputtered, “P-Patrick, you can’t let her say that to you! She threatened your life. Your bodyguards need to take her out and deal with her. How can you say you’ll never want another woman? There’s no way what she said turns you on,” she cried, outraged.
“Oh no, then what do you attribute this to?” Patrick asked, tilting back his chair and cupping the bulge in his pants. Maeva gave him an indulgent smile while Patricia’s eyes popped and her mouth dropped open as she ogled my brother’s crotch. Cor and I chuckled.
“Damn, I thought I was the only one who gets turned on when my woman gets feisty,” Cor said.
“Nope. Brenda had me rearing up as soon as she removed her earrings. This night out might end sooner than we thought. Or we’ll have to find a private spot here,” I added, not caring if it sounded coarse or not. I knew my woman wouldn’t care.
“As you can see, these three are content with what they have. I wouldn’t hold my breath, hoping they’ll get rid of us and allow you into their lives. Even if we didn’t exist, that would never happen,” Cyndi told them confidently.
“Damn, right,” Cor responded.
“Never,” Patrick said.
“You’ve got that right, leanbh.” I finished off the replies.
Patricia stomped her foot like a child. She tried to get closer to Patrick, but Maeve stood in her way. Her facial expression dared Patricia to try to move her.
“You can’t be serious! What in the world do you see in her? She’s beneath you,” she whined to Patrick.
“And these two are the same,” Linda added, jerking her chin toward Cyndi and Brenda.
“They’ll never be good enough to be part of the O’Sheeran family,” Maureen sneered.
“Just what the fuck in your book makes you better and an ideal candidate over them?” Patrick growled.