Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
We’ve been back in Dublin for a couple of days. The idea of contacting Aurora’s father to find out how exactly this getting out is going to work has crossed my mind. I don’t want him to think I need his help, though, so I haven’t done it.
“Connor, did you know my father and Zio Theo are here? In Dublin?” Aurora asks me.
“No,” I tell her, because I didn’t know. “Where are they?”
“No clue. Dante just said they got here yesterday,” Aurora explains.
“I’m sure if they wanted you to know they were here, they would show up at our doorstep.”
“But—”
“No buts, Aurora. Just let them do whatever it is they’re doing.”
“Argh, fine,” she grunts. “Do you think this is it? How my dad’s going to help get you out?”
“I don’t know. I have no idea what he’s planning, princess. I really shouldn’t have gotten your hopes up,” I tell her. Because it’s going to break her if whatever he has up his sleeve doesn’t work.
“If Papa says he can do something, then he can.” Aurora frowns. “You don’t know him like I do.”
“I’m sure he thinks he can, babe. I just don’t want to see you crushed if it doesn’t work,” I admit.
That will fucking break me. You know the saying that if you love someone, then set them free?
I could never set Aurora free. If I’m stuck in this prison, she’s going to be stuck with me because there is no way in hell I will ever be able to let her go.
“Whatever happens, I don’t care. As long as we are together, I will be happy,” Aurora tells me. “I’m going to go make coffee. You want one?”
“No, I’m good,” I tell her.
The minute she walks out of the living room, my phone rings with an unknown number on the screen. “Hello”
“Connor, It’s Matteo. I’m out front and your goons are not letting us inside.”
“Mr. Valentino, give me a minute.” I cut the call. He might have addressed himself by his first name, but no fucking way would I make that mistake. I walk over to the wall and press the intercom to the front gate. “Let them in,” I say.
“Boss, you sure?”
“Did I fucking stutter?” I yell. “Let them in!”
Opening the front door, I wait for Mr. Valentino. He comes into view and I see that he’s not alone. Walking between him and his brother is my mother. What the fuck?
“Why is she here?” I look over a shoulder to make sure Aurora is still in the kitchen.
“We needed her to hear this,” Mr. Valentino says.
“Come in. Through there.” I point to the living room.
“Pfft, it’s my house, Connor. I know where to go,” my mother spits at me. I’ve never heard so much hatred directed my way before. It takes me aback a bit.
“Sit the fuck down, Ma. And for the love of God, keep your mouth shut,” I tell her. “If you say one thing to her, I will fucking kill you myself.” I’ve never spoken to my mother like this, but after what she did to Aurora, she’s lucky I even let her live.
“What’s… Papa, hey.” Aurora smiles when she sees her father. Her gaze then lands on my mother and that smile disappears. “What’s going on?”
“Sit down. I have to tell you both something,” Mr. Valentino says.
Aurora takes my hand and leads me over to the empty sofa.
After we sit, Mr. Valentino looks at me. “I’m sorry I have to be the one to tell you this, or that I even have to…” His face is neutral, impassive. I have no idea what’s coming next.
I look to Theo Valentino, who just leans against the wall, watching everyone. “Okay…”
“You are not the O’Malley heir, Connor,” he says.
“What?” I don’t know what else to say, because that makes no sense. “If you’re talking about my father’s illegitimate kid, he’s not even Irish.”
“Connor, don’t believe what these fools tell you,” my mother chimes in.
I look from her to Mr. Valentino. “What do you mean I’m not the O’Malley heir?”
“You aren’t an O’Malley, Connor. After you killed your father, rumors started to surface back home. I collected a sample of DNA from you last time we were in Dublin and ran it to confirm if they were true. You’re not an O’Malley, Connor,” he repeats. “Your mother had an affair.”
I blink. That can’t be right. I’m not an O’Malley? How the fuck can I not be? It’s all I’ve ever known.
I turn to my mother. “Is it true?” I ask her, but I know the answer without her having to say anything. “You lied to me. My whole life is a lie? What the fuck, Ma? Who the fuck was he?” I stand and start pacing the room.
Then it hits me. This is what I’ve always wanted. I’m not the O’Malley heir. It’s not my birthright. I smile, walk over to Mr. Valentino, and throw my arms around him.
“Thank you,” I tell him. He returns my gesture with a stiff pat on the back.
This news frees me. I’m finally going to be free of the burden of this family.
“No, Connor. This is your birthright. I didn’t make it this far for nothing,” my mother says. “I did this for you. So you can have all of this.”
“All of this?” I parrot. “I’ve never fucking wanted any of it, Ma. You wanted it. Not me.” I pull out my phone and start typing on the screen. “I need to call a meeting.”
The sooner I break this news to the higher-ups of this organization, the sooner I’m out of here. They can find someone else to be their fucking leader.
“Is it really going to be that easy?” Aurora asks. “I mean, people can’t just leave this life.”
“They can when it involves a birthright. They will find whomever was next in line after my father, likely one of his cousins. We are going home, princess.” My lips land on hers until a throat clears behind us. “Sorry,” I mutter. I don’t want to be disrespectful in front of her father.
I message Cillian.
Me:
Get everyone, meeting in an hour. My house, office.
Cillian:
On it, boss.
I need to get my mother out of here. If I don’t, she won’t have any chance of survival, not that she deserves it. But I can’t be the reason she dies. I don’t know what it is. I feel like that’s just a line I can’t cross. It was easier with my father. But a mother is… different.
I press the intercom. “Come and escort my mother off the premises.” Then I turn to her. “I never want to see or hear from you again. If I were you, I would run far, far away. You and I both know what they will do when they find this out.”
The organization will kill her. They’ll find her eventually. But it won’t be because of me.
An hour later, I’m standing in front of ten of the most senior members of the O’Malley organization. When you think about it, these are the guys who really run shit. Being their boss is a glorified position. Of course, if I said jump, they’d ask how high. But shit is fine without my input as well.
I’ve just told them about what I’ve found out.
“Do you know who he was? The guy your mother had an affair with?” Cillian asks me.
“No, and I don’t care to know,” I tell him. “However, what I do need everyone to know is that when I leave here, I’m done. This isn’t my place. I’m not the heir. And I want to make sure nothing follows me back to Boston.”
“Nothing will follow you,” Cillian says. “I’ll sort it. You take your wife and go to school like you should be doing.”
I look at him. He’s always been kind to me.
I didn’t think too much of it before. Then a memory from my childhood hits me.
I was ten, and Cillian came over and handed me the ball I’d thrown across the garden.
My mother ran out, stood between us, and started yelling.
At the time, I had no idea what he’d done wrong.
It wasn’t unusual for my mother to yell, though.
Was it him? Is he the guy she had an affair with?
“Thank you.” I shake his hand. I’m not going to dig, because I really don’t want to know. Nothing good will come of it.
I walk out of the office and find Aurora in the living room with her father.
“You ready to go home, princess?” I ask her.
“Are you?” she counters.
“Home is wherever you are. Let’s go.” I kiss her temple and hold her against my side.
“It went well?” Mr. Valentino glares at where I’m touching his daughter but doesn’t say more.
“Better than I thought,” I tell him.
“Good.” He nods and walks out the door, followed by his brother, and then Aurora and me, hand in hand.
“This isn’t the end, Connor,” she says.
“What do you mean?”
“This is the beginning. Our life together is only just starting and it’s going to be the most epic tale ever.” She smiles up at me.
“Well, I got the princess, so how could it not be epic?” I lean down and press my lips to hers.
She’s right. This isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning of our forever.