Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
He chuckles as he kisses me back. “You good, love?” he asks gently. “You and my mother get along?”
“You have a very good mom, you know that?”
“Yeah, I know, she’s all right.”
A flood of cousins comes in next. Each of them greets me warmly. A few uncles follow them through, and they give me a kiss on the cheek. I don’t remember when it started to feel like this, like I belonged in his house at Ronan’s side, but nobody even flinches to see me holding their boss’s hand and leaning against his side.
I don’t need to ask him what happened. We head into the kitchen, and I spend the next hour pouring drinks, serving meals, and laughing at jokes. Ronan keeps catching me and kissing me, and I swear I don’t go five minutes without him putting a hand on me—my arm, my legs, my hips, my ass at least a few times, which gets a loud laugh from Niall when I swat it away. The sun rises as the boys eat and drink, winding down from a stressful evening, and I lean against Ronan’s arm fighting off sleep.
“It’s done,” he says, the first time he decides to speak about what happened.
“Cormac?” I ask.
“Dead. It’ll be on the TV this morning, I bet. The whole family will hear.”
I nod, weariness flooding me. “What about his people? His parents and stuff?”
“They’ll be allowed to stay in the Hayes Group if they want, or we’ll let them go without any problems. Cormac’s got a sister and she’s only twenty-two or so, and his mother passed a few years back. It’s just his dad left. We’ll see what the old man wants.”
“I’m sorry you had to do it. I know you didn’t want to.”
“I didn’t want to,” he agrees, “but it was Cormac’s choice, and he bore the consequences.”
“What about the cousins that went with him?”
“They’ll be punished and dealt with, but nobody else will die. It’s time to bring the family together.” He pulls me tight against him. I lean on his shoulder in the kitchen as the cousins laugh and smile, the sky turning pink and purple out the back window. “Me and you, love. We’ll pull it back together.”
He’s right. We will. Because finally, after what feels like forever, I know I’m in the right place.
I’m exactly where I belong.
Chapter 49
Ronan
Cormac’s father sits across from my desk and looks like he wants to sink into the floor.
He’s a tall man. I can see where Cormac got his nose and his prominent cheekbones. Except Cormac’s father is rail-thin and smells like gin, and it’s not even ten in the morning yet.
A part of me wants to feel sorry for Cormac. He was born to an alcoholic father and lost his mother at a young age. The poor bastard went through some shit, but he made his decisions and he has to live with them.
Or not live with them, as the case may be.
“I need you to understand something, Dermot. What your son did was unforgivable. He had the chance to walk himself back from the line, but instead he decided to dive head-first across instead. What happened to him was his own doing.”
“I know that,” Dermot says. He doesn’t meet my gaze. “My son was too opinionated for his own good.”
That’s saying it fucking mildly. I decided not to correct the old drunk. Cormac wasn’t opinionated—he was an egotistical piece of shit that thought he could take over my family.
“There won’t be any reprisals. You will not seek revenge. You’ll accept what happened, and you’ll be allowed to stay in the family. You and your daughter as well. Do you understand?”
He grunts and nods. “I’ve been a loyal Hayes member for a long time now.”
“I know that, which is why you’re being given this chance.” I lean closer, and my voice softens. “But understand this. If I didn’t want to heal the wounds in my family right now, I’d cut your fucking throat myself and sell your daughter overseas. You are being offered this one single chance at clemency, and there will not be another.”
He clears his throat and nods. “Yes, Ronan. I hear you.”
“Good.” I lean back and study him. “Now, I need you to do something for me. When this meeting is over, you’ll go out into my mother’s house, eat something for breakfast, and start telling anyone that’ll listen how nobody else is going to get hurt. Cormac got what he deserved, but the family’s coming back together. No more killings.”
His eyes widen a fraction, and he glances up. “Why do you want me to do that?”
“It’ll hold more weight coming from you. Go out there, follow my instructions, and head home when you’re done. Keep your head down.”
“Yes, sir. I can do that.” Dermot pushes his chair back and gets to his feet. He’s unsteady, the alkie bastard. I should be annoyed, but it’s more common than I like to admit in this damn family.