Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76782 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
He stopped me. “I know all that. I mean, can you accept me, my life, my world, now that you know about my family? That I am more than just a solicitor.”
“Yes. I understand you more now. Your world.”
He shut his eyes, and when he opened them, they were damp with emotion. “And you’ll still leave your life here to be with me? Do you still want that?”
“Yes. Once I have settled things here, I will come to you.”
“I will do everything I can to make it happen quickly. Hire movers. You can ship all your things and sort them after if it makes it faster—”
It was my turn to stop him. “No, I will sort them here. It’s not a lot. I thought I would get them from the storage unit and take them to Lynn’s place and sort it all at once. I will spend my time after work and seeing her to do all that.”
“How long?” he asked, his voice tight.
“A month, maybe less.”
“Let’s make it less.”
“I’ll try.” I smiled. “I have a hair band to collect, so I’ll go as fast as I can.”
He moved his hand from my waist and pulled back his watch. Under it was my hair band, stretched to fit his wrist, the dark elastic hidden.
“I had a piece of you with me,” he said. “And I’m keeping it until you come back.”
I stared up at him. “I brought your flower with me.”
“We’re quite the pair.”
“Except your flower is safe. My hair band is useless now. You stretched it out of shape,” I teased, not wanting to get emotional again.
He pulled me close. “I can stretch something else, lass. Something far more enjoyable.”
I draped my arms over his shoulders.
“Show me.”
I thought the room Sully and I were staying in was incredible. Expansive, with a living room and kitchen, a luxurious bath, a bedroom you could run laps in—but it was nothing compared to the one Finn and Una lived in. Sully had explained to me that since Finn owned the hotel and Una worked there as well, they’d decided to live there until they started a family.
“Una is still nervous out in public, as is Anna,” he explained. “So they made a place here.”
I understood that, but I wasn’t expecting what I walked into. It wasn’t simply a hotel suite—it was a home. Comfortable furniture, a dining room, a full kitchen. Cozy carpets under my feet, books strewn about, a coat over a chair. Una laughed as she showed me the place. “Oops,” she muttered, straightening the bed. “I forgot to make it.”
“It’s so lovely.”
“Finn closed off the top floor for personal use. Niall and Anna are down the hall. Roisin has a suite for when she visits. So does Sully. And we have a guest suite in case. So, walls were moved, rooms added to.” She shrugged. “Finn wanted it to feel like home, and it does.”
“It’s incredible.”
Dinner was easy, the conversation light for the most part. The men quibbled over details of stories, Una and Anna often interjecting.
Una made a delicious dinner, the chicken in white wine and herbs melting in my mouth. The dessert was an apple tart that Anna had baked, and she added whipped cream on top, making it decadent and rich.
I enjoyed watching the couples. Both men were intense but in different ways. Finn gazed at Una as if he was obsessed. He anticipated her needs—more wine, the pepper, stopping her from getting up by fetching whatever she had thought of before she could leave the table. He touched her constantly. Her hand, her arm, pressing a kiss to her head or nose affectionately. He listened as she spoke, a small, proud smile on his face.
Niall was darker but no less affectionate. He slid his chair closer to his wife’s, his arm draped around the back of her every chance he got. He watched her with such love, even I felt his emotion. He added food to her plate, winked at her, and teased gently. Yet the whole time, I had a feeling if danger appeared, he would be ready to defend.
I met Sully’s gaze, his intensity different again. Controlled, but feral. He moved with me at times, as if we were in sync. He checked on me a lot, either by leaning over and speaking or simply lifting his eyebrows as if to ask if I was all right.
Three such powerful men, all very different behind closed doors.
“What are you thinking, Autumn?” Finn asked. “You look amused.”
The words were out before I could stop them. “I didn’t expect this sort of domestic bliss from some Irish mobsters.”
For a moment, everyone froze. Then Niall began to laugh. “Mobster? I hafta say, I’ve not been called that in a very long time. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Sully, you got yerself a funny one.”