Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Aiden fought down his knee-jerk reaction to reject the idea out of hand. The truth was that Keira needed help, and though he’d never have imagined that she’d find a champion in Charlie, their relationship was developing into something resembling friendship. He stroked his hand over Charlie’s hair. “You feel strongly about this.”
“You have no idea how irritating I find you and your siblings acting like fools around each other. I get it—you’re big bad mafia people who have a boatload of issues—but you’re letting your relationships with them be poisoned for no goddamn reason. It’s a fucking tragedy.”
He tried to see it from her point of view. Charlie had no siblings. Her mother was gone. Her father had essentially disowned her, though they remained in regular contact, so Finch had to love her—as much as the man was capable of loving anyone. But that didn’t mean he was a good father to her. By all accounts, he was just as shitty a dad as he was a person in general.
It made sense that Charlie had come in, taken one look at Aiden and his siblings, and wanted to fix things. “Some things can’t be fixed.”
“And some things aren’t as broken as you might think. How can you tell the difference?”
She had him there. Aiden rolled her onto her back and propped himself up on his forearms. “Would it make you happy if I tried to mend things?”
“My happiness is irrelevant. I’m temporary.” She rolled her eyes. “But yes, it would make me happy if you’d at least try. You can send me thank-you flowers when you realize I was right all along.”
Fuck, he liked this woman. Somehow she’d managed to survive all the terrible shit life had thrown her way. Aiden kissed her, slow and searching. When he finally lifted his head, they were both breathing hard. “I’ll talk to Liam about setting up a detail for Keira so she can start training.”
Charlie’s blue eyes danced. “And?”
He nipped her bottom lip. “And I’ll call Carrigan and see about setting a meeting up. Happy?”
“It’s a start.”
Carrigan was the easier of the two fences to mend. Which was saying something, because she still hadn’t forgiven him for siding with their father when she chose James Halloran. Aiden had tried to force her hand, which had created a fracture between them that he didn’t know how to broach.
Truth be told, he hadn’t even tried.
He slid off Charlie and stood. “Get dressed. I don’t know about you, but I want to catch a couple hours of sleep in my own bed tonight.” Her laughter chased him into the bathroom, where he disposed of the condom.
Who would have thought that when he sought out Charlie Finch, she’d end up being the kind of woman he’d never realized he might actually need?
Theirs wasn’t a love story for the ages. Their differences ran soul-deep despite the fact that they were melding together just fine for the moment. But she’d never stop being a cop.
And Aiden had no choice but to stay on his path.
Chapter Seventeen
Aiden waited until Charlie’s breathing evened to climb out of his bed. He pulled on a pair of pants and stopped at the door. He was tempted to look back and see her there tangled among his sheets, her face relaxed in the way that only sleep seemed to be able to manage. He didn’t. What he had to do to put the next stage of this shit show into motion required him to harden his heart against hurting her, despite what they’d shared in that hotel room mere hours ago.
There was no choice.
He just hadn’t expected the guilt to be quite so strong.
At this hour, the house was quiet and felt empty. Maybe it was his conversation with Charlie, but it struck him that most of his siblings were gone, moved out and on, and that if he didn’t succeed, Keira would follow the same path and it would only be him and Cillian left of the O’Malley clan. At least Cillian and Olivia were bound to fill the halls with children, though he didn’t think she’d be on board for seven kids, the way his mother had been.
And what about him?
Getting married was in the future—he couldn’t avoid it indefinitely—and after everything that their family had gone through, he’d have to make a politically advantageous marriage to solidify their power base. Alliances could make or break them, and it was his turn to take a hit for the greater good.
His mind turned to Charlie, despite his best intentions. He was enjoying the hell out of their time together, and she’d more than proven she could play the game along with the best of them. She’d correctly read the situation with Mae—better than he had—and adjusted accordingly. She’d offered him comfort and surrender. She cared about his siblings, and his relationship with them.