Page 23 of Finn

“Well, tell her thank you for me. Or maybe I’ll call my mother to tell her, since I don’t have her number.”

“When you get home, I’ll make sure to give it to you. I’m assuming you’ll be leaving the suite soon?”

“Enzo will be here shortly to take me back to my parents’ so I can pack a few things. Then I’ll be at your house early this afternoon.”

“Our house, Alessia. And I’ll be home by then.”

Our house.

“Okay. See you then,” I reply and disconnect the call.

I’ve had about all I can take of Finn’s sweeter side. It’s disconcerting, and after last night, that’s the last thing I need.

The low growl coming from the cat carrier next to me in the back seat has Enzo looking a bit nervous.

“Are you sure Finn is going to be okay with your pet?”

A laugh escapes me at his derisive tone when referring to my black Bombay cat, Lucian. Enzo is many things, but a cat person is not one of them.

“He said I can bring anything I want to the house. And Lucian will be fine once he settles in.”

“Fine is not a word I would use to describe the furball,” Enzo grumbles.

Our last year of college, Gemma and I found Lucian living on scraps behind our building. He was a pathetic little thing, and I simply didn’t have the heart to leave him there. Enzo did not agree with my decision.

I roll my eyes and peer into my cat’s angry yellow stare while he lets out another unhappy growl. Okay, maybe it'll take more than a few days for Lucian to come to terms with living in a new home.

Pulling up to the guard gate, one of Finn’s men waves us through. This is the first time I’ve seen his house. It’s a huge two-story, modern transitional home with gray brickwork running up to meet each tall peaked A-line section of the black-shingled roof. Lush green shrubbery lines his circular driveway. The house reminds me of the children’s story, The Three Little Pigs and the one who built his house out of brick so the Big Bad Wolf couldn’t blow it down. Smart pig.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but this isn’t it. In all the years my father and the other families had discussed the Irish and their brash tactics, it never occurred to me they would live in homes on a huge estate with guards and so much beauty surrounding them.

What did you expect, Alessia, some hovel in the middle of nowhere?

I grab the cat carrier and get out of the car as Enzo takes my bags from the back of the large SUV.

When I walk up the front steps, Eoghan opens the door for me.

“I saw you pull in. Finn is just freshening up,” he says, which makes me wonder what took him from the hotel suite this morning, but I don’t ask.

He eyes the carrier in my hand with a wide grin. “Oh, this is going to be great.”

Eoghan ushers me into the house, and Finn meets me in the foyer with a smile and damp hair, fresh out of the shower.

“Welcome home, dear,” he exclaims as I bend down and open the door to free Lucian from his little prison. He darts out of the carrier and past Finn’s leg, causing the tall Irishman to jump back into the table in the center of his foyer, nearly sending the large vase holding a bouquet of white calla lilies to the floor.

“What the hell is that?” Finn yelps, grabbing the vase before it smashes to the ground.

“That’s Lucian. He’s really very sweet once he feels comfortable,” I reply.

Enzo lets out a quiet chuckle and tries to hide it with a cough, but I don’t miss it. I narrow my eyes at him, and Finn looks from my bodyguard then back to me. He didn’t miss the laugh, either.

“I get the feeling not everyone feels the same about the demon cat as you do, wife,” he says as he straightens his white button-down shirt.

Eoghan can’t contain his laughter and is having a hard time catching his breath every time he looks at Finn’s face.

“This is too good. You always hated cats and the institution of marriage, and now you’re married to a cat lady.”

“Hey,” I bark at Eoghan. “One cat doesn’t make me a cat lady.” I turn to my husband. “And you told me I could bring anything I wanted to the house.”

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