Page 34 of Mob Saint

I lock my front door, and he takes my bag from me. He looks ridiculous carrying both when I’m dressed to work out and can obviously do it myself. But he refuses to let me. When elderly couples see us like this and holding hands, they smile. The men usually nod to Seamus. One woman who had to be nearly ninety winked at me!

We get to the park, and we strap our shin guards on. We chatted about dinner after this on the way here. If we were anyone else, we’d sound like a normal couple.

“Shay, I can’t avoid it any longer. Gareth’s been home three days, and he’s demanding I go to Trenton.” I pass the ball to him, but rather than pass it back, he stops it with the inside of his foot.

“I’m going with you.”

Here we go.

“You don’t have to. I’m fine on my own.” And I am. A break from Gareth always helps me deal with him the next time I have to see him.

“Great. I’m still going with you.”

We haven’t argued yet, but I think we’re about to.

“Seamus, it’ll only complicate things. It’s better if I just see him and leave.”

“You won’t just see him. He’s going to lay into you, and that pisses me off.”

“We’ve known each other three months. I’ve known him since he was born. I can handle this.”

Seamus walks over to me and drops his voice. “I don’t doubt you can handle it. That’s not what bothers me. It’s that you have to. You may have known him longer than me or longer than you’ve known me, but I know him in a way you never will. I don’t trust him, cailín. I’ll never trust him.”

It soaks my panties when he calls me that. Despite us not progressing our physical relationship or defining our emotional one, he’s never stopped calling me that. Hearing him call me Tiera is as natural as everyone else calling me Tiernan.

“I don’t want you there.” I hate saying that, and it sounds horrible.

“I know that, but it doesn’t change my mind.”

I step back and shake my head. “So, I’m the one who’s supposed to back down.”

“I don’t want there to be a standoff where either of us has to back down.” Seamus sounds like we aren’t having a disagreement, and it pisses me off. It feels dismissive.

“You assume you’ll give me a mandate, and I’ll obey. I’m not doing that again.”

He knows what I mean from the little I’ve told him about my marriage. He steps forward, so we’re back to standing how we started. If he were any other man, I’d say he was looming over me. But Seamus doesn’t intimidate me. If he wasn’t pissing me off, I’d think it was sexy as fuck because he makes me feel small when nothing else and no one else does.

“This is about your safety, so yes, it is a mandate. And Tiera, you will obey.”

“No.”

“Then you aren’t going.”

“Seamus, you do not decide that. I appreciate you being protective, but you don’t dictate who I can and can’t see.”

“You’re right, except with Gareth and his little toadies. Tiera, I can’t tell you why I’m more concerned than usual. But he knows we’ve been spending time together. I’m more worried than usual about him in general. I’m frightened about how he’ll treat you. I’m being heavy-handed, and I know it. But I will never back down about protecting you. I should have led with that. I’m sorry.”

He takes the wind out of my sails when he puts it that way.

“I’m not one of your men for you to order around, Shay. You know how things were with Aaron, and why I don’t want anything like that again.”

“And I don’t want you to think I don’t see you as my equal in all things. You are. I don’t want it any other way. But your wellbeing is one thing you will never sway me on if I think you’re at risk. You just can’t convince me otherwise.”

I’m falling in love with this man.

I put my hands on the outsides of his biceps and lean in. He wraps his arms around my waist. I nod, and we smile.

“Thank you. Thanks for hearing my objections and listening to me. Thanks for explaining your position. And thanks for looking out for me.”

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