Page 102 of Illicit Temptation

“About that...” I say, my mind going one hundred miles an hour.

He tilts his head toward me. “Are you thinking about letting me take my husbandly privileges while we’re here?”

“I don’t even know where I’m sleeping for you to...” I clear my throat and sip the tea, the warmth jolting me like jumper cables.

“Your da put your bag upstairs.” He gets closer to me. “Mine got taken to a bunkhouse outside.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s to be expected.” He brushes a hair out of my eyes. “Your ma?”

I shake my head. “On a breathing machine. She doesn’t even know I’m here. I don’t want to say goodbye like this.”

An overwhelming sadness hits me and tears fall into my tea. During Ma’s final year in Astoria, she doted on Sophie and JP—Darragh’s kids, and then Matteo and Cillian—Kieran’s twin sons. She briefly held Saoirse-Rose—Riordan’s newborn with her weak, thin, hands.

Now she’ll never ask me when am I having a baby. Not that she ever did. Which hits differently in the face of her death. My brothers and my parents all let me live my life as my own. I considered myself very lucky.

Little did I know, they were waiting for the right deal to be made...

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Shea

We eat an early dinner since we’re all exhausted from the flight. Da cooked himself, and I gave him a hand. He doesn’t have any house staff here whatsoever. Just the nurses looking after Ma. Unlike at home where Trace and I eat together, or if I’m hosting an event and I grab a quick bite in the kitchen, Trace is always right there.

But tonight, Trace eats in a different room.

I want to remind everyone that he’s not just my bodyguard, he’s also a Quinlan. With my mother gasping for her last breaths, however, a tantrum over where my bodyguard is forced to eat and sleep feels selfish.

Da’s phone doesn’t stop ringing and he takes his plate into his office to finish eating.

“That bastard has come out of retirement when he’s got Ma here in this weakened state and only shite dossers at the gate protecting them.” Lachlan’s jaw tightens.

“Are you going to tell Kieran?” Darragh asks, taking a break from watching over Ma to have some potato soup.

Lachlan checks his watch. “It’s the middle of the night there. I’ll wait until he gets up with the boys and call him.”

I shudder to think how that call will go. Cormac can’t leave. Ma’s on life support. Da’s back to doing his shady deals.

When the plates are empty enough and everyone signals they’re done eating, I clear the table. To my surprise, Trace comes up next to me, helping me. Winking, he carries in the dishes while I grab the glasses.

Relieved there’s a dishwasher now, I load it up. With no one around, Trace brings me out onto the back patio. With so much to say and nothing at all at the same time because words won’t help any of the problems we face, I gaze outat the vast nothingness that used to be a working cattle ranch.

Checking that we’re still alone, I lean against Trace’s back. Inhaling his scent is the most at peace I’ve felt all day. He brings my hand around to feel the beating in his chest.

“That’s for you, princess.”

“Nothing is going right on this trip,” I whisper, breathing in his cologne mixed with the rich earth of an Irish countryside evening. “Not being able to spend more than a minute with Cormac, who’s now being punished for something he didn’t do,andnot being able to say goodbye to my mother.”

“Talk to her anyway. I’m sure she knows you’re here, Shea.” His use of my name, and notprincess, alarms me and I lift my head from his back.

“Hey,” I whisper and pull him around.

His height is so overwhelming. “Hey, back.”

“Will you come to my bedroom later?” I ask, needing an outlet for all this emotion. “I doubt there are cameras in the bedrooms.”

“Do you want to take that chance? Put me at risk with Lachlan under the same roof as me?”

---