Page 18 of A Dark Mafia Christmas

“Would I do such a thing?”

“Well, we all know that you’re a Grinch who’s only here under protest.”

“Hey.” I raise my hands in mock surrender and realize that I need a drink if I’m going to get through all the inevitable interrogations tonight will bring. “I haven’t complained once.”

“I’m just so confused that Mary didn’t bring anything with her.”Bam!“Not even a toothbrush.”

“She’s been having problems with a neighbor in her apartment block. She didn’t want to go back for her stuff.”

“So, she’s been staying with you?”

Fuck, where’s the whiskey when I need it? “She hasn’t moved in, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Why not? Are you afraid of what your parents will say?” She smiles. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell them.”

My dad’s booming voice greets the latecomers, and a cold knot sinks in my stomach. “What’s he doing here?”

Fianna follows my gaze to a guy called Ronan Blackthorn who has just arrived with his parents. Our families have known each other for as long as I’ve been alive, but their son isn’t welcome in our house. He’s the bully who made Oisin’s life hell when he was at school.

My fists clench, and I’m about to walk over there and personally escort him out of our house when Fianna’s hand wraps around my arm. “Leave it, Emmett.”

“Why? What’s happened?”

“Nothing…” Her face gives her away. “He’s changed, is all.”

“People like Ronan Blackthorn never change.”

“Emmett, be nice.” My mom appears from nowhere like she overheard our conversation above the buzz of chatter that’s already spilling through the house. “We’ve all made our peace with him, and we need you to do the same. It’s Christmas.”

It might be Christmas, but the guy is still a fucking bully.

“Go find your beautiful fiancée and mingle.”

Mom wanders off. I’ve been told, and she’ll expect me to follow through.

“I need a drink,” I admit to Fianna. “Coming?”

My dad is popping champagne like soda. We grab a glass each and wander through to the dining room where Mary is chatting to more family friends, head tipped back, and her easy laughter reaching us from the doorway. She doesn’t smile at me that way, and I don’t know why that makes me feel so inadequate.

I’m the asshole who abducted her from the Christmas party for chrissakes.

Fianna grabs my arm and pulls me into the conversation which, I quickly realize, is about me and Mary. Of course it is. Why did I expect anything else?

“I’m surprised your granny hasn’t had something to say about the engagement ring.” The voice belongs to Maureen who runs a B&B in Avondale.

Mary stands beside me and links her arm through mine. I can feel her breast rubbing against my chest, and I clench my jaw, warning my cock to stay right where it is. “I wanted a simple ring,” she says. “Emmett did try to get me to change my mind.”

Her face is so close to mine that I can almost taste her lips.

Stop it!Concentrate. The ring is fast becoming a problem, and I need to nip it in the bud now.

“I gave up in the end.” I don’t even care that it makes me sound fucking weak, because her hair is brushing my shoulder, and all I can think about is how it would feel to have it wrapped around my fingers, pulling her head backwards and exposing her neck…

What am I now, a fucking vampire?

“You must be Mary.” I’m so caught up in a vision of Mary arching her spine and pressing her nipples into my mouth, that I don’t spot Ronan coming until he has somehow ensconced himself between Mary and Fianna. “I’ve heard all about you.”

He offers his hand for Mary to shake, and when she unfolds her arm from mine, pulls her into an embrace before she can prepare herself.

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