Page 81 of Bargain with the Irish Devil

Aoife and her daughter are guests. As well as Dominic and Tony Sabatini. I’m introduced to a very large man, Milos Levin. He gives me the shivers, no matter how handsome he is, with his eerie yellow eyes and all-black suit, shirt, and tie. I’m almost positive his beard is hiding scarring from a gunshot wound. But don’t dare stare for long enough to confirm it.

I feel bad for being scared of Milos Levin when I find out it’s his private plane we use to visit Ireland to see Declan’s family. His gran, as she demands I call her, is a sweet woman. I’m buried under hand-knit sweaters and beautiful quilts to bring home.

We spent a week in Ireland. Then, a week on a beach in Greece. Both were fun—in very different ways.

When we get back to Chicago, I’m tasked with updating the house to whatever I want. At first, I feel self-conscious and worried Declan won’t like it until he gives me a spanking for not having gotten anything done in a week.

The check-in with the doctor goes well. But the best part is getting to see the 3D sonogram. This time, I don’t need anyone to point out what I’m supposed to be seeing. Although I am disappointed, it isn’t a whole lot bigger than it was the last time.

Aoife is a sweetheart, helping me decide to tackle the living room first. She also ensures I’m eating all the salmon I don’t like and my vitamins every day. I only eat broccoli in the broccoli cheddar soup she makes, which we have on a weekly basis. But I find myself loving the spinach souffle that she makes nearly every day.

It’s sweet the way she and Declan indulge me in all the little cravings that crop up. Declan finds himself at the grocery store and in the kitchen, often in the middle of the night. And gorgeous man that he is, he never complains once. In fact, I get a spanking whentrying to ignore a craving for tiramisu that I wake up to at midnight.

Declan makes a call, and two pans of tiramisu arrive only twenty minutes later. I’m in heaven. When I—just once—worry about the way the sweets will end up on my thighs, Declan takes me in a greedy, painful showing of how much he loves my body and all the changes happening to it.

I decided to print out the pictures we took of his family and use them to put up around the house. I’m in the kitchen with Aoife, trying to decide the layout of the pictures, when Ryan comes in after Declan.

“Ryan is in need of some home-cooking, Aoife. He complained all morning. It’s been weeks since he had shepherd’s pie.” Declan shakes his head as he kisses my cheek.

“That one with Aisling and Poppy came out well.” Declan points at the picture of his cousin and her daughter.

Ryan looks over my shoulder, and I feel him go still. “Who is Poppy?”

Declan shrugs, “Aisling’s babe. I told you that Aisling had Poppy. Didn’t I? Her ma went ballistic. Kicked her out of the house and she went to live with my gran.”

I don’t miss the way Ryan has lost all color.

“I need to talk to you, Dec.” Then Ryan walks out of the room.

Uh oh. Declan is frozen, then his jaw hardens. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”

Watching Declan leave, I look to Aoife. “He isn’t going to really kill him, is he?”

Aoife shakes her head. “Even though he deserves it, he won’t.”

“What? Why does Ryan deserve it?” I’m confused.

“Because he’s married.” Aoife nods at my gasp. “It’s a bad marriage. They haven’t lived together going on six or seven years now. Both of them hate each other. But still, he’s a married man. It’s the only reason why Declan picked Ryan to take Aisling around Chicago when she visited.”

“Should I?—”

“No, don’t think it. Let them be.” Aoife’s hand on my shoulder stills me.

Declan doesn’t kill Ryan, but his hand is bruised from multiple punches thrown.

The next few days are busy for Declan as he works to get ahold of Ryan’s wife, and the divorce is agreed on with Ryan’s father-in-law, who is unwilling to allow it to go through without financial compensation.

Aisling arrives determined to stay with us. And I’m happy to have her and her sweet daughter Poppy, but on the second day, Ryan arrives and carries her out of the house with Poppy trailing after them.

Almost a month later, while I’m sitting through the wedding ceremony for Ryan and Aisling, I come to the realization Declan isn’t much different than a small-town mayor, as I once thought he was. People have come up to him before the ceremony to share concerns and squabbles, and he’s promised to look into them.

While we were on our honeymoon, there was no issue with Ryan taking care of things because there weren’t any issues to be handled. Little by little, the fear I had of Declan’s life, and byextension, mine being a dangerous one, has eased until it’s all but gone.

Yet, as I’m being asked questions by the women as their men talk to Declan about my dress, where I’m shopping, and my pregnancy, it comes home to me that I have a role to play. One I’ve been neglecting.

The day after the wedding, I sit down with Aoife in the kitchen.

“Yes, dear. You’re looking serious.” Aoife sets down the snack she was encouraging me to eat, a spinach dip with thick, crusty bread.

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