Page 25 of It Will Always Be You
I was never meant to let myself fall for someone, let alone someone so tied up in what I’m trying to escape, and yet here I am, holding his head against my chest as we try to catch our breaths and bathe in our afterglow. As I make silent vows to help him through his grief, an entirely different fear to the one I’m used to consumes me. Instead of fearing for my life, I’m fearing for the day he’s ripped away from me.
Chapter 20
For a few moments, I forget. I forget the chaos on the other side of the door, the ramifications of what’s just happened, the pain and grief that threaten to swallow me whole. For one moment in time, I just bask in the feeling of having my woman curled up beside me, her cheek on my chest and her legs twined with mine. The title I was itching for is now mine, but at what cost?
I might be twenty-two years old, but that’s the cruel truth about losing a parent—you’re never truly ready. Not today, not in twenty years. I’ve inherited an empire, more money than I’ll ever need, and taken on the weight of being the Boss. But all of it came at the cost of losing the best man I’ve ever known. No matter how I try to frame it, the reality doesn’t get any easier to swallow.
Running my hand along Helen’s back, twining my fingers through her hair, I close my eyes for a moment and try to soak up the comfort she’s offering me. Shit is about to change drastically, and the question of is it worth risking her safety is going to need answered, sooner rather than later. But for now, I let myself get lost in stroking her silkysmooth skin and the feeling of her head on my chest, listening to the soft snores she’s letting out.
A screen flashed on, illuminating the room and jerking me from my thoughts. Glancing over at my discarded clothes, I find the culprit and reluctantly detangle myself from Helen without waking her. Seeing Seamus’ number flash across the screen, I’m more than a little tempted to let it ring, but knowing my luck, he’d just keep ringing or come let himself in. Slipping out to the hall, I answer it.
“About time you answered.”
“The fuck do you want?” I seethed, beyond pissed that today of all days, he’s interrupting the brief moment of peace I’ve manged to carve out for myself.
“You need to get to the Pit.”
Eyes flashing, I rasp, “You aren’t the fucking Boss, or have you forgotten that?”
“I know I’m not, which is why we need you here. It’ll only take an hour or so, and then I’ll make sure you’re left alone,” he tries to placate me. With a curse, I pinch the bridge of my nose to fight off the impending headache.
“Fine. I’m on my way.” Hanging up on him, I head back into the bedroom. Helen’s curled herself into a ball around my pillow, and the vision of her in my bed has me itching to climb back into it and curve myself around her back. Fucking business. Quietly, I get dressed, lean down to press a kiss to the crown of her head, and leave.
Catching sight of myself in the hall mirror, I pause. For so long, this has been Da’s city, but now, it’s mine. I make the rules now. Shrugging off my jacket and undoing my tie, I drop them to the ground before undoing the top few buttons and rolling up my sleeves. It’ll do. Tomorrow, I’ll buy some new shit fit for the new king of the Irish fucking Mafia. Wearing a three-piece suit past midnight to the Pit, of all places, is going to be a thing of the past. Hell, if it wasn’t for Helen’s obvious appreciation of them, I’d burn them all and start from scratch.
Grabbing my gun and holster from the unit in the hall, I grabmy keys and hit the road. Less than twenty minutes later, I’m soaked through as I make my way to the back of the Pit. Rounding the corner to see all our men gathered with sorrow etched onto each of their faces, I realise I got it wrong earlier—this affects more than just me and my brothers. Everyone from the bottom of the ranks to the top will have their own grief to weather over the coming days and weeks.
When I meet Seamus’ gaze, an understanding of what he’s done passes between us. He’s taken the load of telling everyone off of my shoulders, sparing me from having to put into words what I can’t even fully comprehend yet. He dips his chin at me, a soft shrug his only comment as I make my way to stand beside him, with Declan, Jack, Brennan, and Ciaran flanking us.
“We’ve lost one of our own today, the best man many of us have ever known. There’s a shitstorm of things we’ll need to address, but before any of that, we need to honour him. Senior was more than just my father. He was our leader, our king, and I’ll be damned if we don’t give him the best fucking send off this organisation has ever seen!” At once, all the men stomp their feet and let out cheers loud enough to raise the dead.
“To Senior!” Seamus chants, and soon, they all join in, the show of unity driving home why we deal with the bad parts of this life. This brotherhood makes every long day, every bloody deal and broken bone worth it. Knowing that, at the end of the day, each and every one of them would have my back, would go to war without thinking, makes it all worth it.
Glancing at my brothers, the reality that I was wrong hits me again.
This isn’t just my city now.
It’s our city.
And God help anyone who gets in our way.
Chapter 21
Grief does strange things to people. For some, it renders them motionless, the mere thought of getting out of bed being too much, but for Jonathan, it seems like he’s determined to run himself into the ground. Long gone are the days of me beating him to the office, of him insisting on cutting our days short to make time for dates. Now, he’s here long before I come in and long after the rest of the office has trickled out. Enough is enough. Pushing my chair back, I straighten my skirt and undo the top couple of buttons of my shirt before striding over to his office and letting myself in.
“What did I say…” His razor sharp words die on his lips as his eyes snap up and take me in.
Cocking a brow, I kick the door shut behind me. “About interrupting you? If memory serves, you said not to unless it was urgent. And this, Mr O’Neill, isveryurgent.”
“Oh yeah?” he drawls, leaning back in his seat and cocking a dark brow at me as hunger dances across his face.
“Mhm. You see, my needs haven’t beenmet in quite some time, and as my boss, I would like to think employee satisfaction is a top priority.” Slowing, I start toying with the idea of undoing another button as I make my way to his desk. His eyes stalk my every move, and as I round his desk, he moves back, making room for me to perch on the edge.
“Hmm, we can’t have that,” he murmurs, eyes glued to my hands as I work another button free before snapping to my thighs as I cross my legs, causing my skirt to inch up and tease him with a glimpse of the straps of my garter belt. “Is my pretty girl feeling needy? Do you need me to look after that pretty pussy? I bet you’re dripping for me like the messy girl you are. My messy, needy girl.”
Before Jonathan, I never would have pegged myself as having any kinks worth talking about, but praise drips from his lips so sinfully, it has my core tightening with need and a whimper crawling up my throat. His voice is like pure silk as he rolls his chair closer, trapping me between him and his desk. Looking down into his molten eyes, I see the challenge there. Am I really going to do thishere, in our place of work, and flirt with the idea of getting caught?
In answer, I cock a brow and finish unbuttoning my shirt, shrugging it off. His eyes flash with allure as he takes in my exposed flesh, the black lace demi bra struggling to contain my chest. The air between us feels charged with unspoken questions, questions neither of us want to face right now. Reaching between us, I grab his hand from his lap, placing it on my inner thigh. Taking that as the challenge it was, he trails his pinkie up towards the lace edge of my underwear as he opens that filthy mouth once more.
