Page 47 of Stolen Mafia Vows
“But enjoying a road trip is one thing, and getting married… Well, that’s a whole different ball game. That’s life changing. It’s the difference between telling your mom and dad that you adopted a kitten and telling them that you’re moving to Mars to search for alien life forms.”
Hysteria builds inside my chest. It’s a bit of an exaggeration, but then again, she knows my parents. “I love him. I want to spend the rest of my life with him, Sienna. Isn’t that how you felt when you met Kyle?”
She inhales deeply and releases it slowly through pouting lips. “I’m happy for you, Emily.” She says this as though she suspects no one else will give us their blessing. At least, not until they’ve gotten over the shock.
“I just want them to be happy for me too,” I blurt out. “It isn’t fair that everyone else gets to be with the people they love except for me.”
She flinches. “They won’t try to keep you apart. They’ll just need some time to come to terms with it. Once they see how happy you are, and how much you love each other, they’ll?—”
The door opens before she can finish, and Kyle comes back in.
My stomach starts churning. I didn’t even get a chance to tell Sienna about Ruairi, and although she said she’s happy for us, she’s stuck in that gray area between me and the rest of my family. She’s married to my brother. She’ll have to try to see things from his perspective too.
And my little outburst of bravado: I don’t know how it will fare against my parents and my brothers when they all gang up on me.
“What did I miss?” Kyle’s eyes narrow. His cell phone is still in his hand, and the lines across his forehead look a little deeper than they did when he was cradling his son in his arms.
I flex my hand, feeling the weight of the wedding ring on my finger.Stay strong, Emily, I tell myself.I’ve done nothing wrong. All I’ve done is fall in love.
Deep breath. “I got married.”
Kyle blinks, his gaze flitting back and forth between me and Sienna and then landing on the gold band around my ring finger. He shakes his head. Rubs a hand across his stubble.
“What are you talking about, Emily?”
“I haven’t been camping with my friend. I’ve been spending time with the guy I met at the airport. Eoghan Byrne. We got married yesterday, in Gretna Green, at the Blacksmith’s Shop, and then he got a call to say?—”
“Wait, stop right there.” Kyle raises his hand as if he’s halting traffic. “Rewind to the bit where you said you got married yesterday.”
The baby stirs in my arms and lets out a tiny mewling cry, so I hand him over to Sienna. He settles instantly in his mom’s arms.
“Emily?” Kyle is waiting for me to say something.
“At Gretna Green, at the Blacksmith’s Shop,” I repeat it slowly so that he understands I’m serious.
He shakes his head, turns away as if he can’t bear to look at me, and then walks around the bed and reaches for my hand. He inspects the evidence on my finger.
“Tell me this is a fucking joke, Emily.” His voice trembles.
“Kyle!” Sienna interjects, but neither of us looks at her.
Anger kicks in, raging silently through my veins and spreading its way through my chest. “Why? Because I’m the baby? Because I’m not old enough to fall in love? Or because it doesn’t fit in with everyone else’s plans for me?”
“No,” his voice is cold. “Because you have no idea what it’s really fucking like out there.”
“Why don’t you enlighten me then, Kyle?” I face my brother squarely.
We’ve never raised our voices to each other, none of us have, but I realize now with a short, sharp jolt that it’s because I’ve always gone along with whatever they wanted me to do. I’ve never felt the need to stand up to them, to push back, because they’ve never been unreasonable before, and I accepted that they had my best interests at heart.
Until now.
“The world is a dangerous place, Emily.”
“But you chose to bring a baby into it.” Maybe it’s a low blow, but there’s too much at stake for me to back down and let him believe that I’m sorry for what I’ve done.
Kyle’s jaw tightens. “I’ll protect Skye with my life. And Sienna.”
“And Eoghan will protect me.”
