Page 43 of Shattered Union

I stare at her. “What?”

“BOD it’s a bank, Da. The Bank of Dublin. Ma’s gone there a few times with me. She has a box thingy there.”

Oh fuck me.

“Peanut, you are a bloody lifesaver.”

She laughs. “I’m glad I could help. Does this mean Ma will be going away soon?”

Not one of my children would give a fuck if that bitch disappeared.

“Probably.”

“Unless she’s pregnant again,” Chloe says and shudders. “God, she really needs to learn about contraception.”

I swallow back the burst of laughter that’s about to burst out of me and pin her with a glare. “What the hell do you know about contraception?”

She glances at Callie, who’s walking toward us. “What’s the scared look about?” Callie asks her with a frown.

“I asked you a question,” I say, my tone deeper. It’s one she knows that I’m not messing around. “Chloe, what the fuck? Have you been fooling around with boys?”

Callie winces at my words. “Denis,” she says softly. “You may want to keep your voice down. You don’t need the entire pub hearing this conversation.”

“Ugh, Da. You’re so annoying. I’m not fooling around. We did health studies. We know all about the birds and the bees,” she tells me, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at me.

Sweet relief washes through me. Thank fuck.

“Da, you should see your face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so red.” Chloe laughs.

“You shouldn’t give me a fucking heart attack,” I grumble.

Callie smirks as she shakes her head. Ava saunters over to us, resting her arm on Callie’s shoulder.

“He’s crazy,” Chloe says. “I hope you used contraception,” she tells both Callie and me. “The last thing you need is Ma going psycho.”

Callie doesn’t miss a beat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m a virgin.”

Ava bursts out laughing, tears streaming down her face. “God, Callie, don’t. I’m going to pee,” she says as she bends down, wrapping her arms around her stomach.

“Shut it you,” Callie gripes. She turns to my daughter. “Trust me, darling. It’s more hassle than it’s worth.” She turns on her heel and walks away.

She’s still hurting and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. It fucking guts me she’s like this, but I only have myself to blame.

“Uh oh, you're in trouble,” Chloe whispers. “You’ve really hurt her, Da, I’m not sure she’ll forgive you.”

That’s not what I wanted to hear.

“As soon as this fucking shit with your ma’s out of the way, the sooner I can set things right between us.”

She nods. “I’ll help, Da. She loves me,” she tells me with a grin.

And for the first time in months, I smile. The heaviness in my chest eases slightly. With Chloe on my side, we’re going to wear Callie down.

Eventually, she’s going to forgive me and when she does, I’m going to spend the rest of my life loving her.

13

Denis

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