Page 25 of Dirty Eoin

That would be at least one checkmark in the karma box, and I have a whole host of those fuckers lined up just for him.

My gaze then shifts to the movement at the front of the church. Tears prick my eyes when Padraig appears, followed by Dylan. Another lump forms in my throat and I swallow it down.

With his hair slicked back and wearing a tux, my Irish looks as handsome as ever. He’s smiling. He looks happy. He raises his hand and waves to his adoring fans for the day.

The congregation.

“Irish.” It’s a whisper on my lips. Does he know I’m here? Can he feel my presence?

He doesn’t care. He looked at me like I meant nothing to him at the Palace.

Unimportant. Forgotten. Discarded.

His past.

How can I feel the connection when he can’t? This invisible thread that links us. I know my heart is beating in time with his right now.

“Our souls have always been intertwined. You feel that too, darlin’?”

“I feel it, Irish,” I whisper-sob.

I watch as he immediately raises his head and glances around. Who or what is he searching for? And then? He’s staring straight at me. But then again, he’s not. He can’t see me. No one can.

Does he sense I’m here after all?

“Don’t be so goddamn stupid, Jaine,” I whisper-hiss.

I shake my head in denial while trying to hold back the tidal wave of emotions that’s been threatening to drown me all day. I can’t let those fuckers get the better of me.

Not yet. Not here.

I’ve been gullible enough. I needed him in my life as much as I needed air to breathe, and when he was gone, I substituted him with the next closest thing.

Dylan. Or so I thought.

Fool.

The web of lies was spun larger and larger until it became two years’ worth of deceit. And all because it suited Eoin O’Connell’s self-serving purpose. I was used to stop Irish drinking himself to death so he could fulfill his Duster duties here today. Not that any of that matters now. In the end, I see it for what it was.

That it helped me. That it helped Irish.

And now here we are.

Once friends.

Once confidants.

Once everything

Now strangers.

Now parents.

Now nothing.

Get a grip, Jaine. You’re here to work, not mope over what could have been. After today, what can never fucking be.

I drag my gaze away from him and switch my focus to the guests.It’s my guess if anyone’s going to attempt anything, it will be after the ceremony. Why wait until today otherwise? There’s a reason. I just don’t know what it is.

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