Page 52 of Dirty Eoin

Maybe once I would have rejoiced at the thought of us taking the vows together. But not now. Not when I’m planning on marrying Molly and have all but given her my word.

Aidan laughs heartily before leaning back and putting his hands behind his head as he did in the meeting. Jaine runs her gaze over him. Jealousy courses through my veins as it did before.

Jesus Christ, I need to rein this in.

“Well, Uncle Fergal. At thirty years of age, I’m not saying marriage isn’t on the cards for me sooner rather than later, but I was hoping my future bride would at least court me before she had me take the vows with her. What do you say, Jaine? Are you planning on wining and dining me before taking me to your bed and having your wicked way with me?”

His accent is broad Dublin, like Molly’s.

Jaine smirks at him. “Have you heard yourself? Wine and dine you? You flatter yourself way too much, Aidan O’Connell, that you think yourself worthy of my precious time.”

Aidan clutches his chest dramatically as though to appear mortally wounded. To me, he looks the fool, but Jaine’s smirk broadens, and she rolls her eyes exaggeratedly.

She fucking likes him.

“Fair enough, sweetheart. For you, I’ll make an exception. No dating required. Provided you make an honest man of me beforehand, I’m all yours. Just tell me where and when.”

“Not so fast, Aidan,” Da interrupts.

We all look at him. It’s not like anything’s been decided or agreed, but he already wants to throw a spanner in the works.

“There’s one small problem.” He frowns.

“Go on.” I want to know what it is. Surely Jaine marrying Aidan is the answer to all our prayers.

“Finian.”

“What about him?” Jaine frowns.

“Sophia can’t know about him.”

“Why not?” she hisses. Who can blame her? She’s had to keep the boy hidden his whole short life as it is.

“Because with all that’s going on with the Sicilian mafia and with Sophia and her brother earmarked for the off, we can’t chance antagonizing the girl. At the moment, we have no idea what alternative organization they’re setting up. How ethical or deadly it may be.”

“I was pregnant with Fin before the arranged marriage was entered into. There was nothing going on between Irish and me after it was announced.”

“She won’t see it that way, unfortunately. All she’ll see is you having a hold over our Paddy.”

“Can’t we just say that he’s Ace’s son? Jaine’s been passing him off as such until now, and with his coloring, surely it’s believable enough.”

“The birthmark, Eoin,” Da replies.

“What about it?”

“Anyone who sees it will know he’s an O’Connell, including Sophia. The girl’s sharp. The moment she spots it her brain will start whirring. She’ll immediately suspect that Fin is Paddy’s son given his age and the timings. We need to be proactive. We need to eliminate that thought process by someone else claiming parentage of the child beforehand. If we attempt to do anything reactively, she’ll see it for the ruse that it is. And we need to act now. While there’s every reason to believe her and Paddy will remain in Sicily long term, it can’t be guaranteed.”

“Are you suggesting I keep Fin a secret from Irish forever?” Jaine asks.

Da shakes his head and frowns. “No, of course not. But until we know what the Ruoccos are up to, we have no choice.” He pauses. “The boy must be protected at all costs. Right now, we don’t know who was behind the church attack. Or Ace’s attack, for that matter. Were they related or weren’t they? The Dusters have a lot of enemies. The Ruoccos even more so. Fin would be tied to both through Paddy, so until we know for sure exactly who and what we’re dealing with, we need to keep his true parentage under wraps. We can’t rely on The Exterminator turning up to save the day every time.”

So, Da’s finally managed to convince her that we had nothing to do with Ace’s death. That I had nothing to do with it. Maybe now she’ll drop this ridiculous personal vendetta.

“Why did he?” Aidan disturbs my thoughts.

“Why did he what?” I turn to look at him.

“Save the day. I mean, it wasn’t a hit for hire. He wasn’t being paid by anyone as far as we know. So he was there for one reason and one reason only. To safeguard at least one O’Connell.”

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