Page 191 of Dirty Padraig: Dirty Dusters

“Because he would never have pulled the trigger, and you would have. And you can’t make life-changing decisions when you’re missing most of the facts.”

“So, tell me?”

Where to even begin?

“Eoin didn’t want to marry me. I coerced it, so he had no choice. For the first time in my life, I wanted revenge. I set out to ruin his life because he ruined yours. In the end, I realized I was using him as a scapegoat because I needed someone to hold accountable for everything that had gone wrong. It was your parents who made the final decision when it came to your arranged marriage, Roisin mostly. She admitted as much. It wasn’t Eoin. Yes, he should never have kept us apart. It was an infatuation, and he behaved selfishly. But if I’d known it was you I was messaging, that it wasn’t Dylan, I would have put a stop to it. So, in the end, I’m glad it never came out because I needed you as much as you needed me, and we gained an extra year because of what he did.”

“But you fell in love with him, darlin’.”

“I fought it every step of the way. I never wanted that to happen. Eoin didn’t either.”

“So, you fought it, and then, what? You just gave in? Knowing how I felt about you? How you felt about me? Why, Jaine?”

Twenty generic words.

“You gave us your blessing, Irish,” I whisper the words.

He frowns as he slowly shakes his head. “I would never have given my blessing to you being with my brother, darlin’.”

It’s good to be back on my old number.

That’s when the realization hits me. He never gave his blessing. Someone else did. And I know exactly who it was.

“You’re going to need to choose, darlin’. It’s the only way to settle this once and for all. You need to choose between me and Eoin.”

I frown at him. He’s issuing ultimatums, but does he even love me?

I turn, and I walk away. Neither tries to stop me. There’s no point. Everything that needed to be said has been. Both are trying to digest what’s just gone down. That now makes three of us.

Walking, I message Dylan to ask him to pick me up. He calls me straight away.

“I’m already at the pick-up point, Jaine. I’ve just had Nate on the phone. He’s been trying to get hold of you. Luciano’s on the run. He’s escaped.”

CHAPTERSIXTY-FOUR

PADRAIG

Padraig’s Apartment, Hudson Yards, New York

Jaine vanishedwithout a trace a week ago.

She left the docks that day, and we didn’t see her again. Well, Duke knew her approximate whereabouts, and Dylan did too, but both were sworn to secrecy.

Ma and Duke mind the kids between them, with the rest of us helping out where we can while trying to locate Luciano.

Did Jaine leave because I threatened to kill Eoin, or did she leave because Luc managed to escape Rikers? I think it was a combination of the two.

She knew she would be Luc’s primary target. If she hadn’t left, she would have brought the trouble back to a doorstep that housed her kids. I’m sure my putting her on the spot also caused her to run.

You need to choose between me and Eoin.She’ll have needed time to think.

Having now had time to reflect, I realize the arranged marriage was the catalyst that led to me simply existing. My entire family was responsible for signing me up for that all because I was going around in circles searching for a replacement for a girl they didn’t even know existed.

Mistakes were made on both sides. Mistakes that will never be repeated. Lessons have been learned.

The bottom line is I would have ended up in exactly the same place at exactly the same time after the initial contract was agreed to. While some of us nearly died as a result of our signing on the Sicilian dotted line, in the end, we didn’t. We lived to tell the tale. We didn’t lose out. I didn’t lose out.

Jaine did. Ace did. He lost his life. She lost Ace.

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