Page 75 of Forbidden Romeo

I exhale hard. I understand; I’m not sure he’d like the person I would become, either.

“This situation is so fucked,” I say after a moment, running my hands through my hair to try and detangle the mess it has become during the night.

Jack offers me a fond smile. “Perhaps we should just focus on one thing at a time?”

Right.First things first: somehow, we need to convince Padraic that we’re happily engaged and that I’m not a threat to the Duffys.

A wave of nausea comes over me and Jack places a reassuring hand on my thigh. “It’s going to be okay,chroí.”

I bite back a response along the lines of “There’s no way you can know that” and instead place my hand on top of his and give it a reassuring squeeze. “You keep calling me that…?”

“What, your father never made you learn Gaelic?” Jack says in bemusement.

“Dia duit,” I say confidently.

“A bheil thu gam thuigsinn?”

I blink. “Dia…duit?”

Jack merely grins and kisses me gently. “If we make it through this week, I’ll tell you what it means,chroí.”

***

Jack’s bathroom is blissfully well stocked, and I get the feeling I probably have Kate to thank, judging by all the products tailored to maintaining platinum blonde hair.

It’s almost funny how much better I feel after a warm shower and wrapping myself in one of Jack’s super soft bathrobes. I step back into the living area of the apartment in a cloud of steam—okay, perhaps I was a little indulgent with the hot water, but it’s not like Jack can’t afford it.

When I can’t find him on the couch or in the kitchen, I return to the bedroom to see him fully clothed and perched on the side of the bed, turning something small over and over in his hands.

“What is that?” I say curiously, and Jack’s eyes snap to mine.

“See for yourself,” Jack replies, throwing it to me.

I catch the box with one hand and try not to feel too smug about my reflexes. Jack must see it on my face anyway as he sighs dramatically. “Yes, I get it. You’re not some helpless damsel in distress. Can you just open it already?”

In an act of total maturity, I stick out my tongue before glancing down at the open box in my hand. I freeze in place.

Resting on a worn, velvet cushion is a dainty platinum ring woven together with tiny rubies and diamonds. It’s as if it were made from the branches of a magical, silver rose bush. Though there’s not one main stone, the beautiful craftsmanship makes me think I’m holding something priceless.

“It’s not exactly an engagement ring, but…” Jack says a little nervously from the bed. “It’s the only thing I have of my mother’s.”

I stare at the way the gems sparkle in the morning light. “It’s beautiful.”

It’s not until he’s standing before me that I realize Jack has gotten up.

“I’m glad you like it,” he says, offering a hand out for the box.

After another moment, I reluctantly hand it over to him. “Do you remember her at all?”

“My mother?” Jack says, taking a look at the ring himself. “I don’t even know who she is. Padraic never spoke of her. Story goes, she left me on Padraic’s doorstep with the ring, a fifty-dollar bill, and a note saying the fifty should cover my vaccinations.”

I blink a little in surprise. I don’t know why I assumed Jack’s mother was some kind of ongoing side piece—perhaps because when it comes to Padraic Duffy, I usually assume the worst. But for Jack not to know his own mother…

“What about Padraic’s wife?”

Jack snorts. “Eliza was a spiteful witch. In her eyes, I was no more Padraic’s son than I was hers.” He pauses to lift the ring out of the box. “Even if she had known who my mother was, she would never have told me.”

“She died?” I ask, unable to take my eyes off the platinum band.

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