Page 52 of The Irish Rogue

Obviously, Kennedi didn’t believe his assurance because she turned to the nurse. “What’s wrong with him?”

The nurse smiled reassuringly before she explained, “He dislocated his shoulder and he has some deep muscle bruising on his left arm. Two of his ribs are cracked, but not broken. It will take some time for those to heal. Then there’s the boulder sized lump on the side of his head.” She glanced at Sean. “That’s the technical term, you know.”

Sean might have laughed, but he was too focused on Kennedi’s horrified expression and Declan’s fascinated one.

“I’m fine,” he assured them.

The doctor shook her head. “He’snotfine. We’ve been trying to convince him to stay overnight. We can monitor him more closely if he’s here.”

“He’s staying,” Kennedi announced in a tone that promised obedience.

Levi, Matteo, and Sean all wore identical expressions of surprise at that announcement.

“I am?” Sean asked, his voice tinged with a strange tone.

Kennedi shot a menacing glare at him. “Yes. You are!”

Sean glared at his traitorous friends when they chuckled. He focused back on Kennedi, ignoring the others in the room. “You know, only my wife or fiancée has the right to tell me what to do,” he pointed out with a challenging glare. Then he reached into his pocket, his movements awkward since he couldn’t move one arm, and pulled out a diamond ring. “I’ll stay put if you agree to marry me.”

Kennedi gasped and Declan reached out, eager to explore the enormous diamond. But Sean knew how the little guy explored. With his mouth! “Not for you,” he told his son.

When Sean looked at Kennedi this time, she had tears in her eyes. “But…?”

He looked at the doctor and nurse. “Would you give us a moment?”

Both of them quickly hurried out of the room, huge grins on their faces. Levi and Matteo smirked as they followed, Levi plucking an unresisting Declan from Kennedi’s arms. “We’ll be right outside,” he promised her.

When they were finally alone, Sean pulled her closer. “I know that we have a lot to talk about still, but I’ve known for a year that you’re the woman for me.”

She snorted, shaking her head. “If you knew that for a year, then you would have–”

“No one else, Kennedi. I haven’t been with any other woman since I met you.” He pulled her closer so that she was standing in between his knees. “You know me, Kennedi. And if you knew me better, you’d know that not being with anyone for over a year is huge.” He kissed her lightly. “I only wanted you.”

She blinked away her surprise. “But…you left me. After that day that we spent together, you left me!”

He sighed, letting their clasped hands drop to his thigh. “I thought you were ashamed of me, Kennedi. That was my past talking.” He paused for a moment, grateful when she didn’t speak. A moment later, he continued. “I was never acknowledged by my father and the whole village in Ireland treated me as if I was the town’s dirty little secret.” He shook his head with disgust. “That day, you said something about your car being outside and you didn’t want anyone to know that you’d been with me all day.”

“I didn’t!” she replied with feeling, but grabbed his hand when he started to pull away, desperately clinging to it. “I didn’t want anyone to know that…well, what we’d been doing!”

“Why?” he demanded, fighting down his anger. He wanted to understand this time. He needed to understand her. He remembered Mick telling him that Kennedi thought that her friends had abandoned her, and the “whore” comment flashed through his mind. Maybe, just maybe, he and Kennedi had endured the same fate. So he was determined to understand her this time without making snap judgments. “Why was it so important that no one find out about us?”

Kennedi hesitated, her eyes moving away. But she didn’t see the sterile white walls or the rough sheets of the bed Sean was perched upon. Her mind only saw the mocking laughter in her classmate’s eyes when she walked by. She only heard the taunts, the humiliating questions from the boys asking if she was going to become a hooker like her mother.

When she looked at him this time, it took her a moment to explain. “Because of my mother,” she whispered. “My mother…she was…well, she likes men. Everyone in town knew to come to her when they needed some…uh…company. But she…charged…for her…ministrations.” Kennedi closed her eyes, bowing her head. “I was so embarrassed every time a guy came to our house. We lived in a trailer park and there was no privacy. So whenever a new man came to visit, I was the talk of the school yard the next day.”

“And you didn’t want that same sort of gossip about you.” He closed his eyes, pressing his forehead gently against hers. “I’m so sorry, Kennedi. I didn’t understand.”

She sniffed and pulled back. “And you?”

He pulled back, still holding her hands. “I grew up in my father’s shadow. He…hurt my mother and she got pregnant. When she told him that she was pregnant, he threatened her, told her he’d pay for the abortion. But my mother refused. He intimidated her and tried to pressure her into moving to a different town. But all of her family was there in the village, as well as her business. She ran the local pub and my father, the Earl of Winton, manufactured the beer for every pub for miles around. Generations ago, the Earldom had other businesses, but my father was inept at running them. Eventually, they all got shut down or went bankrupt and my father was able to concentrate on his passion – which is beer. He loves beer. Too much, actually.” Sean’s features twisted into a grimace. “He’s a raging alcoholic and has been for years.”

“And that’s why you buy up all of the breweries that come up for sale here in the US? To spite your father?”

He chuckled, then winced as pain sliced through him. A moment later, he nodded carefully. “Yes. I pretended that it was just a hobby. But I also discovered that I truly enjoyed learning about the industry. I like craft beers and I’ve created a wide-ranging distribution system. So every time I buy up a brewery, I gain access to another brew master and I’m able to expand my offerings.”

“I thought your business was buying up ailing companies, fixing them, and selling them for a profit.”

His thumb stroked the back of her hand. “It is. But I’ve diversified and I like the brewing industry. Those are the companies that I keep.”

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