Page 138 of Twist of Fate
“When I remodeled the place, I converted the penthouse into two units—yours and mine, thinking I could use yours as a guest unit. When I mentioned the idea to my mam, she said she wasn’t interested in visiting.”
“What? Why?”
“I never asked; I simply chalked it up to stress from my da’s stroke and moved on. It turns out this wasn’t just some city flat my da had. This was his damn love nest.”
“Your dad had an affair?”
“Affairs—plural. She’s not sure how many. At some point, my mam just stopped asking. When I asked her how he had time for all of this when he barely had enough time to come home, she just snorted and said, ‘He could have made time, love. He just chose not to.’”
“Why didn’t she tell you?”
“She thought I knew, I guess. She didn’t believe he’d keep a secret from me. Considering how I was carrying on back then, I don’t blame her for assuming. I can’t imagine what she felt when I snatched up this building the second he got sick. Little did she know, I was just sitting here, day after day, pining after you.”
“The whole time? No one else ever caught your eye or—” He kisses me, cutting off my playful words as he draws me into his lap.
“As awful as it was to learn the truth about my father, it was somewhat of a relief. It shattered the ideal image I had of him in my mind—the CEO who sacrificed everything for his company. Now, he’s just another absentee father because I know he didn’t sacrifice shit. He could have been an amazing CEO and father, but he chose not to.”
“So, is that what you want? To be both?”
“I mean, I haven’t even asked you to move in yet, so I think you’re being a bit presumptuous by assuming I’ll father your children, but—ow!” He wails as fingers pinch his side and then laughs. The smile that spreads across his face is breathtaking. “But, yes. I know I don’t have to choose. Just know, though, if I had to, I’d give it all up for you.”
“I’m glad you don’t have to. One of us should have a job.”
“Between your inheritance and my trust fund, I think we’d be okay.”
“That sounded so snobby.”
“I’m sorry, what hotel did you stay at when you first moved here?”
“Don’t make me pinch you again,” I threaten, only causing him to chuckle. “Speaking of moving…do you have any bright ideas to keep me from having to move back to the States in two weeks?”
“Actually, yes. But it can wait until morning. Right now—” His hand slips beneath my T-shirt. “We’ve got more pressing matters.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
Aisling
PRESENT
“That is one hot piece of man candy right there.”
“His hair looks especially good today, wouldn’t you say?”
“Ass isn’t too fairing too bad, either.”
I roll my eyes. How can they even see his ass from this angle?
“Could you guys stop objectifying my boyfriend?” I say to my coworkers. All three of them turn at once. It’s kind of freaky. “You know,your boss?”
“I seem to remember you saying Finn didn’t consider himself our boss.” Shea’s dark eyebrow shoots up in defiance. “Something about him being, what was it? Oh, right…ourboss’s boss’s boss?” I should have never told them about that.
“And besides, we’re just making impartial observations. No objectifying going on here.” Damien grins and looks me straight in the eye. “Well, not on our part, I mean.”
“You literally just said, and I quote, ‘That is one hot piece of man candy right there.’”
“What? One good-looking bloke can’t appreciate another?”Don’t do it. Don’t roll your eyes again.“Besides, I’m in a good mood. Oh, look—he’s about to start!”
All the O’Connell employees—or at least as many as we could fit into the lobby—are packed like sardines in front of a makeshift stage. A few people I recognize are on it, though I don’t know their names, and then there’s Finn.
