Page 57 of The Professional
“Yes, Mom.” He grabbed the hand on his shoulder and kissed the back of it. “What’s Miriam got for us to eat tonight?”
“I’ll go see if the food is ready. Then we can say our prayers and eat. Come help me, Orla.”
“But Mom—”
“Now.” She waved Orla into the kitchen, and Orla heaved a very teenager type sigh. She glared at Rourke before following their mom out of the room.
“What are you doing?” Shay asked as soon as they’d cleared the room. He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest, his gaze flipping from me to Forrest. “Why are you claiming the whore’s your boyfriend.”
Forrest snorted. “So you know who I am. Also, it’s either a sex worker or professional thank you.”
“A blind man could tell you sell yourself,” Shay responded with disgust. “You reek of sin.”
“Sin this, asshole.” Forrest shot him the bird.
Rourke sighed. “Enough. Forrest. Could I have a word alone with Shay please?”
“No.” Forrest’s face flushed in anger and his eyes burned. “You brought me here to have dinner with your family. If you have anything to say about me, I deserve to be here for it.” He waved at Shay. “I don’t care if he’s a man of God.”
“He can stay, because he needs to hear what I have to say as well.” Shay shoved his glasses up his nose and lips pressed in a thin line. “You brought him here to meet your mother to make a point, and I accept that. I shouldn’t have pushed you the other day in confessional, but I worry about you, Rourke.”
“You mean you worry about my soul and how I might go to hell?” Rourke met his stare.
“No, I care aboutyou. You’re my friend, and I’ve accepted I can’t stop you from breaking the law because of Sloan and what he means to us. Both of us. But I can ask you to think rationally about your relationships with sinners. This man,” he nodded at Forrest, “will be your downfall.”
“Forrest,” Rourke growled. “His name is Forrest.”
“I don’t care.” Shay’s gaze flicked to the kitchen door and back to Rourke. “Think of your mother. She’s a woman of God, and it would break her heart if she found out you were sleeping with a paid professional.”
Anger exploded inside Rourke, and he leaned forward, voice low. Shay had never done anything to get this kind of reaction from him, but there was a first time for everything. It took everything in Rourke’s power not to jump over the table and clobber him across his jaw. “Don’t bring her into this.”
“I care about Nadene too, Rourke.”
“Bullshit,” he hissed. “You care about her donations to the fucking church.” He shoved himself to his feet, the chair wobbling behind him. “You’re a money hungry bastard.”
Shay flinched, and Rourke knew he’d hit a sore spot. Shay always hated the topic of money and had ever since he was a child. Money was the reason his family lived in such a shitty little house with two bedrooms to fit his parents, him, and his five siblings; money was the reason his father ended up beating his mother until she’d found her God; and money was also the reason his younger sister ended up taking her own life when she found herself penniless with no means to pay the bills.
Shay straightened, the color in his face draining to a sickly white. “Well then, that was uncalled for.”
Rourke felt bad about what he’d said, but he wasn’t going to apologize. “What’s uncalled for is that you think you have the right to preach at me.” He retook his seat and smiled apologetically at Forrest. “Forgive the Father’s hypocrite bullshit, Forrest. He’s always had a big mouth, especially when it came to sucking cock.”
Shay’s jaw tightened. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come here.”
“You think?” Rourke rolled his shoulders but didn’t say anything else when the doors to the kitchen opened and Mom and Orla walked out, holding serving dishes of food. Kitchen staff followed them, their own hands filled with food that they set on the table.
Shay smiled up at Rourke’s mother. If she saw the tenseness in him, she didn’t say anything. “Thank you, Nadene. This looks lovely.”
“It should, I’ve been working all week on finding the best menu for tonight. You don’t know how many times I sent the staff out to buy ingredients. The cook was beside himself. It was all very stressful for me.”
Forrest turned wide eyes on Rourke, who shook his head. The moment she got a taste of money, Mom forgot the meaning of humble. She hadn’t touched a stove since they moved into this house, and even Rourke could admit that she was a tyrant when it came to her workers. He didn’t know how she still had people who wanted to work for her.
“Shall we say grace?” She didn’t wait for an answer. Interlocking her fingers in front of her with her elbows on the table, she bowed her head. “Father, you can do the honor.”
“Thank you, Nadene.” Shay’s eyes didn’t close. He stared between Forrest and Rourke, his eyes hard. “Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord may we be redeemed. Amen.”
“Amen,” Rourke, Orla, and their mother repeated at the same time. They made the sign of the cross.
Forrest quickly followed with an “Amen” before doing the sign too, but he had it back to front. Rourke appreciated his attempt though. If he had a choice, he wouldn’t have said grace in the first place. While he attended church on occasions and believed in God, he didn’t practice it like Mom.
