“Good.” She nodded. “And if you’re really serious about mending fences, this is your chance to do it right.”
She followed Carrigan’s gaze and found Teague and Callista moving through the crowd toward them.Things are about to get interesting.
***
It felt like a fucking ambush. Aiden had come here tonight intending to start to set things right with Carrigan. No one had said a goddamn thing about Teague being here. When Callie latched on to Charlie and switched seats so that he was next to his brother and the women were occupied, he knew it for a fact. “You planned this shit.”
Teague set down the beer he’d carried over. “You’ve been dodging my calls.”
“I’ve been busy.” He hadn’t been ready to pull the figurative trigger when it came to dealing with his brother’s betrayal. But it had to be done, and thanks to his slip a year ago, Teague knew thatAidenknew. They’d been circling each other ever since.
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” Teague’s body language was relaxed and his face open, so anyone watching them would have no idea the intensity of their conversation.
When had his little brother learned to lie so well?
Aiden cast a glance around. Most people were starting to move to their seats, but the rest of their table was empty for the time being. There was no avoiding this confrontation any longer, even though the last place he wanted to deal with it was here in the middle of such a public place.
Maybe it’s for the best. I’m not as likely to punch him in the fucking face.
At least in theory.
“You want to do this here.”
Teague nodded. “I never pegged you for a coward, Aiden. Let’s get this out and done with so we can move on.”
As if it was as easy as that. He laughed, because it was the only acceptable reaction that wouldn’t draw undue attention. “You betrayed the family. You informed to the fucking feds.” He kept his tone even, because he hadn’t given Charlie the details of his falling-out with Teague. She had no idea her father was his brother’s contact with the FBI. Shewouldn’tknow if Aiden had anything to say about it.
“Yeah. I did.”
He stared. He’d half expected Teague to deny it. “That’s all you have to say for yourself.”
“What the fuck do you want me to say? You know what it was like living in that house under his thumb. You know what our life entails. I didn’t see any other way out.”
“That’s no excuse.” He’d felt exactly that trapped more often than not, but he never would have hurt the ones he loved in order to be free.
“I know.” Teague scrubbed a hand over his face. “I can’t go back and change things. And Iwouldn’t, because that fed is the reason I’m still alive today.”
“That’s no excuse for feeding him intel that could hurt us.”
His smiled grimly. “And yet the O’Malleys still stand and the only person in prison is Victor Halloran.” He held up a hand. “There’s nothing I can say to fix this. I know it. You know it. I don’t expect you to trust me again—but you were never going to, because I’m married to a Sheridan now.”
Aiden nodded to concede the truth. Teague’s loyalties lay with his wife and their new family. It should be that way. But that didn’t erase the sting of the betrayal of his own family…
Aiden sighed, suddenly exhausted. They could keep beating this dead horse until the day they died. That’s what Victor Halloran, Colm Sheridan, and their father had done for decades, until no one could pinpoint exactly what it was that had created the conflict in the first place. The only outcome of that path was a whole lot of heartache and, eventually, someone they cared about getting killed. That was how their world worked.
“You know,” Teague said suddenly, “we found out this week that Callie’s having a boy.”
Aiden blinked. “I hadn’t heard.”
“We aren’t exactly announcing it.” Teague sat back. “We’re going to name him Devlin. I’d like you to be his godfather.”
His chest tightened and he couldn’t draw a full breath. “Teague—”
“We tried it our father’s way. We can sit here and throw stones at each other and keep making the same goddamn mistakes for the next fifty years…Or maybe we can try a different direction.”
Ultimately, the future was in Aiden’s hands. He could keep pushing this. Teague wouldn’t roll over and play dead—not with Callie and Moira and little Devlin on the way—and there was no way everyone would walk unscathed from that confrontation.
Or he could let it go.
