She was fuckin’ fun.
She was everythin’.
It sounded like the sky was tappin’ against the top of the trees. As Maeve looked up, rain rushed down, making it through the gaps in the branches. Heavy droplets slid down her face. She closed her eyes, like she was absorbin’ them.
I took her face in my hands and brought my mouth close to hers. Her breath washed over my lips, and I closed my eyes, breathin’ her in like the first sweet hit of air. When I opened my eyes, hers were wide, but anticipation burned deep in their depths.
She reflected me.
The entire world went silent. Not dead. Silent. Except for the two of us. A desperate noise escaped her lips—the noise that escaped mine was much deeper, and almost pained.
Rain crackled against the forest floor, but my instincts were strong. Footsteps sound different from splashes of water.
Someone was comin’.
Maeve’s body tensed when I hauled her up and ran into the copse of trees, barely makin’ a sound, takin’ shelter behind another oak. I pointed up, and her eyes followed. Keenan called this tree the ladder oak. Its branches were almost stacked, making it easy to climb.
Men rarely looked up. It was a good place to keep the advantage.
She nodded and mouthed,I can climb.I hoisted her up and watched as she made it to the fourth branch. I had swords and knives buried in the ground all over the property. Only the hilts were visible if a man knew where to look and recognized them for what they were. Usually, leaves covered them. I came to this tree a lot when I was young. Even killed one of Craig’s men by sittin’ in the tree and droppin’ the knife straight down onto his head. It cracked and split open like a crunchy melon.
We had guns, too, but it was more personal to get close. To look his men in the eyes and to think my parents’ names while they died. But I had a gun tucked into the back of my pants too. It was best to come prepared for all situations.
I swiped a bonin’ knife from its burial spot and moved from tree to tree. When I got close enough to the oak where we’d just been, I held my breath and waited.
“It’s just me, lad!” Henry boomed. “I’m comin’ out with my hands up.”
He came into view, doin’ what he’d said. When I stepped out, he wiped sweat from his brow.
“Wheew, never know what’s comin’ when I step foot on this property. Between you, Fiona, and Keenan, I’m lucky to still be alive! One of these days I’m goin’ to get a megaphone to start announcin’ myself. Then again…I don’t always mind thethrill.” He smiled at me. “Didn’t me wife tell ye I was comin’? I heard there’s goin’ to be a weddin’.”
I caught the widenin’ of his eyes a second before I turned at the sound of footsteps comin’ from behind me. Maeve carted a sword that seemed almost heavier than her.
She took my side and looked up at me. “Just in case.”
Henry’s laughter boomed. “Well, looks like you met your match, Cian O'Callaghan. I can’t wait to get to know her better.”
Same went for me.
Chapter10
Maeve
It was a tepid Irish day. The sun shining. A slight breeze in the air. The flowers around the castle in bloom. Emerald grass for miles.
And I was still trying to process what had just happened on such a perfect June day.
Our wedding ceremony.
I was married to the man they called the Beast of Boston.
Cian Cillian O'Callaghan.
My name was no longer Maeve Bell but Maeve O'Callaghan.
And I, Maeve Rose O'Callaghan, tried to remember to breathe when my husband was told to kiss his bride, and the intensity in his eyes as he stared at me made me go weak in the knees.
This would be my first kiss.
