I never thought I’d like someone’s laundry mixing with mine, but here we fucking are.
It’s a bit of a whore’s bath as we all use the spray shower to rinse off the critical parts of our body and quickly get dressed. Cillian borrows some of my clothes, and Elena has another dress stashed in the room.
I can feel her nervousness down the bond, and I fist her hair, forcing her to look at me as soon as she’s dressed.
“You’re mine. I won’t let her disrespect you.”
She sighs, and her cheeks heat. “I know. I just wish she liked me.”
“She doesn’t like anyone.”
“Still.”
I hold her hand as we make our way to the dining room. My mother and father are sitting there waiting for us. My mother’s eyes automatically go to where I’m holding my Omega’s hand.
Her lips purse, but she says nothing as we come to sit across from them. An unhappy Lorcán and Declan also come to sit at the table, it feels way too reminiscent of the last time we were all together.
“The west is yours,” my father says unexpectedly. Part of me wants to say it always was, but I keep my mouth shut. “Your mother and I are retiring. The Sullivans will take over everythingin Ireland, the Conners will do so in the East, and you will have the West. I won’t interfere with any of your choices, it’s officially yours now.”
There’s silence for a moment, and my mother swallows before speaking.
“I know I haven’t been the best mother. I know I’m a hard woman and an unfair one.” She looks over at Lorcán before facing us. “You’re bonded?” she asks.
“Yes,” I answer for everyone.
“Congratulations,” she says softly. “I want to apologize for how I treated you before, Elena. I’m working on myself and hope that we can become…friends.”
It’s almost like the word is foreign to her.
“If you decide to have children one day, I’d like to be amhaimeo, and I know I can’t do that if I’m not kind to you. I’m far from perfect, but I’ve always wanted the best for my sons, and I can now see that you’re what’s best for them.”
Elena looks confused and glances over at me, and I nod my head. They’re moving to Ireland, for fuck’s sakes. We’ll likely only see them once a year, we can handle that.
“Thank you, I appreciate that.”
“I’m proud of all of you,” my father declares, and a sense of pride fills me. “I had our lawyer look into your father’s will,” Seamus says, sliding over some documentation to Elena. “I’m not sure what the fuck—” he clears his throat, stopping himself from saying his name. “You are the sole heir to the Amante fortune. It’s up to you as to what you want to do with it.”
She holds the papers, and my gaze leans over reading where Matteo lists her as his beneficiary, and his only living heir.
Anthony was right, he wasn’t Matteo’s. There’s a slew of family history that she’ll never get answers to, and I wonder how she’s going to deal with that.
“Thank you,” she whispers, and my father nods his head.
“You’re my daughter now, we’re family.”
Hearing my father say that fills me with a sense of pride. The Amante family line is dead, Elena is an O’Brien through and through, and she deserves respect from both of my parents.
“If you’re keen, we’d like to take you all out to dinner tonight before we head back home,” my father asks.
“That would be lovely, thank you,” Elena answers.
My mother keeps her lips tight but nods as Lorcán and Cillian escort them out of the house.
“Are you okay?” I whisper over to her, and she nods her head.
“It’s a lot to process. So many secrets,” she sighs, looking down at the paperwork. I know she hates talking about her brother. She still talks about her pápa in a loving way, but there’s still some hurt there.
“That’s a lot of slot machine money,” I tease, trying my best to lighten the sadness I feel through the bond.
