I shrug before I reply. “I don’t, which is why she gets away with murder with me.”
Uncle Sean is still chuckling when he clasps my shoulder. “I have to go, lad. Are you good here?”
His question is innocuous, but I understand the deeper meaning behind it. I don’t get any bad vibes from this lot, so I give him the reassurance he’s looking for when I reply. “All good, Uncle Sean.”
He bids the Wraiths farewell, leaving me alone with them as Coal turns to me.
“Appreciate you letting us stay here. Happy to reciprocate if you’re ever near us.” He extends. The invitations surprises me. I’m assuming he doesn’t know my history, or he’d have thought twice. I appreciate the sentiment it’s given in though.
So far, I’ve liked them, which is a surprise for me. I don’t like many people. With that in mind, I feel like I have to warn them. “Thanks for the invitation. If I’m ever back in England, I’ll look you up. Good luck with Kelly. Watch your backs, he’s not a good man. Very wealthy and very powerful, but bad to the bone. You have my number. Call me if you need anything.”
It's not often I gave my number out. They didn’t know me, so they had no idea what it meant that I’d given it to them. “Thanks, and we will if we need to. Don’t want to drag you into anything if we can help it. Especially as you seem to have responsibilitiesliving next door to you that could be used against you.” My estimation of him goes up as he speaks.
He didn’t know it, but with those words he had my loyalty until he did something to break it, but I somehow doubted that he would.
Knowing that I had to let Aiden know my thoughts and I wanted to spend time with my girls, I left them to get settled and motioned for Wolfie who had been sitting patiently at my feet all this time that we were leaving.
I walk over the road to my house. Entering, I go straight to the office and take one of the many burner phones I have out of a drawer as I send a message to Aiden.
They’re good. You don’t have to worry about the girls’ safety.
Aiden: Thanks.
Deleting the message, I destroy the chip and dispose of it outside in the burn bin I keep there. Wolfie nudges my hand and I bury my fingers into his fur, smiling when he whines. I know what he wants so I go to the little used side gate and unlatch it, walking into the garden next door.
Moira smiles when she sees me through the kitchen window and stands up, unlocking the back door to let us in. Wolfie goes straight to his bed and sinks in with a sigh, closing his eyes, right at home.
“Hi, I wondered if you’d come over. I’ve got stew and soda bread for supper if you want some?”
Bending down, I kiss her cheek. “I’d love some, milseán.”
Moira’s cheeks flush with colour, and her smile is happy when she nods to the table. “Sit, I’ll dish you up some.”
Other than when Aunt Jess insisted that I had supper with them, and my few snack meals I’d had with Moira, this was the first time I’d sat down to a family meal for years.
It made me realise how much I’d missed it. No more though. Moira and Mikayla deserved me in their lives more than a few days a month.
It may take me time, but I’d make it happen.
CHAPTER 14
MOIRA
He came and then he stayed for super. I hadn’t expected that. We’d shared a mug of tea or a snack, but it had always been me that approached him.
He’d never, not once in all the time that we’d lived next door come over for a meal of his own accord, but I should have known. Andy was a man of his word, always had been.
I’d stopped thinking of him as Butcher after he’d kissed me. He may be Butcher to the rest of the world, but to me he was Andy O’Shea, the man who’d saved me. The man I loved with every fibre of my being, because underneath all that gruffness was a good man capable of great emotion and if you were his, he’d move heaven and earth for you.
Getting to my feet, I start to clear the table. Andy’s hand stops mine. “Leave it milseán, I’ll take care of it. You go and deal withceann beag, she’s about to fall asleep in her food.”
He’s not wrong. Mikayla has been fighting sleep for the last twenty minutes, but she’d been so busy talking to Andy that I’d hated to put a stop to it.
“Are you sure?”
I meet his dark gaze but when all I see is amusement and affection, I let go of the plate and let him take it.
“I’m sure, milseán. Go put her to bed.”
