“But at what cost?” she retorts. “Is it worth selling your soul?”
“You have to have a soul to sell it, Éabha. I cashed mine in the very moment that arsehole went down those stairs.”
We both know it.
She was there. She was the only witness, and she kept her mouth shut to protect me.
“Go back to your husband, Éabha, he’ll be missing you.”
She growls, stomps for the door, then stops with her hand on the knob. “He’s bigger than you, by the way.”
“And Katie can reach the top shelf in Tesco without needing a ladder.”
She glares at me over her shoulder. “Who’s Katie, AJ?”
“None of your business, Éabha,” I get to my feet and grab my bag. “You can leave now.”
She charges at me with fire in her eyes. “Tell me that you’re not stupid enough to drag someone into your fucked-up life!”
“You’re one to fucking talk!”
“She doesn’t deserve it. Whoever the hell she is, she does not deserve your life. She does not deserve your obsession. She does not deserve to have to look over her shoulder every five minutes waiting to catch a fucking bullet!”
“My obsession, as you call it, saved your fucking life, Éabha! Without it, you and Jason would be at the bottom of the Liffey with more holes in you than a sieve!” I’m forced to bend to her eye level. “But what thanks did I get? None. Not so much as a pat on the back or a parting blow.”
Her tiny hands strike my chest. “Don’t make me come up there!”
“You know what?” I drop the bag, grab her by the shoulders, and hang her by the strings of her dress on the coat hook on my wall. Her legs kick furiously as she dangles in mid-air. “Maybe this will teach you to have some gratitude.”
“Get me down!”
“Get yourself down, you fucking midget,” I grab my bag and leave, slamming the office door behind me.
15
KATIE
I don’t know which is more surreal, the fact that I’m being held captive on my bed or the fact that I am being held captive on my bed by a mostly naked man who looks like he has been sculpted from fine marble.
Aiden woke me a little after 3 a.m. He stood in my front garden, his chiselled features illuminated by the pale moonlight. His piercing grey eyes locked onto mine as I pulled over the curtain and was forced to pinch myself.
He kissed me, walked me upstairs to my bedroom, and gently laid me down on the bed. I watched him undress in awe, his perfectly toned muscles flexing with each movement. When he climbed onto the bed beside me, my ovaries exploded. He kissed me again like he hadn’t just sucked the breath from my lungs mere moments before. I could feel his arousal pressing into me, and I was all too willing to give in and let this man have me.
Then he pulled away.
He caged me between his arms, his hands tugging at my silkbonnet. “What are you wearing?”
I forgot I was wearing it. No wonder he pulled away.
“It’s for protecting my hair while I sleep,” I stammered, feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over me.
He chuckled softly; his eyes filled with amusement. “I’m all the protection you need,” he whispered, curling his body into mine as he pressed his lips against my neck. “Goodnight, bug.”
I underestimated his weight as he pressed against me, feeling the strength of his embrace. I was only able to move my arms slightly, wrapping them around his back, feeling every muscle and contour.
That was at 3 AM.
It is now 10.30, and he refuses to let me leave the bed for anything but using the bathroom and feeding my piggies.
