Aiden was right; I was a reckless idiot. He was right about what he said to me; his venom was searing but not unjust. I needed that wake-up call to make me look at things and rethink my life.
“Didn’t he kill a guy?” Michael presses, loud enough for Aiden and Katie to overhear.
Possibly. I wouldn’t be half surprised if he killed more than one. “Speculation, charges never stuck.”
Maybe I should be more unnerved about my sister’s choice of partner. I was at first. But seeing them together, it’s clear that she’s happy; he treats her well. Maybe I misjudged him.
“I don’t like the way he looks at her,” Michael comments, his eyes narrowing as he watches the couple interact. “I just have a bad feeling about him.”
“He’d kill for her.” I think he already has, hence the two missing men. Maybe having someone like Aiden Quinn around isn’t such a bad thing after all. I can safely say that he would never allow anyone to so much as sneeze in my sister’s direction. He’s intense, yes, but considering what we’ve grown up with, having an overprotective lover like him might not be the worst thing in the world. “He treats her like a queen; he even made a run for the guinea pigs in one of his houses so she doesn’t have to worry about them when she’s staying with him.”
We’ve seen my dad beat the shit out of my mam on a number of occasions. She was asking for it (no, literally) when Mamwasn’t around dad was a “nice” drunk. He’d keep to himself—no violence, no outbursts, no nothing. He would get himself something to eat, watch some movies, and go to bed. Mam never wanted the man to have any form of peace; she would just keep picking fights and pushing his buttons until he snapped. It could take hours, but she was nothing if not relentless. She’d insult his manhood, his weight, his family, and anything else she could think of until he saw red, then she’d run and play the victim.
She threw Anthony down the stairs, almost breaking his back; my dad nearly killed her for it. I cannot blame him. If someone did that to my child, if I had one, I’d murder them. She beat us—everyone except Michael; he’s always escaped her wrath for some reason. The twins had to stop dad from slitting my mam’s throat at one stage; Katie couldn’t have been any more than six. She was asleep when it kicked off. Thankfully, we were too busy crying in our bunk beds to see it happen, though we heard everything.
Dad’s shotgun was pulled out at one stage because he had a dispute with a neighbour. We’ve had to pick up the drunken, half naked bodies of our parents after passing out in the bathroom and guide them to their beds. We’ve had to walk them up the stairs to ensure they didn’t topple back down. We were afraid to go home, afraid to leave home because the knot in our stomachs at lunchtime when we were walking home from school would make us nauseous with worry about what we might find.
In truth, dad was no angel. But he never hurt us—not physically anyway. He’s just another one of my mother’s victims, only he doesn’t realise it.
I glance back at Katie; she’s pulling away from Aiden,heading towards the bathroom, not without being pulled back to his chest to get a kiss on the forehead. He’s oddly sweet.
How fucked up is my head that I can trust a potential killer with my sister rather than our own parents? I can justify that relationship because I know Aiden would never harm her. Hell, he might be the healthiest thing to happen to her—I really need more counselling.
“I’m going to get a drink,” I mutter, bypassing Michael and heading to the bar.
Aiden slides up beside me a moment later, his grey eyes as intense as ever. “Who is that Sarah girl?”
“An old friend of Katie’s, her daughter is friends with John, the youngest of Anthony’s boys.”
Aiden nods, his expression unreadable. “What happened with them?”
“Why do you want to know?”
He doesn’t miss a beat. “Katie stiffened as soon as she laid eyes on her; something obviously happened with them.”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “She never said much, but I assume a fight of some kind.”
“What makes you say that?” He presses, pushing his card onto the reader for payment, before I can even respond. Then he orders drinks for himself and Katie.
“Thanks,” I say as he hands me my drink. “From what I remember, she rang me one night, pissed as a newt. She was on the road and couldn’t find the house,” I laugh, remembering how I found her down the end of the road wandering around, claiming she “lost the house.” “She was really sick that night; she threw up in her sleep and everything. I’ve never seen her like that.”
Two lines form between his brows. “Was she out clubbing?”
“No.” Placing the drink down, I risk a glance over my shoulder to see if Katie is coming. She’s not. “Just having a few drinks at Sarah’s house; she clearly didn’t know her limit back then.”
Aiden looks like he’s trying to piece together a puzzle. “Then what happened?”
“I’m not sure; Katie just put in distance after that and stopped hanging around with her.”
Aiden’s expression darkens.
“What is it?” I must be feeling brave tonight; then again, his venom is directed at Sarah right now and not me.
“Nothing,” he turns back to me with an insincere smile. “Just curious.” He turns his head as if he has a built-in sensor when it comes to my sister, the ice in his eyes melts when he spots Katie heading our way. “Ah, there’s my girl now.” Aiden’s demeanour instantly changes, his face lights up with a genuine smile. I catch the final glare he gives an unsuspecting Sarah and shiver.
“Better her than me,” grabbing my drink, I go in search of the girls in attendance. The twenty-one kisses will be called soon, and I need to make sure that Liam’s girlfriend is his twenty-first kiss, or the claws will be out tonight.
26
