My aunt’s voice chirps in through my phone, as full of youthful vigor as ever, despite her elderly age. “Kerry! You fly away without even tellin’ me where you’re off to? I bring you supper and now it’s going to spoil, and if I’d have known, it wouldn’t have been made! A waste of time, food, your auntie’s goodwill…”
“Marjorie.” I sigh and press the bridge of my nose between two fingers. “I’m a grown man, or have you forgotten? And in my line of work, I’m always traveling about. Now, I thought you didn’t want to be involved anymore?”
My aunt grumbles under her breath. “I don’t. But a note or a quick dial orsomethingwould be appreciated.”
A grin spreads across my face. “You sure you aren’t itching to get back in the game? I know how much you like it. And that gun collection is just sitting there, gathering dust…an awful shame, really.”
“Keep my guns out of that filthy mind, they aren’t yours. And what I do with ‘em are none of your business, nephew.” Marjorie huffs. “Is it a long flight?”
I recognize this as a bit of code. She’s asking if this was a serious trip, something dangerous or monumental. “Yeah. It’s a long flight. The States.”
There’s a pause on the other end of the line. “The States? Visiting a friend?”
I chuckle. More code. She’s asking if I’m orchestrating a deal or building a new business connection. “I’m visiting my fiancée.”
“Yourwhat?” She practically shrieks through the phone, and it makes me laugh.
“Mm. Asteros.”
“Asteros?” Her tone is one of disgust, and it only prolongs my amusement. “What in the feck are you doing getting in the marriage bed with one of them?”
Ah, leave it to my aunt to always make me laugh. “She’s a pretty little thing. You’ll like her, I’m sure.”
“An American, in my family…” she grumbles. “Your uncle is rolling in his grave.”
I grin. She isn’t wrong about that, he probably is. But he’d agree with me eventually, once he saw the practicality of it. “Mm. You’re probably right. But he’d also understand the business side of things.”
Marjorie made ahmphsound. “Business? So you didn’t just get bored and decide to marry an American one day?”
I chuckle. “No. I didn’t. The Asteros are powerful, it’ll be a good union. That, and their family has exclusive access to those docks that Da had his eyes on for two decades. I’m just doing what needs to be done.”
My aunt is quiet for a minute. “I see. Just doing what needs to be done… You sound like your father.”
My chest grows tight with that. I try not to let my anger come out in my tone. “Well, I am his son.”
“Is that who you want to be, Kerry?” Her voice is quiet, gentle. It irks me.
I sigh yet again and lean back in my seat, forcing my body language to look more relaxed and at ease than I feel inside. “Didyou call just to give me life advice, Marjorie? Or was there a point to this beyond you just criticizing?”
“Ah. I’ve hit a sore spot. Listen, Kerry, I’m not trying to bitch and moan about things. Well, maybe a little about the supper I made you. But you and I both know you don’t want to end up like your father. You may be pretending to forget about the conversation we had in Cobh, but I’m not. You vowed to yourself to not be like him. And, yet, you changed and became hellbent to become the most powerful man in Ireland, or however the feck you say it. You’re determined to be king, just like he was.”
I clench my jaw. Her words stir up a storm in my chest. “Iamking. And I’m not tryin’ to be like him, I’m trying to finally get the better of him, to prove him wrong. To show him what I can be, that I beat him.”
Marjorie is quiet for another moment, and that bothers me more. Liam, who had been sitting there, looking over the files and pretending like he wasn’t listening, gets up and heads to the front of the plane to give me some privacy. Somehow, his respect soothes me just a bit.
“Kerry. Your father didn’t even recognize you before he died. Why are you living for someone who wasn’t present in his mind by the end? And what will it take for you to ‘beat him’? What does proving yourself to him entail? What will ever be enough?”
I don’t want to admit that my aunt is right. I typically always rely on clear and measurable goals. It was something my men had to learn quickly when working under me. No vague or intangible goals, or else, they’d get an earful from me.
I’m a hypocrite. Which means that I deserve the earful from my aunt that I’m currently getting.
I put my head in my hand. “I’ll think about what you said.”
“Good. That’s good enough for me.” Marjorie sounds almost chipper that she got at least somewhat through to me. “Now, tellme more about this girl. I need to know about who is joining my family.”
I’m all too happy to tell my aunt about the other most important woman in my life. I haven’t even met Amy yet, but she already eases the tension in my chest.
I can’t wait to see her in person.
