Illicit Temptation (Astoria Royals #3)

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Shea

W e eat an early dinner since we’re all exhausted from the flight. Da cooked himself, and I gave him a hand. He doesn’t have any house staff here whatsoever. Just the nurses looking after Ma. Unlike at home where Trace and I eat together, or if I’m hosting an event and I grab a quick bite in the kitchen, Trace is always right there.

But tonight, Trace eats in a different room.

I want to remind everyone that he’s not just my bodyguard, he’s also a Quinlan. With my mother gasping for her last breaths, however, a tantrum over where my bodyguard is forced to eat and sleep feels selfish.

Da’s phone doesn’t stop ringing and he takes his plate into his office to finish eating.

“That bastard has come out of retirement when he’s got Ma here in this weakened state and only shite dossers at the gate protecting them.” Lachlan’s jaw tightens.

“Are you going to tell Kieran?” Darragh asks, taking a break from watching over Ma to have some potato soup.

Lachlan checks his watch. “It’s the middle of the night there. I’ll wait until he gets up with the boys and call him.”

I shudder to think how that call will go. Cormac can’t leave. Ma’s on life support. Da’s back to doing his shady deals.

When the plates are empty enough and everyone signals they’re done eating, I clear the table. To my surprise, Trace comes up next to me, helping me. Winking, he carries in the dishes while I grab the glasses.

Relieved there’s a dishwasher now, I load it up. With no one around, Trace brings me out onto the back patio. With so much to say and nothing at all at the same time because words won’t help any of the problems we face, I gaze out at the vast nothingness that used to be a working cattle ranch.

Checking that we’re still alone, I lean against Trace’s back. Inhaling his scent is the most at peace I’ve felt all day. He brings my hand around to feel the beating in his chest.

“That’s for you, princess.”

“Nothing is going right on this trip,” I whisper, breathing in his cologne mixed with the rich earth of an Irish countryside evening. “Not being able to spend more than a minute with Cormac, who’s now being punished for something he didn’t do, and not being able to say goodbye to my mother.”

“Talk to her anyway. I’m sure she knows you’re here, Shea.” His use of my name, and not princess , alarms me and I lift my head from his back.

“Hey,” I whisper and pull him around.

His height is so overwhelming. “Hey, back.”

“Will you come to my bedroom later?” I ask, needing an outlet for all this emotion. “I doubt there are cameras in the bedrooms.”

“Do you want to take that chance? Put me at risk with Lachlan under the same roof as me?”

“Trace... When do you plan to talk to my father?” Finding out Kieran might have marriage plans already in place for me, I agree with Trace more than ever that my father’s word should be the final one on who I marry.

Or in this case, stay married to.

It hits me like a warm, fragrant breeze. I know for certain I want to stay married to Trace. But not in secret anymore. There’s a lot that Kieran will be unhappy about as far as me.

I’m going to buy Lagerfeld Events.

I’m not going to marry whoever the hell he planned for me .

And I’m going to confess that I’m in love with my bodyguard.

Whether or not we have children, whether I take steps to try to conceive, or we figure something else out, will be our business.

My name is Quinlan, and I’m ready to cross over and join that clan. That means Kieran no longer controls me.

I blow out a breath, wondering how the hell that will all fly.

Trace studies me, and I notice he hasn’t answered me about talking to my da. That strikes a nerve. Has he changed his mind?

Something’s not right. The air is charged with dread and hope feels like it’s fading. But why?

Trace pulls me into a shadow and grips my face. “I won’t lie. For the first time, I worry I... I might not be enough. In their eyes.”

“Don’t say that.” I tug on his jacket. “Do you promise me...”

“Promise what, princess?”

“That it doesn’t matter. What I told you about not giving you children. And that you’ll let me keep working.”

His height, his breadth, and his scent of raw male heat combine to bring out a fierce side to Trace I’d not seen before. “All that matters is that you’re happy, Shea. And all I want is to be a part of that.” Trace kisses me like a beast in heat.

I take his mouth with the same energy, feeling so raw and vulnerable. The walls threatening my freedom are closing in on me. Why, why are they so strong?

Trace’s lips leave my mouth and rest on my forehead. “I will fight for you, princess. No other man—”

“No other man.” A deep male voice coming from the back door breaches our bubble. “Interesting choice of words. ”

That face, the broad shoulders, thick thighs, and square head have Trace gripping my arm to the point of pain. “What the fuck are you doing here, Faolan?”

“You remember me?” Dunbar’s warden comes out of the shadows.

He saw us kissing. The man who has killer guards in a prison where my brother sleeps every night saw me kissing my bodyguard.

“Get in the house, Shea-Lynne.” Trace steers me to the back door and whispers roughly, “Go to your bedroom and lock the door.”

HEART POUNDING, AND worrying about Trace with that horrid man, I lose my way around the labyrinth of rooms. Extensions were added on in later years, making the floorplan a nuisance of a maze.

“There you are, me a stór .” My father’s voice stills me when I reach the base of the stairs.

Da calling me his treasure hits differently when my brothers say it. Deep inside, they mean it. Da? I’m not sure anymore.

“Da, I’m not feeling well. I’d like to go lie down.” I try to pass him, but he grips my arm with a stinging pressure that intensifies my feeling of dread. “Ouch, Da. That hurts.”

“When I tell you I need to speak to you, you listen, lass.” His stern tone sends a shockwave through me.

“Fine.” I swallow. “What do you need?”

“My office. Right now.” He lets go and signals for me to walk along the corridor that snakes around behind the stairs.

So many wild thoughts run through my head as to what he wants and why it’s so urgent. I wonder if Kieran called and asked Da to talk me out of buying Lagerfeld Events.

Or.. .

Did he just see me kiss Trace? No. Trace would be dragged off somewhere and not the office. Da would have him in the old barn and threaten him with Ma’s cattle-gutting tools.

We reach the office and once I’m inside, Da closing the door feels so...final.

“Sit down, Shea-Lynne.” He points to the chair across from the desk that puts his ornately carved desk back at Divona, now Kieran’s, to shame.

When he takes out a stack of papers, I immediately wonder if that’s Ma’s will. Maybe he’s about to tell me what I’ll be getting, or possibly not getting. Maybe it will all go to my brothers, and he wants to lessen the blow.

It doesn’t matter. I don’t want any money. I want my mother. And I want Trace. I’m ready to fight for him. For us.

“When Lachlan told me you were coming, I did some thinking,” he says and sits back in his chair.

Hmmm. Doesn’t sound like a will reading.

“About what, Da?”

“I gave up my throne in Astoria a lot sooner than I had intended. I made your brother king, your other brothers step up to help him run it before they were ready.”

I clear my throat. “I don’t get involved in their business. They let me run mine in East Hampton.”

“ I... let that happen.” He tilts his head. “But it wasn’t supposed to go on for this long. That’s where I failed you. Caring for your mother took away my focus from doing what is best for you.”

“Best?” My heart spikes. “You sent me to an expensive college. What did you think I’d use my education for?”

“A strong man, the right man, wants a strong, smart woman at his side.” He points to me. “One he won’t abuse or lie to.”

My throat goes tight. Oh crap, Kieran called him, all right, to talk me into this marriage deal he planned. Those papers. Is that it? Am I about to find out what the family has planned for me?

The room starts to spin, and I grip the sides of my chair. “What are you trying to tell me, Da?”

“I’ve known a lot of men who give their young, innocent daughters away to monsters. To me, they’re monsters. Do you think I’m a monster, Shea-Lynne? Have you ever felt that I didn’t adore you with every fiber of my being?”

There’s so much in his statement to unpack. “No, Da. I know you love me,” I say instead of turning it into a debate.

“Then you’ll accept that I know what is best for you.”

“I’m thirty-seven. I run a successful business. I know what’s best for me.” Even as I say it, I know Da doesn’t appreciate my success. All of a sudden, I can’t breathe.

“Now you listen to me, young lady.”

“Da...” I stand up. “Can we discuss this after Ma—”

I don’t get out another word. The door to the office opens, and Faolan Malone steps inside.

Blood whooshes through my ears, making me dizzy. Seeing Trace come inside right behind him as well calms me down. Only, Trace looks like he’s going to be sick. His eyes are wild, and his jaw trembles in a furious tick.

What the hell is going on?

“I understand you and Mr. Malone met this afternoon at Dunbar,” Da says, puffing his cigar.

“We did,” I reply, going breathless and wait for the hammer to drop on my head because this man also caught me kissing my bodyguard five minutes ago.

“Excellent.” Da smiles. “You’re going to marry him.”