Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 132791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132791 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
It was my cue to finally let go.
“I’m coming, sweetheart.”
She nodded, caressing my temples with a loving smile.
I came inside her, the satisfaction of doing so brutal.
I rolled over beside her as soon as I was finished, tossing an arm over my face.
We were quiet for a few minutes. Just panting and staring at the horrid, pink, starred ceiling.
She was the first to turn to me. “When can we do it again?”
I suppressed a laugh. “As soon as we get back home, I’m canceling my shit for the next forty-eight hours so we can practice.”
Her face lit up. “Good. It was fun.”
I wanted to agree but was too fucking stunned to do so.
She licked her lips, suddenly unsure. “You liked it, right?”
Oh, God, Gealach, if only you knew.
“That I did,” was all I could manage.
I put my hand over my mouth so she couldn’t see it but spoke the words audibly.
“You eejit bastard. You’re so fucking screwed.”
_______
When we returned to the table, the chatter quieted down and all eyes swung to us. I had smoothed out my hair and suit to stoic perfection before we left her room, but Lila looked exactly like a woman who just got railed hard and fast while biting her childhood teddy bear’s bum to stifle the moans. Her hair was in complete disarray, her dress unevenly flung over her legs, lips swollen, and makeup smeared.
We sat down in undignified silence in our seats and grabbed our cutlery. The food was cold, curling at the edges as it began to lose its freshness.
“Well, this is…” Enzo blew out a breath, chuckling good-naturedly. “Definitely putting the nickname Deathless to the test. The fuck you doing, Callaghan?”
“Your sister,” I drawled, taking a sip of my wine. “Thought we were clear on that.”
Chiara looked ready to faint. Good. One less person to gawk at my wife.
“Ugh.” Enzo downed his wine like a shot. “I miss the person I was twenty minutes ago.”
“This really couldn’t have waited a couple hours till you got home?” Luca scowled.
Lila twirled spaghetti around her fork and slurped it, ignoring the chatter by setting her attention on her plate.
“What my wife wants, my wife gets.”
“Even if that thing is a dead husband at the dinner table?” Achilles mused.
I pinned him with a look. “I don’t remember stuttering.”
Lila giggled, reaching for her glass of sparkling water, and my chest filled with stupid, disgusting pride. Because I made her laugh. I made her orgasm and laugh. She better fucking like me, or else.
“Mother Mary, I truly lost her.” Chiara clutched her giant diamond necklace. “Nothing in this…this hussy in front of me resembles the sweet child I put in this man’s hands only a few months ago.”
“Call my wife a hussy one more time,” I challenged, continuing to eat my meal calmly, “and her pretty little pink dress will turn red.”
“Chiara, zip it,” Vello barked. “Callaghan—no more disappearing acts while you’re on my property, you understand?”
“Loud and clear.” I flashed him a soulless smirk. “Next time, I’ll stay here and do it right in front of you.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTEEN YEARS AGO
Three months after their great escape, the twins reunited with their family in London.
Tyrone was tall and regal and broken. Older than they’d imagined. He was handsome, but haggard in a way a man who had lost everything was. And Tiernan knew, on first sight, that his father had never gotten over his mother and never would.
It was on his scrawny fourteen-year-old shoulders to steer what was left of the family from troubled waters. To put it back together and take over the family’s business.
One of Tiernan’s many disappointments in his father was that he looked nothing like them. He had dark hair and hazel eyes.
It was also why he took an immediate liking to Fintan. His older brother looked like a slightly older, fuller version of him, with the same crimson hair and green hooded eyes.
They flew straight to America, where Tyrone’s secondary school friend helped him set up a business in Hunts Point.
The twins spoke ASL to each other—hoping to leave Russia and the memories it held behind. They didn’t know much English, and Fintan was the one to patiently teach it to them.
Fintan talked relentlessly, making sure they heard his voice, accent, pronunciation, and slang. He taught them how to pour Guinness correctly, with the pint slanted just so, and how to curse in Irish and “Amhrán na bhFiann.” He read them books. Ulysses and The Picture of Dorian Gray and Gulliver’s Travels. Made them watch, then recite, every Father Ted episode.
He taught them how to play cards, how to cheat, and how to win. How to cook, do the laundry, whistle, and even how to have fun. How to steal a car. How to smile disarmingly at police officers when caught. He taught Tiernan how to flirt and how to steal a heart and how to break it.