Page 15 of An Angel’s Share (The Greystone Family: Greystone Brothers #1)

Jonno

I can see she’s still mulling things over, and looking more depressed by the second. Action is needed, a distraction.

“Let’s get a buggy back. I know Marshall and your dad have already gone.”

She looks up as she never noticed. I stand and go to help her out of her chair, touching her back again.

She shivers when my fingers brush the exposed skin on a strappy section of her dress.

I smirk at her, but don’t say a word. I don’t need to.

She knows exactly what I was thinking. And she looks annoyed.

But the more annoyed she looks, the wider my grin gets. “What?” I ask, switching from grinning to innocence.

“Don’t make me ring your brothers-in-law, Jonno.” She looks all cocky as she spouts her threat, hands on her hips, legs wide apart. She’s bringing the attitude. I love it.

I throw back my head and laugh. “Ring away. You won’t get any sense out of them.” I chuckle .

“I’ll try Evie, then.”

I snap my head back and cut my eyes at her. She’s playing dirty.

“Threats already, Rua. You are learning too fast.” My smile lights up my face at her antics.

Ushering her out of the shop. I hop into the driving seat and she gets in at the side of me. Her movements accommodate her size. I can see the baby moving and put my hands out.

“May I?” I gesture towards her tummy. She smiles and sits back as I lean down toward her belly.

“Hey, little one. It’s your papa.”

I hear her suck in a deep breath, but I carry on, not looking at her face.

“We can’t wait to meet you. I know we’ve not spoken before, but I’m here now, and I won’t leave you. I love you, baby.”

Gently rubbing circles on her tummy, I turn my head upwards to look at her face.

Tears have started again, but I carry on with my speech.

“I’m here for you and your mammy. I will do everything for you.

I’m here to love and protect you.” I sit up, as she continues to stare at me, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“No one has ever talked to the baby. Only me. Why did you do that?”

Her voice is choked with emotion as her eyes glisten in the sunlight. I shrug. I don’t want to keep saying Evie’s name. Referencing my sister and family.

“It seemed the natural thing to do. To speak to him.”

How has no one taken any real interest in her or the baby? I don’t get it. I hold my hands on her stomach. Caressing her. Letting her pull her emotions back together.

After a few minutes I ask, “Are you ready? ”

She nods and we set off back towards the house.

We’re on the track cutting through the gardens, and you can’t see the house or the distillery from here.

The gardens are in charge. Trees, greenery, plants, flowers, and shrubs surround us.

It’s a mixture of formal and wild garden. Blended perfectly in this setting.

Aoife touches my leg. It’s so unexpected, I feel like a red hot poker stabbed me, and I practically jump.

“Can we do a detour? I want to go to a nice spot on the grounds.”

Her voice is more or less back to normal.

But the register is lower, and it’s sexy as fuck.

I nod and she directs me out towards the woods.

Weaving in and out of tree-lined gardens and chugging uphill, the battery on the buggy screaming.

I’m in a panic, worrying the thing may stop and I’ll have to try and push it.

But she directs me to a clearing on slightly higher ground, the wind rasping through the trees ringing a small hillock.

She smiles and looks at me, her eyes shining, her cheeks rosy, her skin glowing in the afternoon sun. She nods her head towards the trees. “I love it when they sing.”

The sound starts up again as the wind blows through the top branches. She hops out as gracefully as she can and stands with her face towards the sky. “This is my favourite place to come. Peaceful, but I can talk all day, and they talk back.” She looks a bit unhinged.

“My sister talks to buildings, Marshall to horses, you talk to trees. Xan’s dad talks to fairy princes.” I’m shaking my head and smiling.

“Oh, I’d like to talk to the Fairy prince,” she says smiling.

I’m pulled in, the force of her smile dragging me forwards. Standing in front of her, I place my hands on her stomach. They seem to have been magnetised, and the central gravitational point is her bulging stomach.

“I’ll take you both. You can meet him. Xan’s dad, that is, not the Fairy prince.

” I grin again, and decide to try and explain about my family.

“I know I talk about my sister a lot, but when she was carrying the twins, she and Kell parted for a short time. Well, he collapsed in a heap of shit actually, but anyway. She used to play the babies his music, all the time. She said it was so when he came back to her, they would know his voice, and when they were born, they would feel comfortable with him.”

I watch her face. Does she believe in things like that?

I can’t tell from her expression. She’s listening intently, so I continue.

“They must have been on overload. Those babies were talked to, kissed, cuddled, before they even got here. I want this baby to know me. To know that I love him. To know that I will always be here for him. I want him to know my voice so he is comfortable with me.”

My hands are moving gently, and we are both swaying, as if the movement of the trees has infected us both. “I see you touching him all the time. Do you talk to him?”

“Why do you refer to the baby as him? It could be her. And yes, I do. All day everyday.”

“Just a feeling. But to be honest, it’s probably just a slip of the tongue. Evie has four boys and one girl, so, sorry about that. Boys seem to run in our family.”

Her face is open and honest, and I make a snap decision to trust her.

“Can I tell you something about Marshall and Evie? And it remain confidential?”

She looks puzzled. It’s a bit left field—going from talking to babies to Marshall and Evie—but I never professed to be logical .

“Of course.”

“Marshall’s signed Power of Attorney over to Evie. She’s turned that to my proxy. I have a vote at the board meeting. My vote will count.” My voice is sincere, and calm.

She looks surprised by my admission, and it’s there in her voice when she states with a small smile, “This is going to be one hell of a meeting. I’m not sure Patrick is going to survive all the shocks.”

I notice, however, that she doesn’t share with me about her own transfer of power. She doesn’t know that I know. Clearly she doesn’t trust me as yet.

“But look,” she clarifies, “don’t vote with me just to piss off Patrick and Dermot.

Vote for what you think is right. That is the only way O’Clerys will get out of this downward spiral we seem to have hit and can’t seem to stop.

If you have a better idea, I’m all ears.

We need to collaborate, not dictate.” Her voice has changed, transforming into a commanding edge, and her face has taken on a more imperious look.

And I am loving that look.

“Are you practising your speech?” I smirk at her. “It sounded good. I could be persuaded to do your bidding.”

She volleys back at me, “It’s not a gimmick, Jonno. This is serious. We will go under, regardless of what Patrick chooses to believe. What my daddy and uncles all seem to be failing to comprehend is how much jeopardy we are truly in. Any company can fail, even the good ones.”

Fuck, Now I feel bad for being facetious.

“I know it’s serious. Marshall has shared some of the accounts with me.

So I could be prepared and help support him, Evie, and the family.

” I sigh, showing the state I know it’s in.

“I can read a balance sheet. I may not run a whiskey business, but I do run a lot of companies. I could see last year that something was going awol.” She’s watching me intently now.

“But what with Evie going loco, and booting out her husbands, I needed to go home.” I point at myself.

“All of my actions are considered. I don’t fuck around with business.

But know this, I will only vote with you if I think what you are doing is right. Any flaws, I will point them out.”

Having moved even closer to her, I put my hands back onto her stomach. “But I do like your bossy voice. I could listen to it all day.” I hit her with my wide smile, and she looks a bit dazed—more so than she did when Xander gave her his rockstar smile.

She makes a strangled noise in the back of her throat as I continue to move my hands up and down, caressing. I move one higher and brush her breasts. Her nipples instantly harden, poking out at me through the thin cotton of the sundress. Her pulse is hammering, and her breathing has picked up.

“What do you need, Rua?” My voice is soft, gently coaxing as I continue to move my fingers gently over her tits.

She can’t focus to speak, and she pushes her tits into my hands.

“You want these in my mouth, my tongue on you? Want to know how it will feel? Velvet, soft, then as I graze my teeth over them, giving you more.”

She groans out as her eyes drift closed, clearly imagining me doing it.

I start to undo her dress, thanking every dress designer for button up front summer dresses. They are the best. One button at a time, the nearer my hands get to her actual skin and tits, the more she’s panting.

“Hold onto me, lean in, let me feel you.” I keep my voice soft, silky. Smooth like the best chocolate. Because she deserves the best, and I want her eating out of my hand .

She puts her hands on my hips and bows her head into my chest as I reveal her tits to the open air, goosebumps covering her skin as I continue my steady movements.

Stroking gently over the extended nipples, she groans out as I pluck and twist one, keeping my hand on the other, stroking.

I don’t give her any relief time and apply more pressure.

She shifts from foot to foot trying to relieve the ache I’ve created between her legs.

“Do you want to come from this, or shall I make it all better and give you my cock? Feel how hard I am. Put your hands on me.” I move my hips to dislodge her death grip, taking her hand in mine and leading it to my bulging cock. “It’s all for you, Rua. Do you want it?”

She licks her lips, but still can’t manage a word. The woman who does not stop talking, has lost her voice.