Page 17

I was in a great mood when I entered the headquarters of Kin of éireann Inc.

, our parent company. All the various businesses were subsidiaries of it.

We’d moved the headquarters from Jacksonville to St. Augustine, but we kept a satellite office there for staff who didn’t want to commute or move closer to St. Augustine.

We wish we’d made the move years ago. It was much more convenient, especially if we needed to be home quickly.

Each of us had an office in the building, which also included various conference rooms, other staff offices, and amenities.

The new daycare was also there. The newest O’Sheeran additions often remained at the compound to be watched by the seanmháthair , grandmothers, and seanathair , grandfathers.

They loved having time alone with the kids and babies.

The kids would come to headquarters when the seantuismitheoirí , grandparents, were otherwise occupied, or the parents wanted them with them.

I greeted those I passed. I was ready to get on with my day.

My first call would be to check with Monty and see if Aspen was staying calm.

After that, I had several bids and contracts to look over.

We were trying to decide whether to change vendors for some of our supplies.

We’d been given new quotes, and I wanted to see if any of them made sense to consider.

I barely sat in my chair before my desk phone rang. I answered it. “Rian,” I said. I hadn’t bothered to look to see who was calling. Based on the ring, I knew it was an internal call.

“We’re meeting in the family conference room in half an hour. Can you join us?” Darragh asked.

“Sure, I’ll be there. Is everything alright?”

“It is. See you then.”

“Okay, see you in thirty.”

Hanging up, I wondered what we were meeting about.

I went ahead and placed my call to Monty.

I knew he was two hours behind us, but he always said he preferred to take my calls before he arrived at the office.

Our chat went well. He said things seemed to be remaining calm with those two gone.

The reservations were picking back up. We were both relieved.

By the time we were done talking, it was time to head to the conference room. I ambled that way, saying good morning and hello to the staff I passed. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, which was a good thing. Nothing was worse than working with people who always hated their jobs or lives.

When I walked into the conference room, it was almost full.

I saw coffee, juice, and pastries set up, so I helped myself.

Others had done the same. Several people called out good morning or nodded.

I was surprised to see that even the parents were there.

Noting them, I took my seat. This must be something important if Darragh asked everyone to be here.

The last few stragglers came walking in, and the final one shut the door.

Darragh waited for them to get situated before he started.

I was so proud of my big brother. We’d grown up knowing he would be the head of the family.

Since Daid had been the head of the family, it was natural that his oldest would replace him.

It was old-fashioned, but they still followed the rules of succession like a royal family.

Only in ours, a woman could be the head if she were the eldest. None of us were jealous that Darragh was.

He was perfect for the job. If he were unable to do the job or wanted to step down, it would follow Daid’s line first, meaning I would be c eannaire an teagh laigh , leader of the family.

Secretly, I hoped he’d never vacate it. He had to at least live to a hundred and ten to ensure I died before him.

“Thanks for rearranging your schedules to be here. I thought we should do this and ensure we tackle issues immediately,” Darragh said. The others were all nodding, as if they knew what this was about.

Feeling left out, I had to ask, “Dar, what is the problem? What did I miss?” Had something come up last night when I was with Gianna?

“It’s you and Gianna DeSantis that we’re here to talk about, Rian.

That was quite the shock last night for almost all of us.

” He paused to look at Alistair and Aidan.

Neither appeared contrite for not telling anyone.

Darragh continued, “We thought it would be a good idea to talk as a family about it.”

“What, do you mean, talk about it? What’s there to discuss?

Gianna and I are a couple. We’re working toward having a permanent relationship like you, Ashlynn, and the other couples in this room have.

I know it seems sudden, but so were all of yours, and it has been four months since we met.

So truthfully, it’s been longer than most,” I reminded them.

“True, it has been that long, but you gave no indication you were thinking along those lines. We know how you like to think about things. We’re assuming you did that and have answered all the possible issues that can arise from this union,” Darragh said.

“Issues? What the hell are you talking about, Darragh? Yes, I made sure that I was confident that my feelings for Gianna weren’t fleeting or only sexual.”

“We don’t mean the physical or emotional sides of it.

Gianna is different from our wives. She’s used to being in the thick of things, working with her family.

She’s not one to take a backseat. Are you prepared to handle what that means for you?

She’s in potential danger all the time. Her job is to hunt criminals.

Some of them are dangerous people,” Darragh stated.

“I know that. And while I’ll worry, I know she’s very well trained to handle herself.”

“So you think that you can handle that? It won’t cause friction between you?” Cian asked.

“It might. We’ll have to see.”

Why were they asking me these questions? When the others announced they had found their anamchara , the family celebrated and gathered around to welcome their choice into the family. I was feeling like they objected to mine. Slowly, in the pit of my stomach, anger began to gather.

“And we’re in this partnership with her family, who aren’t happy with this. What if they can’t accept the two of you?” Tiernan asked.

“Are you more worried about Gianna and my relationship as anamchara or about how this might fuck up the partnership with the DeSantis family?” I asked.

“There’s no need to get upset. We’re merely analyzing the impact all around,” Darragh said.

“Like hell, there’s no reason to get upset! None of you were questioned like this when you met your significant others and claimed them. It was all congratulations and a celebration. So why is it different for Gianna and me? It can’t just be because of her family,” I snapped.

“Rian, Mac , we’re happy for you. We just want to prevent fallout and added problems for you and her. Our lifestyle is vastly different from hers, and acclimating to it can be stressful,” Daid said calmly.

“It’s not more stressful or different from when Dar found Ashlynn, Cian got with Miranda, or when Aidan and Karizma got together.

Or what about Kynedi and Tiernan? I don’t count Alistair since he’s lived it his whole life with us.

They weren’t in our world either, and they’ve survived.

But it seems they have something Gianna won’t,” I told them.

“What’s that?” Mama asked.

“The support of my family. She was scared you wouldn’t accept her, but I assured her you would. She’s already got her family pushing against us. How the hell can I hope to keep her if my family does the same!?” I shouted. I came to my feet.

“That’s not what we’re doing. Take a seat. Let’s talk about this,” Darragh said quickly.

“Why? So you can ramble more about the partnership and how she’s different and a bunch of other bullshit? No. I’ll just have to figure out how to make her feel secure and loved by me. Thanks for the support,” I snarled before I went to the door. Alistair jumped up and got there before me.

“Alistair, move or I’ll put you on your ass. I’m leaving whether I go through you or not,” I snapped.

I was seeing red at this point. He must’ve seen that I was at the end of my rope because he eased away.

There was chaos happening behind me, voices shouting for me to come back and talk.

I heard Mama crying. Usually, that would get me to do anything.

It didn’t this time. Let the family soothe her.

Daid would take care of her. I yanked the door open and stormed out.

I didn’t go back to my office. Instead, I went for my car. I didn’t bother to alert Reign that I was leaving. I could fucking protect myself. The way I was feeling, I dared someone to fuck with me. I’d tear them apart with my bare hands.

I tore out of the garage, though the security guard at the entrance tried to wave me to stop. I had no destination in mind. I needed to calm down and be away from my family. This was the first time in my life that I felt abandoned, and it wasn’t a good feeling.

???

Sitting on the beach, watching the water come in and out on the shore and ripple in waves, was hypnotizing.

I’d been here for a couple of hours. I let the soothing sounds and view wash away the tension.

I’d driven around for a long time before I ended up here.

I’d turned off my phone to stop hearing the rings as people called or the chimes of the messages that came in.

I didn’t want to listen to what any of them said.

I was a forty-year-old man being treated like I was sixteen and in the middle of my first crush. They acted like I didn’t know my mind. Since when was I considered a halfwit by my family?