Page 55 of Stolen Rival (The Stolen #1)

He gives an approving nod. “Consider me wowed.” His lips twitch at the corners.

“Hey now, I’m not doing too badly for only having a fortnight’s worth of lessons.”

He drops a kiss on my forehead before pulling me closer to him, swaying to the music. I pull back. “Patrick?”

He looks down at me, a flicker of worry sweeping across his handsome features.

“Thank you for my party. I love it. I could have stabbed you when you said your flight was delayed. And I almost rugby tackled Rosanna at the door, but I can’t think of a better way to spend my twenty-first.”

He smiles, brushing his lips across my cheek. “You deserve the world, Sorcha. You only need to decide what that looks like, then go out and take it.”

He spins me out away from his body, before tugging me back so fast it’s like he can’t stand for space to be between us for more than a split second.

“I’ve actually started to think about that.”

He tips his head to the side. “Oh?”

“I’d like to start by selling my parents’ house.”

He slow blinks, processing what I’ve said. “You would?”

I nod. “It’s part of my past; a part I think I’m ready to leave behind. I didn’t think I’d be able to let it go, but I don’t see a future where I can go back there either.”

He braces me against his chest, dotting kisses in my hair. “Take some time. There’s no need to make a decision right now. It’s all still fresh, mo mhuirnín . But if that’s what you decide, then we’ll make it happen.”

“I’d also like to talk to you about, uh…

” I clear my throat, but there’s still a wad of self-doubt stuck in there.

“Maybe me being of some use to the business.” As much as I’m enjoying being a lady of leisure, I’ve come to realize that my father, my whole family in fact, underestimated and underutilized me.

I can be of use, even just sometimes, to Patrick’s criminal empire, and more than that, I want to be.

Maybe I even need to be to help me find a purpose in life other than living under the shadow of a mafia boss, past or present.

He doesn’t look surprised or recoil in horror. In fact, he nods. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about that as well. With everything going on, it’s been hard to carve out time.”

He’s not wrong. The transition to boss went a little bumpier in parts than expected, and between the house, moving Cathal, and Patrick’s recovery, we’ve had a busy run of things.

“I want to talk to you about taking over some of the parts of the business your da had a hand in. You’re familiar with the people, you know his business better than I do, even if he kept you at arm’s length.

Despite a number of threats and a couple of months, we just can’t seem to get the supply chain back to where it was… before.”

He looks me dead in the eye. “Or, perhaps you were thinking something along the lines of setting up a charitable foundation for other children like Cathal?”

My stomach free falls. “What?” I blink, thinking it might make my ears work better. “I was going to ask for a little responsibility, maybe give the occasional tip about Da’s business, or talk to some of his old soldiers to help.”

He drops his forehead to mine. “You really need to stop diminishing your capacity in this world, Sorcha. You’ve already become my counterbalance, cleaning up the messes that I make.”

He’s not wrong there. The builders almost quit halfway through the panic room project because Patrick lost his shit with them. I smoothed it over, threw a little money at the problem, and had Maeve bake them some of her amazing chocolate cake to literally sweeten the deal.

“You’re a smart and capable woman; you could fit into any number of roles in our organization.

Logistics and operations, accounts and laundering, a whole rake of public facing enterprises…

The sky is the limit.” He kisses my cheek.

“You just tell me what you want to do with your time, and we’ll make it happen. ”

My jaw hangs open; he tucks it closed with his knuckle. “Did you expect an argument?”

I nod.

“Me too. I wasn’t sure how you’d react to me asking you to help out with our operation.” He smiles. “I’m proud of you for coming to the realization on your own.” His praise scatters across my skin like warm sunbeams.

“I love you, mo chroí .”

He nods. “Someone has to.” He presses his lips to mine.

“I love you, mo mhuirnín .” He only started telling me he loved me a few days ago.

It took him a while to even accept that he was capable of love, then to understand that’s what he was feeling.

Every time he says it, it’s like my body’s wrapped up in a warm hug.

Two dances with Patrick opens the floodgates, and before long, both his brothers and Cillian have guided me around the floor.

My doting husband has done little to hide the fact he hates anyone else’s hands being on his wife.

As soon as he reclaims me, he says, “I think it’s time we made our goodbyes so I can take you upstairs and remind you who you fucking belong to. ”