Page 41 of The Celtic Resolution

Bruno finally leans back in his chair and his smile turns easy, then he lifts his glass to his lips. “Really?”

“Don’t get cocky, you’re still an asshole. And if you treat me like that again I’ll cut your balls off.”

“Noted,” he snorts softly. “I… bad habit that I will break.”

“For me?” It’s light and teasing but his eyes become slightly hooded and my blood warms.

“For you.”

“How kind.”

We drink in silence until Bruno lets out a soft groan. “This is the kind of relaxation I ache for. I want my life to be like this. Slow and calm. Relaxed.”

“You’d get bored,” I say after draining my glass. “A man like you hungers for excitement.”

“You think so?”

“Mmm.”

“You seem to know me so well.”

“You’ve been hanging around me long enough, I’ve picked up on a few things.”

“Not everything. I still hold some secrets.”

“I doubt there’s much you can do that will surprise me,” I reply, slowly standing. “I’m not easily shocked.”

Bruno drains his glass and stands with me. “Are you sure?”

“Is that a challenge?”

He steps closer and warms the air around me with his presence. “I’m more interested in your buried secrets, Saoirse. The Irish underboss with a sharp tongue and a hunger for torture.”

A couple near us glance up in shock as they overhear, so I take Bruno’s hand and drag him away. “See?” I laugh as we exit the restaurant. “You can’t help yourself.”

“Just wait until you see me at Rocky’s wedding!” Bruno laughs.

Rocky’s wedding. A perfect chance to forget about everything to do with life and work, celebrate a friend finally marrying the love of his life, and getting to dance with Bruno. I’m sure Cian and Cormac will have questions given how little I’ve revealed about how much time we spend together but it hardly matters.

I feel good.

By the time I get home, that feeling’s inflated and not even a subtle bout of nausea can quell it. Until my phone rings while I’m half way taking off my makeup. “Cian?”

“Hey sis.”

“Why are you calling me?” I glance toward my bedroom door. “Aren’t you home?”

“Not yet, I’m crashing at Cormac’s tonight but I wanted to tell you something. I finally tracked down the owner of that mask!”

My stomach tightens painfully and the makeup pad slips from my fingers. The masked stranger I fucked. The man whose baby I’ve been carrying in secret this entire time… he’s real? Part of me convinced myself the entire thing was a dream.

“Saoirse?” Cian’s worried voice brings me back to reality. “You good?”

“Yeah, yeah sorry. How did you find him?”

“Personal pictures that staff members took despite being explicitly ordered not to. That coupled with three frames of CCTV and I found him. Guy was really avoiding detection but he definitely wasn’t on the guest list.”

“So how do you know who he was?”