Aisling Chapter 6

I’d been in the hospital for seven days total and I was beyond ready to climb the walls by my fingernails and scream. The first couple of days after my second surgery I was in and out of it and did a lot of sleeping as the new antibiotics started to clear out the rest of the infection. Dr. Keim thought he’d cleared out ninety-nine percent of the infection when he drained the abscess, but he was keeping a close eye on me. When I got past those few days, it was the boredom which was making me crazy. I was used to staying busy.

It would’ve been easier to tolerate if I had work to occupy my mind with, but my family refused to let me do any. I tried to have my laptop and cell phone smuggled into me by one of the employees at the winery when she came to visit but they confiscated it. Anyone connected to Maeve’s Cellars who came to visit was watched closely and if they began to talk shop, they were told I was on strict doctor’s order not to work. If they kept trying, they were politely asked to leave. I argued, threatened, and pleaded but it got me nowhere.

It wasn’t just my family who were doing the warning and running off. The bodyguards did it and an infuriating Alistair did too. I resorted to threatening to castrate him. He’d laugh and tell me I was welcome to try when I healed. I tried not to admit to myself my frustration with him went deeper than denial of work. He had me confused and off-kilter.

As I healed and worked on my therapy to learn to cope with my broken arm, messed-up shoulder, and ankle, he spent most of his time with me. The man wouldn’t listen when I ordered him to go back to Florida. He told me he didn’t answer to me and would stay until I was ready to go back. I asserted I knew there was work to be done with the Hounds. He claimed they were good.

Finally, I had what I hoped was a reprieve coming. Dr. K agreed I was well enough to finish my convalescence at home. Since home was Florida for him and he wanted to check on me a few times a week, I was headed back there. I tried to stay in California at our house in Temecula, but it was shot down, so I was on one of our planes headed home. Most of the family had returned a few days ago since I was out of the woods and they needed to go check in on their various businesses. The only ones who stayed were assigned bodyguards, Daid , Mam , Tiernan, and Alistair.

As the flight got in the air, I was determined not to say a peep about feeling tired on the flight. I was determined to have them stop treating me like I was dying or something. We were sitting in various seats scattered around the main cabin. This plane had a bedroom too. I told them when we boarded I didn’t need to lie down. A part of me wished I had done it. How in the hell could I be so tired when ninety-five percent of my time for the past week was spent sitting or lying down?

I thought I’d hidden my yawn. I discovered I hadn’t when a pair of denim-clad muscular thighs appeared in my line of sight. I ran my gaze up them, deliberately skipping over the bulge which couldn’t be disguised. If he was this big soft what would he be like when he was fully hard popped into my brain. Dia, don’t think shit like that, Ais! You know you’ll get yourself in trouble thinking anything sexual about him. When will you ever learn? I warned myself.

When I reached his eyes, I saw a flash of something but it was gone too quickly to know what it was. “Yes? May I help you?” I asked him, sounding bored.

“Yeah, you can get your ass back there and in the bed. Why’re you fighting it? You need to rest. We have four more hours to go, Ais.”

“Stair, I don’t need to lie down. That’s all I’ve been doing. I’m fine.” I prayed I sounded confident.

He shook his head. “Cormac, I’m taking over,” he called over to my daid . All Daid did was glance over, smile and nod.

“Taking over what?” I asked, mystified.

“Keeping your sweet ass in line. Remember, you asked for it,” he said softly a moment before he unlatched my belt.

The next thing I knew, I was swept up out of my seat and into his arms. He had me held bridal-style. His long legs ate up the length of the aisle as he headed for the back of the plane where the bedroom was. As much as I might want to fault him and say he was too rough or didn’t look out for my bad arm, ribs, shoulder, or anything else, I wasn’t able to because it would’ve been a lie. He cradled me close to his chest and held me as if I was a delicate flower or something beyond precious. I fought down the wave of heat that washed through me at his delicious smell and the feel of his strong arms and incredible chest against my body. I did kick my legs a bit in an attempt to get him to put me down.

“Alistair, put me down right this instant! I’m not a child you can do anything with. I’m a grown-ass woman!” I shrieked shrilly.

“Then act like a woman and stop being childish and stubborn. You’re exhausted. We can see it. You’re lying down.”

He gently pushed the door to the bedroom open with his foot. When we were inside, he kicked it shut behind us and took me over to the bed. Even if it was a plane, the bed was a king-size one. He gently eased me onto the mattress. I knew there was no way I could get off the bed in the shape I was in, so I carefully folded my arms and glared at him.

“Fine, I’m in bed. You got what you wanted. Now leave and let me rest.”

He shook his head. As I stared at him, he took off his jacket and placed it on the back of the chair off to the side of the bed. When he took off his shoes, I wiggled into a semi-sitting position. “What are you doing?” Shit, he was planning to sit in here and make sure I remained in bed.

He flashed me one of those sexy grins of his I had found scrambled my brains since I was thirteen. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m making sure you get the rest you need. You don’t have to sleep but you will rest. You keep pushing yourself, Aisling. Why? You can take time to heal. The winery will be more than fine.”

“The point is I’m bored. I’m used to keeping my brain and body active. Just lying around like a useless lump isn’t me. Besides, if I don’t work then it means someone else has extra work falling on them. It’s not fair.”

“Is it fair to push yourself too much too soon and have a relapse? No one begrudges a bit of extra work. All we want is for you to get better, bòidheach .”

I had to fight not to shiver at hearing him call me beautiful in Scottish. After growing up around him all my life, I’d picked up words here and there even if they weren’t always the same as they were in Irish. I reminded myself he didn’t mean anything by it. It was just his way. I’d be an idiot of the first order if I read more into it.

I sighed, sank back, and closed my eyes. I had to block out the sight of him. I was in a weakened state and the last thing I wanted to do was slip up and confess my feelings to him or do something to reveal them. I’d be humiliated if that were to happen. This freaking wreck had happened at the worst possible time. If only it hadn’t or held off until after I had a chance to sleep with Chris. Maybe he would’ve wiped my foolish love for Alistair out of my heart. I was lost in thinking of this so I was startled when the bed dipped. As I opened my eyes, I was engulfed in his arms.

“Alistair! What the hell are you doing!?” I cried out. I tried to wiggle away but between all my injuries and his strength it didn’t work. He carefully eased me over so my back was to his front.

“Hush, rest. I’m just making sure you stay. I’m tired. I need a nap. Yell if you want, but no one will come rescue you. They know I’m not hurting you.”

I tried to argue with him but he refused to engage. In the end I gave up and I’ll be damned, I fell asleep in his arms. A place I’d wanted to be for half my life.

???

Things at home were weird. I’d been back for five days. Everyone should’ve been back to their normal activities even if I wasn’t. I’d finished off my antibiotics and Dr. K. was very happy with how my wounds and incision were healing. I hated the sight of the incision. It was an ugly scar in my mind. Once it was healed enough, I’d be having it covered with a tattoo. I knew Judge could come up with something awesome over at Wrath Tattoo. Yeah, call me vain but no one wanted to have a scar, especially a woman. Men could have them and be seen as tough and even sexy. Women were just seen as flawed and less desirable.

The weird factor was the fact that while most of the family seemed to be back to work, which I was grateful for, Alistair was around constantly. There wasn’t a day he wasn’t here and made sure to come see me and talk. Since I was healing and limited in my mobility, all three sets of parents insisted I stay at the main house in my old room. I knew if I didn’t, they’d go out of their way to come to mine and I didn’t want them taxing themselves. Yeah, they were healthy and even at seventy, Patrick as the oldest was strong and active. It was the idea of them doing it. And I knew Mamó would be trotting over every day and she was gonna be ninety at the end of this year.

I was moping around my room. Today was a day I wish I could sleep through. I would be surrounded by the day and it made my heart hurt. It was Valentine’s Day, and I knew our parents and the three newly married couples would be going all out for it. I didn’t begrudge them their happiness. I wanted them to show each other how much they loved one another. The issue was I was envious and green wasn’t my color.

I hobbled into the kitchen. I was hungry, so I left the safety of my room to find some food. I’d waited as long as possible, but my stomach was loud and trying to eat itself. Agatha was there puttering around. As soon as she saw me, she began to fuss. She hurried over to me and took my good arm.

“Ms. Ais, you sit right here and tell me what you want. What’re you hungry for?”

“Agatha, you don’t need to cook me anything. I can find something to eat in the fridge. Go back to whatever you have cooking. It smells delicious by the way.”

“It’s no trouble. And what I’m cooking right now is for tonight. Your parents along with Mr. Patrick, Ms. Maeve, Mr. Sean, and Ms. Brenda are having dinner here tonight. The others have all made arrangements elsewhere. You can eat this with them when it’s done.”

“No way. I’m not horning in on their Valentine’s dinners. No way. I’ll make something later and have it in my room.”

“Nonsense,” she scolded me.

I stopped arguing, but I would be sure to be well out of the way when the time came. As a way to get her off the subject, I allowed her to gather leftovers for me. As they heated up, we were chatting. I wasn’t too surprised when my parents came wandering in. Both gave me a kiss and then sat to visit with me. The house phone rang, and Agatha answered it.

I wasn’t paying attention to what she said so several minutes later when Creed came in, I didn’t think anything of it. It wasn’t unusual for the guards and enforcers to come and go. I assumed the call must’ve been from him. His arms were full. In them was a huge bouquet of gorgeous flowers. It was an explosion of colors. In addition to those, there were two wrapped boxes. I was eager to see what Daid had gotten Mam . I perked up and smiled. I was so busy checking out her face to see how she was reacting I didn’t notice until he came to stand next to me, that Creed hadn’t handed them to Mam . I squinted up at him. He was studying me hard.

“Why’re you still holding those? Do you want Daid to kick your ass for not giving them to his anamchara ?” I joked. He was taking his daily check-in on my health too far. Sure, he’d said hello to them but to come check on me first wasn’t necessary.

“These aren’t for Ms. Cyndi. These are for you.” he held them out to me. I sat there frozen.

Daid came over. He was frowning. “Creed, have these been checked?”

“Yes, they have. There’s no indication of anything harmful, sir. I double checked myself.”

Our mail and anything delivered to us was checked to ensure it didn’t contain bombs or anything else harmful. At the compound, we had equipment that allowed them to test for indications of a bomb, and we had dogs. A few were trained to sniff out bombing components. It sounded like overkill, but not in the world we lived in. Even if there wasn’t the family history to contend with, our wealth was enough to make us targets.

“There has to be some mistake. Are you sure these are addressed to me?” As I asked, the kitchen began to fill up. What the hell? Why were so many home from work and what brought them here of all places? As I thought about the last part, it dawned on me. Creed must’ve alerted them. All six couples in the family were there as well as a few of the single ones. I narrowed my gaze to Creed.

“Those have to belong to one of the others, not me.”

He shook his head. “No, the delivery man clearly stated these were to be given to Aisling O’Sheeran and were to be delivered as soon as possible.”

“And all these curious bystanders just happened to arrive at the same time.”

“Nope. I messaged them. I knew your parents were already here.” He didn’t show an ounce of contrition.

“Well, hand them over then if they’re mine.”

He slowly put them on the table next to me. He took a step back but he didn’t leave. Everyone else was intently watching me. There was no way I planned to open the boxes or read the card attached to the flowers in front of them. Ignoring them, I went back to eating. I only got a couple of bites down before I was interrupted.

“Aren’t you gonna see what’s in those boxes and who sent them?” Aidan asked impatiently.

“I am when I get back to my room. Why?” I loved fooling with them.

“Your room? Hell no, we need to know who the hell is sending you stuff and what it is,” he objected.

“No, you don’t. It’s my business. Why don’t you all run along and let me finish my lunch? You have to have things to do before tonight. I assume you all have big plans.”

“Ais, we just want to be sure it’s nothing harmful. Even with all our efforts, it could be.” Darragh stated as the voice of reason I suppose.

“But highly unlikely. Dar, since when do we open our mail in front of others?”

“We don’t, but then again, none of our sisters have been receiving gifts. We can stay here all day if you like,” Shane said.

The room had gotten fuller. I was about to tell them to go to hell when Alistair came striding in. From the expression on his face, I knew he wasn’t here by accident. He’d been told I had a delivery. He made his way to stand next to me. When he saw what was next to me, his face tightened.

“Who sent these?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out. She’s being a pain and refusing to open the boxes or the note,” Shane tattled.

“ Mam , tell them to stop and go away,” I pleaded.

“ Mil , you know them. I might as well save my breath.”

“It’s not fair.”

“You were almost killed. Someone obviously intended to kill or kidnap you. There’s no damn way we’re allowing anything to harm you,” Cathal said calmly.

“Fine, then Creed can stay and make sure it’s safe. The rest of you can go.”

This was an example of me feeling suffocated, and it was one of the times I wished I lived thousands of miles from them. There was such a thing as people being too much in your business. Cara, Siobhan, and I had dealt with it all our lives. The men in our family took being protective, as they called it, to the extreme. They all crossed their arms.

I threw up my hands in defeat. I was sure it was a mistake anyway. Dropping my half-eaten sandwich on my plate, I grabbed the envelope nestled in the flowers. The flap was sealed. I gently tore it open, then pulled out the note. At first glance, I saw it was a long one. Focusing on the words, my heart skipped a beat.

Aisling, you have no idea how much I wish I could be there with you right now. I want you to know I’m thinking of you day and night, and once this craziness is over, I’ll be at your side. We have so much to discuss, and I have something important to ask you. I can’t forget how close we’ve become. I miss it. Until then, these are just a token to remember me by. Love, Chris.

I was rather speechless. Chris was the last one I thought would do this. My heart sped up as I began to wonder what was in the boxes. His note hinted he was more serious than I knew, which would be a good thing if I were to go through with my plan to ask him if he wanted a marriage of convenience.

“So, who’re they from?” Tiernan asked.

“They’re for me, and I can promise you, it’s nothing to be worried about. I’m not in any danger.” I stood up. I was going to take these somehow and get them to my room, so I was alone to open the rest. Alistair gently pushed me back into my chair.

“Who sent them?” he asked softly.

“It’s none of your business,” I told him. I barely had the words out of my mouth before he snatched the card out of my hand. I tried to take it back, but he was too tall for me to get it.

“Give it back!” I shouted.

My brothers’ and cousins’ voices were all calling out encouragement for him to tell them who it was. I kicked Alistair in the leg, and he barely glanced at me. His frown turned to a thunderous look after he read it. He threw the card on the table.

“It’s from goddamn Brynes. He was told to stay away from her,” he snapped.

I knew their reasoning for him keeping his distance, but they had no right to dictate he had no contact at all with me. “He is staying away. Do you see him here? No. Just because he should stay away doesn’t mean we can’t have contact,” I snapped back.

“Yes, it does,” Aidan immediately added.

“Open the boxes,” Alistair ordered.

“Go to hell,” I snarled.

“ Buachaillí , that’s enough,” Mam finally told them. She knew I was about to lose it. It was a race to see if I’d hit someone or cry.

Before I could stop him, Alistair snatched the boxes away from me. I screamed, but he ignored me as he tore them open. Inside one was a box of some of the most expensive chocolates in the world. In the other was a gorgeous diamond necklace. Tears filled my eyes. They were all quiet as I shoved my chair back and stood. I didn’t say a word as I walked off. There were feet hurrying after me. Hands tried to stop me, and they were all talking at once, but I ignored them. I kept slapping them away. They dogged me all the way to my room. As I opened my door, I faced all of them. I did see worry and remorse on most faces.

“When I’m healed, I’m leaving. I’m moving, and there’s not a damn thing any of you can do about it. I’m over this. I’ll never be happy as long as I live here.” I slammed the door in their faces and locked it. The pounding, pleading for me to talk to them and open up, went on for a long time. I blocked it out with my pillow as I sobbed into it.

The real reason I cried wasn’t that they opened my stuff or even pushed me to know who it was from. It was my heartache over the fact that the gifts weren’t from the man I loved and never would be. This was the final straw. When I was healed, I’d ask Chris if he would marry me—anything to escape this.