Alistair

I was half numb. It was hours after the altercation in the kitchen over the Valentine’s gifts sent to Ais by that fucker Brynes. Afterward, I felt bad for making her cry, but at the time, I had to know who was sending her presents even if my gut told me who. I’d wished it wasn’t him and was a mistake. So much for wishing.

Her declaration she was moving away when she was healed terrified the hell out of me. There was no way I could allow it. Even if she didn’t love me or want to be with me, there was no way I’d survive her being far away where I didn’t know if she was safe and I couldn’t at least see her from afar, which was why I was now in the CC, and the entire clan of O’Sheeran men was gathered with me. We had to figure out what to do and fast. After she refused to talk to us or open her door, we all dispersed. It was Cormac who’d sent out the text asking those who could to gather hours later.

He was there, flanked on both sides by Patrick and Sean. Her brothers were sitting around the huge conference table with troubled visages. The rest of the family was seated and eyeing the rest. As I sat, their gazes landed on me. Cormac rapping his knuckles on the table drew all the attention to him. His face looked almost haggard.

“Today went too far, and I was just as guilty as anyone else. I should’ve put a stop to it before it got out of control. My only excuse is I, too, wanted to know who sent those things and why. We fucked up. I read the note from the flowers afterward…” he paused.

Reading it had gutted me more. I knew, without a doubt, that Brynes was shaping up to ask her to marry him. I just knew it. And even if she never married me, he was the last man I saw her with. I didn’t see him as able to make her happy.

“What did it say, Daid ?” Cathal asked.

“They were from Christopher, and he’s thinking of her all the time, and he has something important he wants to ask her once this threat is past. I’m pretty sure he’ll ask her to marry him.” As he said it, he watched me. Since I’d come to the same conclusion, I didn’t flinch.

Groans, swearing, and muttering broke out. He let it go for about a minute before he interrupted. “I know we all have strong feelings about the idea but what we have to remember is all we ultimately want is Aisling’s happiness.”

“But she doesn’t love him. She loves Alistair,” Cian objected.

“She’s been in love with him since she was a teenager. However, we don’t know what happened that month she spent in California with Christopher. She might’ve begun to have feelings for him,” Cormac told him. He gave me a sympathetic look.

“There’s no way she loves Chris,” Fallon muttered. There were more murmurs of agreement.

“My brother is right. We don’t know. And Aisling’s response tells me we have to tread carefully. If she’s on the fence about him, we might very well drive her into his arms if we keep pushing her. That’s the last thing we want to do,” Patrick interjected.

“What do you suggest we do? Just let him call her, send her gifts, and we say nothing?” Cillian asked.

“We can’t prevent those but we can temper how we respond to them. No outright objecting to them or making scathing remarks about him. We need to show her she can have a life without moving away. I can’t have my daughter on the other side of the country or, worse, the world. I can’t. It’ll kill me and her mam . Cyndi has been crying most of the afternoon in fear we’ll lose Aisling.”

“What about Alistair having a talk with her and letting her know how he feels? It was the plan when we flew to Cali,” Rory added.

All three of the older O’Sheeran men shook their heads. It was Sean who answered him. “After this today, I don’t think it’s the right time. She might see it as an attempt to get her to stay here under false pretenses. There’s no guarantee she’ll believe his feelings are real. She’ll wonder why now.”

As much as I hated it, I agreed with him. I’d fucked around and waited far too long, and adding this on top of all the time I wasted might be what drove her into his arms.

“Then what would you have us do? There’s no way I want her moving or marrying him,” Declan declared.

“We show her she has a say in her life. We can’t smother her. Demonstrate how lonely she’d be without us. As for Alistair, I know you won’t like this Mac , but you need to keep your feelings to yourself just until she’s better. Once she is, then pull out all the stops,” Cormac advised.

“You’re right. I was already thinking the same thing. It’ll be hard, I won’t lie, but I’ll do whatever I must to ensure she’s not pushed into his arms. She might not love me anymore, but she won’t be happy with him.”

There were plenty of muttered curses and conversations, but in the end, we all nodded our heads in agreement.

“Good. Since we’re all here, any success in figuring out who targeted them and why?” Patrick asked.

“I wish. Cody is digging, and he admits that, like us, the Brynes get a fair share of threats. Most are like ours, but then you have to take into consideration those tied to the family business. They aren’t as dirty as most, but they’re not clean either. Cody is still working on it and refuses to give up until he uncovers who did it,” Darragh informed all of us.

“I know we’re confident it ties back to Chris and his family. What if we’re wrong? What if it is our threat?” Rian asked.

“It’s being considered too. Cody has others working to look into anyone who has made a threat, even an insignificant one, against our family in the past five years. The reason I believe it’s more likely due to Chris is the fact no one has made any kind of move against any of us. If you were coming after our family, why pick Aisling? Most people would go for us men. We’re the ones they see as in charge and we go around without a protection detail at times. If they wanted to hit us hard, then why not also go after the other women? Surely Aisling wasn’t the opening strike.” Dar explained.

There was logic to what he was saying. Pity there was no way to know for sure. As it was, their enemies wouldn’t be given an opportunity to strike at her or any of the women. They were covered any time they left the compound, although they’d been asked to limit those trips unless it was work or they had to go to something that absolutely had to be in person and not postponed. As for the men, while they had their typical security, they weren’t adding more men. I knew it was to tempt whoever it might be to make a move if this was about them and not Brynes.

“Then we’re just in a holding pattern on both fronts. I hate doing nothing, but I guess we don’t have a choice,” Fallon muttered darkly.

“We all hate it. If there’s nothing else, I suggest those with wives get out of here and make sure you don’t piss them off too. One angry and upset woman is more than enough for all of us,” Rory jokes. I knew he was partially doing it to break the tension. As they all got up and started to leave, I knew I had my work cut out for me. The next four-and-a-half or so weeks couldn’t pass fast enough for me. God, please don’t let me lose this chance with her.