Chapter 9

Noah~

I wasn't happy, and I wasn't bothering to hide that fact, either. For the past two days, images of Shea and her co-worker kept invading my mind, and I couldn't make sense of it. I shouldn't care this much, especially considering that she really was a stranger to me, but that logic hadn't helped in any way. Honestly, I couldn't recall a time when I'd ever given a woman much thought after putting my clothes back on, and I didn't appreciate the feeling. Apart from the women in my family, I couldn't remember ever caring about one enough to keep me up at night, but that's what'd been happening the past couple of nights, and I really didn't fucking like it.

After watching Shea drive out of the Donza's parking lot the other day, I had immediately called Declan to let him know that we'd be getting married on Friday at my parents' house. Though their house wasn't as big as Declan's parents' house, it was still big enough to entertain the only people that would be there. While Aunt Nessa had been upset about not being invited, she'd gotten over it when she'd heard that no one was being invited to the nuptials. I wasn't sure what Declan had told her to calm her hurt feelings, but whatever he'd said, I owed him. I loved my aunt, but she was a lot, and that wasn't anything that anyone at this wedding needed.

So, once the time, date, and place had been announced, it'd been made clear that the only people in attendance would be the priest, my parents, Shea's parents, Declan, my two brothers, Niall, Craig, and Donal. Since Niall was my personal guard, he needed to meet Shea and know what she looked like as to not accidentally shoot her if he saw her lurking around me. Craig and Donal had been invited to meet her as well, because I was going to need to put a guard on her, and it couldn't be just anyone. It had to be someone that Shea felt a comfortable connection with, or else life would be hell for both her and her guard, considering that a guard was not an option.

At any rate, I was in a sour mood, and since I'd never been one to conceal what I was feeling for the sake of politeness, everyone here felt the tension, but I didn't care. Nothing was going to stop me from marrying Shea, and it wasn't like anyone here believed that this was a wedding born of love anyway.

As for the ceremony itself, the plan was to have a traditional Catholic exchanging of the vows, though I had instructed the father to leave out the part where I'm given permission to kiss my bride. I knew for a fact that Shea didn't want my lips anywhere near her, so I wasn't going to subject her to a violating scene like that in front of everyone. When the time came to turn her from my bride to my wife, it was going to be done behind closed doors, and I could only hope that she didn't make me take it from her, ruining the both of us for the rest of our lives, though that wouldn't stop me.

"Ere ye ready?"

I turned at my father's voice as he walked into the study. "Is everyone already gathered in the backyard?"

He nodded. "Yes, they ere. The sun is still out, so it's not chilly yet, but we should probably hurry this along, Noah."

"Of course."

Surprisingly, before I could even take a step, he asked, "Ere ye sure about this, son? Ye seem very…against this, and yer lass looks like she'd rather face a guillotine."

"I'm sure," I answered confidently. "We'll work through the hiccups with time."

Cormac Murphy eyed me pensively, and while Declan's accent only came out when he was pissed, and mine only came out when I was being facetious, Dad's came out when he was serious about something. "Ye know, yer bothers married fer love, lad. Inna too late fer ye ta do da same."

"My brothers married for love because they're capable of loving someone that's not family, Da," I pointed out. "I'm fine with this arrangement."

"Yer capable o' love, laddie," he automatically replied like a good father. "Ye've proven it time an' time ‘gain."

"With family," I reminded him. "Plus, even if I did want to marry for love, I'd never make Declan look bad by forcing him to go back on his word. Loyalty is everything, and Declan has mine, Da."

"Well, if yer no' willin' ta change yer mind, then I suppose we should head on back," he said, and his regrettable demeanor had me wondering about my mam.

"How's Mam taking this?"

"She's over the moon," he snorted. "It seems like she's the only one that doesn't care about the shotgun theme happening here today."

"As long as Mam's happy, then I don't care about the rest of it," I told him.

Like a man in love, he said, "Same here, son."

When we finally reached the backyard, the priest was waiting at the end of the gazebo, and the entire scene looked ridiculous. Shea was standing to the left of the officiate with only her parents standing a few feet away from her, and the other side was littered with my mother, brothers, Declan, and the three guards. The vibe was definitely not a happy one, but the only person that needed to be satisfied that this union was a genuine one was the priest.

The affair was also a casual one, with me and Declan the only men wearing suits. Though the other men were dressed nicely enough, this could easily be a barbecue looking at everyone. Surprisingly, Shea had worn a beige sweater with a white skirt, and I supposed the matching beige heels was her way of dressing up for the occasion, and I knew that I was lucky enough to get that much out of her.

Shea also looked beautiful, which there was no denying. Her dark hair was thrown up in a classy twist on the top of her head, and her makeup was fresh and very much like it'd been the last time that I'd seen her. It was easy to see that Shea Burke was going to only get more beautiful with age, and I really was a lucky bastard if I'd stop being angry enough to appreciate her.

Ignoring everyone else, I walked up the steps of the gazebo, then stopped when I was standing next to my bride, the priest cluelessly smiling at the both of us. Like everyone else, I just wanted to get this shit over with, but every person standing on my side of the ceremony had too much respect for the man standing in front of me to be an asshole about it. While I knew that Shea and her parents were also Catholic, I had no idea if they went to church every Sunday or were E & C Catholics only.

"May I have everyone's attention," the priest said, getting the show on the road, and as instructed, he stuck to the script, reciting traditional Catholic vows only.

When it came time for exchanging of the rings, I reached for her hand, then slid the three-carat stone on her finger, then slid on the matching band. It was probably bigger than her tastes allowed, but I didn't care. When I had decided to push the ceremony to today, I'd gone to our regular jeweler, and after selecting the set that I'd found adequate enough, I'd had the jeweler engrave the inside of the bands with my name in the possessive. Whether she liked it or not, Shea belonged to me now, and the rings on her finger were a representation of that fact, even if she refused to look up at me.

Shea remained stubborn when it was her turn to slide the ring on my finger, but I wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. Whatever fights that we were destined to have, they'd be behind closed doors. I wasn't a big fan of public displays of emotion, and I also didn't have love to soften me the way that my da softened around my mam, or the way that Declan held his tongue when his wife was threatening to shoot whoever dared to annoy her.

Yeah, if Shea got it in her mind to defy me in public, then I'd have to make an example out of her, and that wasn't anything that I wanted to deal with. At some point in our marriage, she was going to give me children, and though they'd be raised within the organization, I didn't want them raised to think that spouses were supposed to hate each other, and that's exactly what would happen if I ever disciplined Shea in public.

When the priest was finally done with the formalities, he grinned wide as he said, "I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Before anyone could say anything further, I reached out to shake the priest's hand. "Thank you, Father," I said, giving him a satisfied nod. "We appreciate you taking the time to personally see to this."

"Of course, my son," he replied good-naturedly. "Of course."

When I turned from the smiling priest, my mother rushed up to give me a hug, and before I could do much else, she was hugging Shea, then dragging her towards where her parents were standing. Since none of us were standing on ceremony, I walked over to my cousin, and I couldn't make heads or tails of the smirk on his face.

"What's that look for?" I asked when it was just me and him, everyone else showing their respects to the priest.

"Just wondering who doesn't want to be here more, you or her," he quipped.

"Me," I answered. "Unlike her, I don't get anything out of this marriage. She gets to sleep at night, knowing that her parents are safe."

Declan clapped me on the shoulder. "Just try not to fuck it up too much, Noah," he said.

"I'll do my best, lad," I deadpanned.

"You're such a bad liar," he retorted as he shook his head.