Chapter 3

Noah~

"I s Keavy still freaking out over being pregnant?" I asked as I walked into Declan's office, already heading towards the bar to fix myself a drink.

Declan's wife found out that she was pregnant a couple of weeks ago, and where most women found the news incredible and exciting, Keavy was flipping out about it. She was pissed that Declan's swimmers had found their way around her birth control, and having grown up without a mother, she was constantly doubting her future motherly abilities.

"She's calming down," he answered as he leaned back in his chair. "I think she'll be okay by the time the baby gets here."

"Imma sure she will be," I drawled out.

Declan flipped me off before saying, "If worse comes to worse, she can take over the organization, and I'll be the stay-at-home-parent."

The funny thing about that was that it could be done. While Keavy didn't kill for sport, she had no problem putting a bullet between someone's eyes, and she was a damn good shot to boot. The woman was as deadly as she was beautiful, and we all knew it.

"Well, we all know that she could do it," I said as I poured myself my favorite Irish whiskey.

Declan let me finish making my drink before he asked, "Do you know why I called you here?"

"Another possible Klive spotting?" I asked before taking a savoring sip of the amber liquid.

My cousin shook his head. "I wanted to talk about our bet."

"Oh, fer feck's sake," I grumbled. "Seriously?"

The sonofabitch grinned as he said, "I wanted you to know that I'm not going to hold you to it."

Ignoring him, I went to go sit at the table on the left side of the room. Once I was seated, I shook my head, letting out a heavy sigh. "You know that I'm not going to go back on my word, Declan."

"Is your pride worth marrying some trollop that you'll be stuck with for the rest of your life?" he asked, speaking like a man in love.

"No," I answered truthfully. "But my integrity is."

"Noah-"

"Look, we made a bet, and I have every intention of honoring it," I said, cutting him off. "This isn't up for debate."

Declan eyed me for a bit before he pulled open one of the desk drawers, then tossed a manilla envelope my way. Luckily, I caught it without spilling my drink, or else I would have been pissed at the lad for ruining my suit.

"What's this?"

"Considering that I've known you since we were in diapers, I knew that you were going to insist on honoring that stupid bet, so I took to the liberty of choosing you a bride."

My blue eyes shot a look his way. "Come again?"

"If I leave it up to you, you'll pick some blonde stripper with no sense or understanding of loyalty," he went on, not necessarily wrong. "You couldn't care less about getting married, so you really don't care who'll be walking down the aisle towards you as long as it honors your word and gets your mam off your back. Well, I can't allow that, and you know it."

"'Fraid da she might turn out ta be a Russian spy, laddie?" I deadpanned.

Declan leaned forward in his chair. "Oh, I can handle her being a Russian spy," he said. "What I won't allow her to be is some gold-digging imbecile that'll be privy to too many family secrets. I'll take an intelligent double-crossing spy over a clueless nincompoop any day."

"Careful," I drawled out. "Das my future wife yer takin' about."

Declan just shot me a look before leaning back in his chair. "Her name is Shea Burke, she's thirty-three, five-foot-two, has auburn hair and brown eyes, and works as a nurse at Donza Medical. She's an only child, lives on Parkway, owns no pets, and works the day shift."

"Because ye could'na find me a blonde, lad?" I asked as I opened the folder, her picture the first thing to pop out at me. Yeah, she was beautiful, but it wasn't a secret that I preferred blondes if I had a choice. If I didn't, then it didn't matter. I loved pussy, and I didn't overly care what the package around it looked like as long as there was no wedding ring involved.

Ignoring me, Declan went on with his recap of the unknown woman. "Her parents are Patrick and Bronaugh Burke, and that should tell you all that you need to know about where this is going."

Forgetting about the dossier on Shea Burke, I looked back over at my cousin. "Burke Pawn?"

Declan nodded. "The one and only."

"So, what did they agree to that they would bargain their only child?" I asked.

"I'll wipe the debt clean, let them keep their shop, and only take twenty percent off the top," he answered. "I also informed them that any future bailouts would require an assessment of ownership, and for every thousand that they might need to borrow, we get an additional one percent of the business."

I let out a low whistle. "You'll be owning the shop in no time."

Declan shrugged. "To which I'd only hand over to you. We can't have Noah Murphy's in-laws destitute and living on the streets."

My brows furrowed a bit. "Why not?"

Declan ran one hand down his face, something that he always did when I was confounding him. "Jesus Christ, Noah."

"What?" I genuinely asked. "Why would I care if they're suffering the consequences of their own actions? Everyone's an adult with choices to make, and it's not my fault if they make the wrong ones."

"You don't think that it will be troublesome for your wife if her parents are homeless?" he asked, his brows high.

"If she's that troubled, then she can pay their damn rent with her paycheck," I replied evenly. "It's not like we'll be needing her money to survive."

"You hurt my brain, Noah," Declan remarked dryly. "You really do."

"Look, if you want me to marry the woman to get your money back, then I have no problem with that, Dec," I told him. "However, I don't see why I have to give a fuck in the process."

"Because she'll be your wife, Noah."

"A wife that I don't particularly want," I reminded him.

"Jesus, work with me here, lad," he said before letting out a tiring sigh. "While I understand that you don't want a wife, you're getting one, so you might want to re-evaluate what that will mean for you."

"It doesn't mean anything," I argued. "Plus, since she has a job, she'll be out of my hair for the most part. What's there to re-evaluate?"

Declan looked absolutely flummoxed. "You do understand that you'll be having children with this woman down the road, right?"

I leaned back in my chair. "Not seeing what that has to do with anything."

"You'll want your wife and children to be happy, Noah," he replied like that was supposed to mean something to me.

"And why wouldn't they be?" I asked. "They'll want for nothing, so I can't see them complaining about much, Dec."

Still eyeing me, Declan said, "I need you to take this seriously, Noah."

"Who says that I'm not?"

"Your flippant attitude during this entire conversation," he retorted.

"Look, despite not wanting a wife, I have every intention of doing all the shite that will be required of me, so I can't see what in the hell she'd have to complain about, Declan," I told him. "Honestly, what more do you want from me?"

"I want to not see you divorced in five years," he snorted, and even though I knew that he was just being an ass, I didn't appreciate his prediction.

"I'll never be divorced," I informed him. "I'll only be married once, Dec."

His blue eyes regarded me seriously. "But will she feel the same?"

"She'll have no fucking choice," I pointed out. "Divorce won't be an option for her."

Moving past that fact, Declan asked, "When do you want to get it done?"

I let out a sigh at that question, setting the folder aside. "Mam is going to want a real wedding."

Declan grinned. "Well, you are her eldest."

"It seems like a waste of time since it's not a celebration," I stated. "Plus, you didn't have one."

"Keavy has no family," he reminded me. "It didn't make sense to have a big wedding or to wait." Declan shrugged. "She's also not a girly-girl or cares about that kind of crap."

I thought about it some, then said, "When I finally meet her, I'll ask her what she wants to do, then go from there."

"Just remember, once she's yours, no more blondes," he replied, testing me.

"Yeah, thanks fer da reminder, arsehole," I returned.