My brother’s hands fisted the steering wheel and Annie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Ronan met my gaze through the rear-view mirror.
“Your future sister-in-law took it upon herself to invite Sean Cassidy to both my stag party and the wedding,” he said. And my heart stilled.
“You’ve invited every other member of the team, Ronan. Think of how poor Sean would feel being left out,” Annie put in, a pleading tone to her voice.
Ronan snickered. “This is assuming the bloke actually has feelings, which he doesn’t, so it’s a non-issue.”
Frowning slightly, I leaned forward in my seat to give Annie’s shoulder a small squeeze. “If it’s any consolation, I think Annie’s right. You can’t just invite everyone and not him, Ronan.”
He shook his head. “Am I the only one who remembers how much of an arsehole he was last year? That he tried to get me booted from the Union?”
“Sean Cassidy?” Broderick sent me a searching glance and I gave my head a quick shake, my heart thundering with panic lest Broderick say something to my brother about Sean being in New Hampshire. Thankfully, my friend seemed to get the message.
“You should be thanking him,” Annie chimed in. “Look how well everything turned out, and he was the catalyst.”
My brother scowled at his fiancée but it soon turned into a smile. “You have a point there . . .”
Seeing Ronan’s shift in mood, I pressed, “Plus, maybe he’s sorry. Maybe he wants to mend fences. You should give him a chance. I don’t think he’s as bad as everyone makes out.”
Ronan locked eyes with me in the rear-view mirror. “Oh, believe me, he is. You’re too soft-hearted with people, Luce. You’re always giving them the benefit of the doubt, but you don’t know Sean Cassidy as well as I do.”
“What if I do?” I blurted without thinking. Broderick widened his eyes at me all, you’re going to tell him here? Ronan narrowed his gaze.
“What do you mean?” he said slowly, suspiciously, and I wished I could take it back.
I scratched feverishly at my wrist. “Well . . . I sort of do know him. We went out for dinner once.” Technically, it was the truth. The first time I’d had a proper conversation with Sean was when he took me out for dinner at Marco Pierre’s.
Ronan abruptly pulled the car over onto the hard shoulder as Annie put her hand to her chest at the suddenness. “Ronan, what are you doing?”
He completely ignored her as he twisted in his seat, his expression a mixture of anger and disbelief. “You, my sister, Lucy Fitzpatrick, went out for dinner with Sean Cassidy? Is this an April Fool?”
I couldn’t meet his eyes. “It isn’t April.”
“Stop avoiding the question.”
“It was ages ago,” I shrugged.
“That doesn’t make it any better,” Ronan barked and every single person in the car jumped in fright. He looked at Annie. “First you and now my sister. Is everyone blind to Cassidy’s true nature but me?”
“You’re not my keeper. I can have dinner with whoever I like,” I whispered.
He shook his head, his thoughts obviously a churning mess. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Have you no loyalty?”
His question made me feel awful, and my eyes grew watery as I folded my arms across my chest. Maybe Ronan was right. Maybe I was a horrible sister with no loyalty. And maybe it was for the best that I never told him all that had transpired, all that was still transpiring between Sean and me, because I was certain it would irrevocably change our relationship. And I needed my brother. He and Annie were the only real family I had.
Annie took Ronan’s hand in hers in an effort to calm him. “You heard her, Ronan. It was ages ago. There’s no sense getting all worked up about it. You’re being a bully.”
“I’m not . . . ” He paused and rubbed at his jaw. “I’m not a bully. I’m just angry.”
“Yes, and we’ve talked about this before. Anger is counter-productive. If you’re upset with Lucy, tell her, but don’t yell at her like she’s a misbehaving child.”
And just like that, the sweet and shy Annie had gotten through to him. His anger deflated and he cast me a guilty look.
“I’m sorry for shouting at you.”
I only nodded, my voice failing me for a moment. I sat in my seat, quiet as a mouse, with Broderick shooting me concerned looks. He was the only one who knew it wasn’t just ages ago, and that things between Sean and me were far from over.
But how could I tell my brother that after how he reacted to us having one dinner together? He’d probably disown me. Fear had me wrapping the secret up tighter than ever before, determined for him never to find out.