“Never you mind. Family exists for that very reason. To be trouble.” She smiles widely, and my heart warms that at least she doesn’t hate me. Or if she does, she sure has me fooled. “Come now, girl. Let me take you upstairs so ye can change into some clean clothes.”
I offer her a genuine smile of my own and get up to follow her upstairs. I don’t even look at Tiernan, not wanting to see his face as I’ve just made a complete fool of myself the first time he brought me to his parents’ house. I’m usually not this clumsy, but because of the unsettling nerves at knowing Niall hates me, Shay’s blatant flirtation, or Colin having stolen that priceless piece of art, I’m a complete hot mess today.
“I’m not giving off a good first impression, am I?”
“Hush, girl. There is no need for such ceremony with me. With any of my boys, either.”
“Your husband might disagree with you.”
“Don’t pay Niall any mind. He just has to get used to you, that’s all.”
“Used to me? How can he do that when he leaves the room anytime I enter it?”
Saoirse smiles sadly at me, giving my shoulder a light squeeze.
“The Mafia Wars were hard on all fronts, Rosa. Unlike my boys, my Niall lived through most of it. It will take him some time to see you as I see you.”
“And how do you see me?”
“I see you like the daughter I just sent away. A poor girl whose future was stolen from her in the name of a ceasefire. It’s not your fault who your Da or brothers are, as much as it isn’t Iris’. No. You girls are paying a hefty price, and I won’t make your life harder by blaming you for what you had no fault in.”
“Thank you,” I croak, unshed tears starting to blur my vision.
“No need for those either,” she says, wiping away at the tears that are relentless enough to fall. “Life goes on, lass. It all depends on what kind of life you want for yourself. Do you understand?”
“I think so, yes.”
“Good. Now go on inside. This is my Iris’ bedroom. I’m sure you’ll be able to find something that fits. If not, then I’m sure my Shay might have something you can borrow. A hoodie, at least.”
“Thank you,” I repeat, and I feel like I will say thank you to this woman many more times in the years to come.
I walk into my sister-in-law’s room and immediately I can tell that I am nothing like the girl that was sent away to Vegas to suffer under the Bratva’s ruling thumb. There are nunchucks, throwing stars, and a display of various knives and daggers all around the room. I don’t think Saoirse has come here since her daughter’s departure since there are clothes all over the floor and an empty cup from a coffee shop on the bedside table.
I walk over to her closet and see that her clothes are also much more adventurous than what I would wear. I try to find a top that would fit me, but unless I want to show the men downstairs a good portion of my cleavage or navel, then my best bet is to go over to Shay’s room and hope he has a hoodie I can borrow.
I walk back to the hall and start to open the bedroom door right across from Iris’s bedroom, hoping that one is Shay’s.
But before I’m even able to crack the door open, a dark shadow looming in the hallway prevents me from doing so.
“What are you doing?” Tiernan asks, his hands balled into fists at his sides.
“I was looking—”
“You were snooping,” he accuses before I have time to explain.
“No, I wasn’t. I was looking for a hoodie. I thought this might be Shay’s room. Or Colin’s.”
He scoffs.
“Let’s go. We’re leaving.”
“Already? But we haven’t even finished lunch. Your mother said she made your favorite dessert.”
“I’ve lost my appetite. Move, Rosa. Now.”
I’ve never seen him this incensed. Fear above all has me moving my feet and rushing downstairs. I’m about to pop in the living room just to thank Saoirse for the lovely meal, when Tiernan grabs my upper arm and drags me out of his parents’ home.
“You’re hurting me,” I tell him, trying to break free from his unyielding grip.
He loosens his hold but doesn’t let go. He shoves me into the backseat of his car and tells the driver to head back to The Avalon. The whole drive home I don’t dare say a word. I thought I had seen the worst of Tiernan, but that was a lie. He’s capable of so much more. In fact, all this time, he was probably using kid gloves with me, only showing me enough of the brutish beast that dwells inside him.
They’re animals, Rosa. Filthy, unscrupulous, vicious animals.
That had been Alejandro’s warning to me, and now I see how foolish it was not to pay it more heed.
He’s going to punish me.
And by the way his nostrils flare, and his one blue eye is so dark it’s almost pitch black, I doubt he’ll use his hands.
But why?
I did nothing wrong.
His father completely dismissed me.
His brother tried to make a pass at me.
And his cousin stole a priceless work of art that I introduced him to.
In no way, during the entire two hours we were there, did I do anything that even compared to his kin’s behavior.
So why am I the one that is about to get punished?
By the time we walk into the apartment, I’m no longer afraid of what’s to come.
I’m angry.
I’m beyond angry.
I’m enraged.
We’re halfway down the corridor when I halt my steps, even though he continues in the direction of his room.
“I don’t understand what I did. What could I have possibly done for you to be this angry with me?”
He doesn’t even have the decency to reply while opening his bedroom door.
“So that’s it?” I throw my arms in the air. “So this is the part where you tell me I have to be taught another lesson?”
He turns around, eyeing me up and down with such hatred in his eyes, my heart shrivels to the size of a penny inside my chest.
“Class is no longer in session. School is officially out for you.”
And with those words, he slams his door in my face.
Chapter 13
Rosa
The next day when I wake up, I find Colin sitting on a stool next to the kitchen island and Shay sprawled out on the sofa, his legs crossed at his ankles on top of the coffee table, hands behind his head.
“Morning, petal. You’re stuck with us today.”