That I would never purposely put the lives of thousands of people in danger just on a whim.
But instead, I pick the chair I knocked down up off the floor and sit right back on it, waiting to hear what Tiernan’s concocted as a solution to our problem.
“Boss?” Colin calls out when Tiernan takes too long to reply.
I swallow the lump lodged in my throat as my husband, my enemy, my one-time lover, stares me down with such sadistic malice in his eyes that the room begins to spin. I grasp on to the edge of the table to keep steady and face the consequences of my actions.
“Rosa will get her heir the old-fashion way.”
Gulp.
Both Colin and Shay are stunned into silence as Tiernan gets up from his seat and plants his palms flat on the table.
“You’re a woman of tradition, are you not, wife? Why run the risk of going to a clinic and having others find out about this new arrangement of ours, when to ensure your pregnancy, all you need is a bed and a man willing to plant his seed in you? I wash my hands of such a privilege and want no part of it, but as you can see, wife, you’re in luck. You have two Kelly men right here up for the challenge.”
This is a test.
He’s testing me.
He came up with this sordid plan thinking I’d balk at it and immediately refuse.
The only thing he didn’t account for when he came up with this scheme was how desperate I am to finally live a life of my own.
I get up from my seat and mimic his form down to the planted palms on the table.
“Are you sure there is no other way?”
Money isn’t an object for a man like Tiernan Kelly. He could buy a fertility clinic if he wanted and buy the silence of everyone working there. But that would defeat the purpose of putting me in my place and reminding me who holds the key to my future and happiness in the palm of his hands.
“Very sure.” He smirks in victory.
“Well then,” I start evenly, my severe gaze never wavering from his. “If this is the only way you see to uphold the treaty, then I have conditions.”
“We’re negotiating now?” He arches an amused eyebrow.
“A man like you should be accustomed to such things by now.”
“True. Negotiate away, wife. You have the floor.”
“Every night, you will come home at a decent hour and have dinner with me. I’m tired of eating my meals alone. But the minute you walk through the doors, I’ll also want you to leave the day’s work outside.”
It takes everything in me to keep my composure in place when Tiernan fights not to roll his eyes at the pitiful excuse of a negotiation attempt.
“I can accommodate that request. But only until you give birth. After that, I see no need for such pleasantries.”
“Fine,” I concede.
“May I include a clause of my own now?”
“By all means. The floor is all yours,” I reply sarcastically.
This time the smirk that rises to his lips doesn’t hold any malevolence to it, only odd amusement.
“I asked Shay to accompany you today to find a house that is to your liking. If you are to mother the next Kelly generation then it’s all the more important that both you and the child live in an accommodating setting.”
“Child? As in one?” I interrupt before he picks up from where he left off.
“Are you planning on wanting more?” His brows pull together in suspicion.
“I think to guarantee a Kelly successor, it would be prudent to have more than one, yes.”
His fingers begin to tap on the table as he seems to genuinely consider my statement.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
“Very well,” he relents. “Once your first child turns two-years-old, then we can revisit this proposition and see if you are still interested in having more. Childbearing and motherhood aren’t for everyone. You might find that having just one child is enough of a challenge and change your mind. You and I both know how fickle you can be.”
“Fair enough,” I reply stoically, proud that my cheeks didn’t burn a flaming red with the memory he just conjured up of the night I lost my virginity to him.
“How many children were you thinking?” he questions dryly, once he sees his little dig at me didn’t get the desired effect he expected.
“Three,” I state evenly, looking directly at the three men sitting in front of me.
Tiernan’s jaw ticks, giving my own smile of triumph free rein having gotten a reaction from him.
“What else?”
“I think it’s your turn to make demands, husband,” I coo, batting my eyelashes at him.
“As long as you are no longer living under my roof when all of this is done, I have all that I want.”
I smile sweetly, hiding the hurt his cold words have caused.
“Very well. Then my next demand is that I don’t want the transaction to happen at the apartment. I want it to be on neutral ground. For all parties involved.”
“I can consent to that. There are a few apartments at The Avalon I rent out. One of them is currently vacant, so you can use it for your gatherings. Anything else you need to add, or are you content with your negotiations?”
“I only have one more thing that I want. Then I’ll sign anything you put in front of me.”
“Now, wife, there is no need for contracts. That’s not the world we live in. My word is my bond. That should suffice,” he adds with a sardonic grin.
“It does.”
“Good. Then what is this last demand you want?”
I look at an ashen-faced Shay and then towards an even more stunned Colin, only to land my final stare on the man who is determined to pull all our strings.
“Whenever Shay, Colin, and I fuck, you’ll have to be in the room to watch.”
I’m not sure if it’s the shock of hearing me say the word fuck that got to him, or my request that he be in the room when I have sex with his cousin or brother that did. The proof of how I just pricked the Irish king and made him bleed is all in the way his hands immediately balled into fists.