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“All right, boss. I won’t forget.” He backs away toward the door. I can tell he’s itching to push me about his daughter, but let the fucker stew. I don’t want him influencing the girl before I can meet with her and have a reasonable discussion.
He disappears into the main house. I feel dirty after that discussion. In the old days, Dermot and his daughter would both be killed, simply to send a message to the entire family that betrayals will not be tolerated, and anyone considering doing something like that would be signing their own family’s death warrant. But times have changed and a unified family is stronger than one held together by fear, and if I want to make the Hayes Group stronger, I need to be a better leader than my father was.
It’s not fucking easy. I know there are some in the family that think I’m being weak. They weren’t there the night I executed Cormac though, and I have plenty of time to prove that I’m making the correct decision for the long-term health of the Group overall. But it still bothers me.
I give Dermot some time to follow my instructions. After a while, I head out into the main house and take my time talking to everyone, from the uncles in front of the TV to the cousins sitting and smoking out back. There’s still tension in the air, and I domy best to make everyone feel comfortable again, but I suspect it’s going to be a while before we’re back to business as usual.
And maybe it’s better we never get there. Business as usual was never all that great. I step into the kitchen and lean against the back door, watching as Valentina says something to my mother that makes her laugh. They’re cleaning up together, working in tandem with each other, and after a few seconds, Valentina looks over like she could feel me watching.
Her whole face lights up in a smile.
I grin back, unable to help myself.
She comes over and I give her a kiss. We’re not pretending anymore, and nobody gives a damn at this point. Cormac’s poison is slowly seeping from the family.
“How’d that conversation go?” she asks softly.
“Went all right. Did you see him after?”
“He was walking around saying loudly how it’s time people start coming together and stop with all the violence or something like that.” She shrugs helplessly. “Wasn’t exactly what you wanted, but I think it got the point across.”
I shake my head and look at the ceiling. “Drunk bastard.”
“It’ll be all right.” She touches my chest. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something.”
“What’s that?”
She hesitates before standing on her toes and kissing my cheek. “I wanted to see if you’d stop paying for my apartment.”
My eyebrows raise. “You know that means you’d be officially living with me, correct?”
“Thanks, I’m aware. I still can’t believe I actually want this.”
“And yet my charm has won you over, like I knew it would.”
“Careful. You can still mess this up.”
I kiss her again and pull her into a tight hug. “Yeah, love, we’ll get out of the lease.”
“Oh, and your mother wants me over earlier tomorrow to help with prep. Do you mind?”
“It honestly shocks me how willing you are to do kitchen work.”
“If it endears me to the aunts, I’m happy to roll up my sleeves.”
“All right, love, you can come as early as you like. Just make sure you’re ready for work after.”
Her eyebrows raise. “Is that some kind of weird euphemism?”
“Not at all. What, you think I’m not going to put that devious little brain of yours to good use? We need another job, love, and I need to put my fucking idiot cousins to work before they get bored and start doing something stupid.”
“I knew you couldn’t run this place without me.” She pats my chest with one hand. “Don’t worry, big guy, I’ll handle it.”
“That’s my girl.”
She strides off to rejoin my mother at the kitchen counter and I watch them work for a few moments before I go back into the main room. The uncles greet me again, and instead of retreating into my office, I squeeze in next to Niall to watch some soccermatch I don’t care about, mostly because the vibes are good in here and I could use a good laugh, and anyway, this is what real family does.
Might as well enjoy myself while I’m home.
