We all sit around the dining table having devoured second helpings of Mikey’s chili, which I had almost forgotten tasted so good.
“It’s a good thing Jessie is already out of action for the night,” Mikey laughs as he pats his flat stomach. “Because I don’t know about you all, but I am fit to bursting and I can barely breathe, let alone do anything more fun.”
Liam nods and groans his agreement.
Conor is sitting beside her and he wraps an arm around her shoulder. “Well, neither of you are getting your filthy little mitts anywhere near our girl tonight anyway, because she is spending the night in my room.”
“Yes I am,” she smiles and rests her head on his shoulder. “I need some TLC.”
Conor kisses her forehead softly.
My cell is on the table and it starts to vibrate as Erin’s name and number flashes on the screen and I frown. Why the hell is she calling me after ten at night?
“Hello,” I answer, feeling Jessie’s eyes burning into me.
“Shane,” she purrs. “I have the final papers for your father’s estate here. We should really get them signed as soon as possible so that everything can be tied up before the funeral on Wednesday, and then we can head back to New York immediately after.”
“Fine. I’ll call round to your firm’s offices tomorrow.”
“Actually, I have to fly to London tomorrow and I won’t be back until the morning of the funeral. It would be best if we could get these signed now.”
I sigh and run a hand over my jaw. “Where shall I meet you?”
“I’m still at the hotel.”
“The hotel? I’ll meet you there in an hour.”
“Good. I’ll see you soon.”
I end the call and put my cell on the table as four pairs of eyes stare at me. “You’re meeting Erin in a hotel?” Mikey arches an eyebrow at me.
I look at Jessie when I answer him. “I need to sign some papers for her.”
“Can’t it wait until morning?” Conor asks.
My eyes stay fixed on Jessie’s and hers on mine. “No. She has to fly to London first thing apparently. I’d better get going so I can do this and get back here.”
“Drive safely,” she says and for once, I can’t read her at all. She is either completely okay with this or being sarcastic.
I push my chair back and stand up. “Come here.” I hold out my hand to her and she takes it. I pull her up from her chair and wrap my arms around her waist. “It’s just business. I’ll be back soon.”
“I know,” she says before pushing up onto her tiptoes and kissing me softly. I kiss her back, wrapping her hair around my fist and tilting her head to the perfect angle so I can tongue-fuck her mouth. Her soft moans make my cock hard and I have to pull back from her and look down at her beautiful face. I dust my knuckles over her cheek.
“I’ll be back in two hours.”
“I know,” she says and I think she has finally learned to trust me where Erin is concerned.
“Good girl,” I whisper in her ear and then with a final squeeze of her ass, I walk out of the kitchen.
An hour later, I am standing at the door to Erin’s hotel room waiting for her to answer. I’m almost expecting her to come to the door in a negligee or some lace underwear complete with stockings and suspenders, but she wouldn’t do that. She’s never been that obvious.
A few seconds later, she opens the door and confirms that I no longer know her at all. She is wearing a barely there piece of pale pink silk fabric that skims her ass. Her hard nipples are clearly visible and I could kick myself for even giving them a cursory glance.
“Shane,” she breathes. “Thank you for coming over so late.”
“Seemed like I didn’t have much choice,” I say as she opens the door and I step inside. Does she really think this is going to work? One last desperate ploy to win me over?
“I have the papers here.” She glides over to the small table near the window and indicates the small manila folder.
I sit at the chair and open the folder, scanning the contract before I sign it. It relates to the sale of our family home and also the house in Carrickfergus where we are currently staying. It is the last home we have in Ireland and it’s time to let it go.
“Would you like a drink?” Erin asks as she holds up the bottle of Jameson Black label. It’s half empty and I wonder how much of it she has drank already this evening.
“No thanks,” I shake my head.
“Not even one to commiserate?” she pouts.
“Commiserate?”
“That was going to be our house, Shane. Remember?” She sniffs and a tear rolls down her cheek.
I do remember. “That was a long time ago, Erin. Things have changed.”
“If we hadn’t gone to New York, if we hadn’t had to get away because of your brothers, do you think we would have made it?”
I look at her. I did love her once although it felt like a different kind of love to what I feel with Jessie. It was safe and familiar. The love I have for Jessie is fire and fury, but she is home to me in a way that Erin never was. I held onto a piece of Ireland because in my heart it still felt like my home, but now my home is wherever Jessie Ryan is.
“We might have stayed together,” I tell her honestly, “but we wouldn’t have been happy.”
“What?”
“We never really made each other happy, Erin.”
“We did,” she insists. “Don’t try and rewrite our history, Shane. Just because you’ve found a whore who’ll let all your brothers fuck her…”
I push my chair back and stand so quickly that she flinches, but she has nothing to fear from me; I would never lay a hand on her ever again. I lean down and sign the papers. “Done.”
“I’ll get them filed tomorrow and then I can start looking at the contracts for the clubs you bought.”
“No,” I shake my head. “You misunderstand me. When I said done, I meant done. For good.”
“But I’ve worked for you and your family for years, Shane,” she snaps.
“You just called one of my family a whore,” I snarl at her. “Consider our working relationship terminated.”
“You’re just going to throw away everything we have built together for her?” she shrieks. “I can give you everything, Shane. Everything!” She walks over to me, pushing her tits out so that her nipples are almost touching my chest.
She breathes heavily. I smell the whiskey on her breath and the sweet perfume she has dabbed on her neck. Her pupils are dilated and her cheeks are flushed pink.
I lean my face close to hers and she gasps as the closeness. “You have nothing that I want,” I say and then I walk out of her hotel room.
