“Tied? How?”
“One of the brothers is marrying one of their daughters.”
I gaped at him. He’d mentioned this before but now? It sounded concrete. “It’s like something from an episode of Downton Abbey.”
He shrugged. “That’s the way it works. I’m surprised he hasn’t done it sooner. With five boys?” He whistled. “He’s in a prime position to secure our streets for a long time.”
Even though I was still astonished by the prospect of an arranged marriage, I had to snicker. “An Italian bride, a Latina, a Russian… That’s only three.”
“Maybe the last two can marry for love like I did,” he told me, and my heart seemed to freeze in my chest as he uttered those words, so goddamn nonchalantly I wanted to scream.
“That is not the way you tell your wife you love her,” I argued, but because of his admission, I felt so empowered that my chest swelled with confidence.
This man loved me.
This crazy, impossible,dangerousman loved me.
“Isn’t it?” he argued, grinning down at me. “How about this?” He dipped his head and kissed me. Long, and slow, and wet. Ugh. So fucking perfectly wet. Then, he raked my bottom lip and I waited in breathless anticipation for the bite.
When it came, I moaned low, the sound reverberating through my chest.
The pain was exquisite, and the sensation of his teeth marks as I wiped the sore area with my tongue was even more delicious.
“I love you, Aoife,” he whispered, his ice-blue eyes not so icy.
“I love you, Finn,” I told him, my heart in my own emerald orbs as we looked at one another as though the sun rose and set on no one else but us.
His smile wasn’t cocky like I’d anticipated, instead, he whispered, “I’ll spend the rest of my life proving how much I love you, Aoife.”
The statement was odd, but Finn was capable of odder.
I reached up and around to hug him. “Thank you for telling me.”
He snickered as he cupped the back of my head and held me close. “You’re welcome.”