“What?”
“Photos—”
She rolled her eyes. “There are, like, thousands of photos, Cammie.”
“Yeah, but these ones stuck out to me at the time. One was of Aidan Sr. and a guy who looked like his brother. The other only registered because I recognized Finn from the papers. The pictures caught my eye because of Aidan’s reaction to our news, but the next day...” My voice waned.
“The next day?” Inessa prompted, curiosity making her give me her full attention, enough that she switched off her phone.
“When we were in the churchyard, I noticed that they all look alike.” I licked my lips. “Allof them, Innie.”
Our eyes clashed.
“You can’t say anything to Brennan,” was her initial response.
“Why not?” I whispered, unease filtering through me.
“If he finds out, if any of the brothers find out, they’ll go crazy.”
“I already asked Brennan about the photo, Inessa. He said it was his Uncle Frank.”
“Jesus.” She winced, admitting, “Aela brought it up the first time we all had brunch together. I’d noticed it thanks to all the photos as well. I’m not sure how the guys haven’t put two and two together yet, but they haven’t. Maybe they don’t see it because they’re so close, I don’t know, but—”
“Aidan Sr.’s brother is Finn’s dad?”
Inessa blinked. “No.Aidan Sr.is Finn’s dad.”
My mouth dropped open. “No way!”
Her head bobbed. “Yes, definitely. Aoife confirmed it.”
“Finn knows?” I queried, my voice hushed like people could hear us talking in the privacy of my empty apartment.
“He does,” she muttered. “Weird, right?”
“Definitely.” Disappointment filled me. “I thought they were so in love.”
Inessa seemed to understand what I was saying. “Oh, they are. Aidan’s besotted with Lena. According to her, she keeps him happy in the bedroom and it stops him from cheating,” she said with a laugh. “This happened in the early days of their marriage, don’t forget. Ask Brennan, and he’ll tell you all about the ‘rolling pin incident.’ That was what had Aidan Sr. falling head over heels for her.”
“What ‘rolling pin incident?’”
“Apparently, she bashed him over the head with one—”
Before she could carry on, an alarm buzzed on my phone, reminding me that I had less than an hour until the limo was on its way. Bagpipes had given me those details, not Brennan. I hadn’t heard from him all day.
“God, is it that time already?” I muttered, wishing that the gala wasn’t happening because I wanted to know more.
Inessa stretched on the sofa. “I’ll let you get on. Eoghan will probably be home by now anyway.” She grinned at me. “I think I might let him make it up to me for, ya know, making my whole vajayjay look like it was from another planet.”
I winced. “That bad?”
“Cammie, you’ve got no idea. It was gross. I can laugh now, but...” She shuddered. “Never again. Brazilians all the way.”
“Who knew that would be less painful?”
Her giggle made me feel like I was lit up from the inside out. It was so good to hear that, so good to havethisagain.
“That tells you how bad it was.” She got to her feet, stretched again, then bobbed down to press a kiss to my cheek. “I don’t think I’ve seen you this content in years, Cammie. I’m so happy for you.”