“I know,” I tell him gently. “But I wanted to. I wanted to show you that I’m yours now, completely, a fresh start here in Boston with you. I want you to trust me, and I’ll do everything in my power to show you for the rest of our lives that you can. A name change is nothing, when it comes to that.” I reach up, touching his cheek softly. “I love you, more than anything.”
Niall reaches down, pulling me closer to him. “Are you sure you can be happy with this, lass? Our simpler life?” He glances over my head, out to the rest of our home, and back down at me, his blue eyes filled with a faint worry. “I’m not the kind of man to ever live on a grand estate, or eat off fine china, or wear expensive clothes. I’m a rough man, a fighter, an enforcer, though I’ll do all I can to be a softer man for you, when I can.” He runs his fingers through my hair, thoughtful. “We’ve got plenty of money, lass, we’ll never want for anything. But this won’t be the life you were used to, before.”
“Good,” I tell him firmly. “Because that life isn’t what I want. That life was a golden cage, keeping me trapped. I want you, and for our daughter to grow up in a different life than I did. You were right about the life our child would have had if I’d stayed, Niall, and I don’t want that. I don’t want our son to lead a mob, or for our daughter to be sold off in an arranged marriage.” I pause, still gently touching his face. “I know my father loved me. But he couldn’t break from tradition for me when it mattered. You, my love, will never force our child to be anything but the woman she wants to be, and that’s the kind of father I want her to have. That, more than anything else, is what matters to me.”
“That eases my soul more than I can tell you,” Niall says, his voice rough with emotion. “Isabella—”
“You’re the man I want for my husband,” I tell him, holding his face in my hands. “Whatever our life is, whatever it means.”
I lean up on my tiptoes, kissing him softly. “I’m yours, Niall Flanagan. Forever.”
24
ISABELLA
The day of Niall’s induction into the Kings dawns bright and sunny and warm, late summer. I’ve started to show a little, my baby bump more pronounced, and Niall has an even harder time resisting me than he did before. I’d worried about whether or not he’d still want me as my body changed, but all it’s done is fuel his desire, and that put to rest the last of my major fears.
There’ve been no more scares about my pregnancy, either, and nothing to indicate that Diego is still looking for me or trying to get revenge. Occasionally, Niall tells me a little of what’s happening in Mexico, where there’s still tension between my father’s cartel and Diego’s, but not enough to make me worry. He lets me know that my family is safe, and I trust him enough to not need more than that, knowing that the gritty details are bad for my health. The Kings have men over there, backing my father, and that does a lot to set my mind at ease.
“I’m surprised I’m allowed to come to the induction,” I tell Niall as I wiggle into the sleeveless cranberry-colored tank dress I’d chosen, modest enough for this type of event but stretchy enough to be comfortable . I pair it with low heels and the gemstone necklace I always wear, along with a pair of gold and topaz drop earrings that he gifted me for my twenty-second birthday.
That was a hard day, without my family, especially Elena. I’d never had a birthday without them. But Niall had rallied, throwing me a party with Ana and Caterina and Sasha and even Sofia, who I’d met a few times and come to be friendly with. Even Saoirse sent me a gift, a leather monogrammed designer purse, as a way of apology, I suppose. We’ll never be friends, and I don’t have any desire to spend time with her. I’m sure she feels the same, but it’s better if we’re not enemies, at the very least.
“All the wives will be there,” he tells me, shrugging into his own suit jacket. “Even Saoirse,” he adds wryly. “We’ll be having dinner at the McGregor estate, too. Just so you’re aware.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Not my favorite way to spend a day. But as long as it’s with you, I’ll enjoy it.”
“Good.” Niall leans down and kisses the tip of my nose, a sweet gesture he’s taken up recently. “We won’t stay any longer than necessary, anyway.”
The past months have been full of days where Niall and I simply learn more about each other, learning the ways we like to be loved, the small habits and idiosyncrasies we have. It could have been a disaster, I suppose, learning all of that after we’d already married, but we’d turned out to be as well-suited for each other as we’d first thought. The instinct we’d had that had drawn us together months ago in theSangrewas right, and our marriage is better than we could have ever hoped.
When we’re both ready, we head down to where Clarke is waiting. I can tell Niall is full of nerves as we drive to the McGregor estate, where the courtyard is already full of cars. All the Boston Kings are assembled, as well as some of Connor’s old gang who have proved themselves worthy of an honorary spot at the table, people I’ve never met. I stay close to Niall’s side, looking for Ana as we walk in, the only person I feel entirely safe with once Niall is no longer beside me.
“Exciting day,” she says with a grin as I come to stand next to her in the study, a large, very masculine room that smells heavily of tobacco, wood and leather. Connor and Liam are standing side by side in front of the large mahogany desk, the other Kings in a half-circle on either side of them. I breathe in nervously–even though I have nothing to fear, it feels like an unusually formal, ritualistic moment like nothing I’ve been a part of before.
“Niall Flanagan,” Liam says, taking point on the ceremony, I assume, as Niall’s closest friend. “In recognition of the great service you have done for me over our lives, and for the Kings themselves, in recognition of your unwavering loyalty and devotion, I, Liam McGregor, and my brother and co-leader Connor McGregor, would like to offer to you a place at the table of the Irish Kings, along with the property, share of profits, and responsibilities that entails. Do you wish to accept?”
Niall bows his head. “I thank you for your consideration, and your acknowledgement. Aye, I do wish to accept, with one caveat.”
Connor frowns, looking irritated, but Liam just stifles a smile. “And what is that?”
“I have a home here already. I ask that the property granted to me as a member of the Kings be a property in Ireland, for myself and my wife, with the permission of the Dublin Kings, of course.”
“Granted,” Liam says, without waiting for Connor to speak. “With the permission of Dublin, of course.”
“Niall Flanagan,” Connor intones, his voice deep and authoritative. “Do you vow to honor the leadership of the Kings, to serve them in all that you do, to put forward your voice when it is needed, for your body, your soul, and your life to serve us, in all that you do?”
“I do.”
“Do you vow loyalty, from this day to the last day that you draw breath?Bás thar bréaga?’
I don’t know a single word of Irish Gaelic, but Niall had filled me in before the ceremony, and I remember the translations he gave me. It sends a shiver down my spine.
Death before betrayal.
“Bás thar bréaga,”Niall echoes.
Liam speaks then, his accent thicker than before. “ Niall Flanagan, as you join our table as one of us,ní éilíonn mé go nglúine tú, ach iarrfaidh mé ort bogha.”