Binding Rose: A Dark Mafia Romance(81)

When the persistent agent returns, I almost let out an exhale of gratitude, thankful she wants this sale so badly. Bad enough that she would disturb what undoubtedly looked like a very intimate moment between man and wife.

“Shall I show you the back gardens now, or would you prefer to see the large entertaining area up on the roof?”

“The roof will be fine.” Rosa doesn’t say anything more than that and follows the agent out of the room, leaving me to stew in my own fucking torment.

Another hour passes before we are saying our goodbyes to Morgan, telling her to expect a phone call from us soon. I’m almost disappointed that Rosa loved the house so much. If she hadn’t, then I would still have an excuse to see her every day. I doubt Tiernan will let me get close to her again alone. Not after the little stunt I pulled this morning.

Sometimes I’m my own worst enemy.

“Shay! Rosa!” I hear a familiar voice call out to us.

My smile is immediate when I see my Ma push a sullen Darren out of her way so she can walk over to us. I chuckle when I see he’s still pissed that I ordered him to stay back in his SUV with his other goons while Rosa and I went inside.

“I was coming from the market when I saw your car parked out front. Had to see what my wicked lad was up to.”

My mother laughs, wrapping her arms around me and pulling me by the hem of my t-shirt so I can bend down and let her kiss my cheek.

“And I see whatever mischief you got going on, you decided to recruit your brother’s wife, too.” She smiles, patting Rosa’s cheeks lovingly.

While Tiernan has always been glued to Athair’s hip since he was a toddler, I’ve always been more of a momma’s boy myself. Sure, I can crack a joke at the spin of a hat like my Da and have everyone busting a gut, but it’s when I flip the switch and leave them in stitches with my knife that people truly see the resemblance between us and say that I’m more like my father than most of his other sons. True as that may be, I’ve always had a softer spot for my Máthair.

Saoirse Kelly doesn’t have one mean bone in her. She’d take in any stray, feed it and give it a home, even if everyone around her told her that the damn thing would end up using its sharp fangs to bite her for her troubles. I guess I’ve always been a sucker for women with soft hearts and kind eyes. It sure would explain my inconvenient feelings for my brother’s wife.

“So? Are you going to tell me what you two are doing here, or do I have to guess?”

“Shay and I were just house hunting, Mrs. Kelly. Tiernan has offered to buy me a home as a wedding present,” Rosa lies with a straight face.

But then again, I can’t fault her for not wanting to tell my Ma the truth about how Tiernan negotiated the home to be included in their disfunctional and fucked-up arrangement.

“Now, lass, what did I tell you about being so formal with me? Call me Saoirse. Or better yet, call me Ma or Máthair since you’re my daughter now.”

See?

Biggest heart this side of Boston you’ll ever encounter.

My mother looks at the house behind us and gives Rosa a genuine smile.

“I think my Tiernan might be a little sweet on ye if he’s gonna buy you that huge mansion of a house. Probably has some ideas on how to fill up all those empty rooms, too. You’ll be walking around barefoot and pregnant in no time, by the looks of it. Can’t say I’m too upset about being a seanmháthair soon, either. I sure do miss the smell of a baby’s head and nibbling on their chubby legs. It’s when they grow up that they become a real nuisance.” Ma tilts her head over at me.

“Hardy har har.” I laugh.

Rosa doesn’t say a word, too tongue-tied to pull one out of her mouth with how my Ma is going on and on about babies.

“Are you going to see some more next, or do you have time for an early lunch? I’m making my famous Irish stew.”

“I could eat. What about you, petal? In the mood for some home cooking?”

Rosa doesn’t even have enough time to nod her consent before my Ma laces her arms through hers and pulls her in the direction of our house just two blocks away.

An hour later, Ma has Rosa crouched over the sink, peeling potatoes, while she goes on and on about how much of a hassle her children were growing up. Rosa laughs at all of Ma’s witty anecdotes while I lean back in my chair, hands behind my head, watching the two women bond in utter awe.

It’s only when I laugh a little too loudly at a certain memory my Ma is reminiscing about, how Tiernan used to let Iris piggyback ride him, while she yelled for him to go faster and make horse noises just because Athair refused to buy her a pony for her fourth birthday, that both women stop what they’re doing and look over their shoulder at me.

“Aye, ye think that’s funny, do ye? How about you get off that arse of yours and start working for your supper? Set the table at least, lad. Don’t you know that idle hands are the devil’s workshop? Get moving, Shay, before I get my wooden spoon and show Rosa here how I got you to do your chores.”

I jump out of my seat and wrap my arms around my Ma’s waist, kissing the side of her cheek repeatedly until she is puffing for air with how much she’s giggling.

“Joke’s on you, Ma. I always wore more than one set of boxers just in case that wooden spoon ever got out of its drawer.”

“Get off me, lad.” Ma continues to giggle, slapping my hands away.