The Aftermath (The Hurricane, #2)(19)

“Done,” I agreed with a rare smile.





Chapter 7



I loved to watch Em sleep. It was the most peaceful thing in the world to watch her pulse tick gently at her throat while her chest moved slowly up and down. Every protective instinct in me flared to life, like my body knew she was at her most vulnerable and it was my job to protect her.

Usually I could watch her sleep for hours. Usually. Today I paced back and forth in front of the bed waiting for her to open her eyes. I’d already been for a five-mile run to burn off some excess energy but it hadn’t worked. What if she didn’t like it? Today was her twenty-first birthday. I’d spent my twenty-first in a series of bars and f*ck knows where after that. I had no memory after the first ten pints. Sunshine’s birthday was going to be different though. With everything that had gone down this year, she needed a day filled with happiness, and I was going to give it to her. Her flushed, warm cheeks dimpled as she grinned, amused by my excitement.

“Happy birthday, baby,” I whispered.

“Best birthday ever,” she replied.

“How do you know? You’ve only just woken up,” I asked.

“Because it’s the first birthday I’ve ever woken up with you,” she told me.

God, sometimes it’s like she reached into my chest and held my heart in her hand, just to remind me why it belonged to her.

Her answer was rewarded with another lingering kiss before I bounded from the bed to the kitchenette, full of excitement and restless energy. I opened the oven and put the pastries I had warming on a plate, then placed them on the tray next to the expensive coffee I prayed was still hot. Frowning down, I figured the tray needed something fancy like a flower or something. Grabbing a couple of paper towels off the countertop, I folded them origami style into a sailboat and placed it next to the pastries. Placing the folded tea towel over my arm in my best imitation of a butler, I turned to look at her.

“Ma’am, breakfast is served.”

I’d like to say I walked the tray through to the breakfast room but our flat was so tiny that you were literally in the bedroom/living room if you turned around in the kitchenette.

Giggling in delight she sat up against the pillows and groaned sexily when she poured the coffee.

“This is wonderful. I can’t believe you did this,” she squealed in delight.

“I’ll be back in a minute, love,” I told her. Placing a kiss on her forehead, I disappeared to get everything ready. When I came back breakfast was over, and she was in the kitchenette washing dishes.

“Hey! None of that. It’s your birthday. No one washes dishes on their birthday.”

“It’s just another day, O’Connell.” She laughed and I growled at her for not wanting more for herself today. I love that, even growling I didn’t intimidate her. Mostly my acting tough just made her giggle or roll her eyes. We’d come a long way since our spectacular showdown and were closer for it. I sat down on the bed and pulled her by her wrist to sit down on my lap. Pulling a box from behind my back, I placed it in her hands. Her eyes instantly welled up, and all my fears evaporated. It didn’t matter what was in the box. She’d love it anyway. She was tracing her fingers over the ribbon reverently.

“Are you going to open that or stare at it all day?” I asked, amused.

She wound her hand around the base of my neck and kissed me gently, then carefully peeled away the ribbon and tape. I swear to God, I was about to rip open the damn thing myself if she took much longer. Finally she slid off the lid to reveal a silver locket.

“Oh, O’Connell. It’s breathtaking.” She sighed wondrously.

“Open it up,” I told her. Inside was a tiny, perfectly sized picture. Danny was in the center looking pretty pissed off, Liam was smirking, Kieran was grinning, Tommy was pulling a face, and I was smiling as I thought about what my girl would think when she saw this. To get all of us in the locket picture, we had to squeeze around Danny. We looked like a scary arse version of the Brady Bunch. Em burst out laughing when she saw it.

“This is wonderful,” she told me. “How on earth did you get them all to sit for it?”

“I asked Danny to do it, and he told me to f*ck off. Pleading and begging didn’t work, and finally Kieran asked him what he had bought you for your birthday. Danny went a bit green and told me he’d sit for one picture and give me fifty pounds if I let him say it was a joint present.”

“I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when it was being taken. I really can’t imagine Danny doing this, even for me,” she said with a laugh.

“Kieran and Tommy f*cked about so much, Danny was just about hoarse from telling them off when the picture was taken. He told the photographer he’d stay for one shot, after that Kieran and Tommy wouldn’t have been in it anyway because he would have murdered them. That was the picture, and the photo people sized it down enough to fit in your locket.”

“Thank you so much, love. I’ll treasure it. But you shouldn’t have spent so much money on me.”

“I spent exactly the limit we set for birthdays. The boys all chipped in so I even managed to get a couple of odds and ends in.” She stared at it, running her finger gently across the picture. “It’s a Celtic family locket. You got us in one picture, and I’ve left the other one blank. You know. In case we ever have kids.”