“Is there a fly on my nose?”
She lowered her head abruptly, feeling caught. “It’s a little too cold for flies this time of year.”
“Then it must be a wart I haven’t noticed yet.”
She shook her head, smiling at him. “No. I was just thinking about how happy it makes me that you’re finally home again.
His voice sounded regretful all of a sudden. “Thorne, home would be our house in Quincy.”
“Aidan, don’t,” she pleaded and put down the peeler.
“What am I supposed to say, Thorne?” he demanded hoarsely. “Our house—”
“Our house was just that. A house. Nothing more.”
His sigh told her the thought was painful. “It was the house our parents built. That’s not so easy to forget.”
“But you should,” she said, laying a hand on his arm, trying to express her sympathy. “It was wrong of me to constantly tell you back then how important it was to keep that house. We should have sold it right away so we wouldn’t be stuck with Mom and Dad’s debt.” She exhaled. “Maybe then you wouldn’t have—”
“Stop,” he interrupted. “It’s not your fault that I agreed to participate in that shady business, Thorne.”
“But if it hadn’t been for my insistence, you wouldn’t have kept the house, Aidan.”
“I wanted to keep it because of Mom and Dad.”
“You know what?” She smiled anxiously and looked into his blue eyes. “Let’s not talk about the house anymore. Brady and I are very happy here, and our lives are perfectly okay. The most important thing is that you’re here again. The house no longer matters.”
Aidan heaved a sigh and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Little sister, you sound like an adult.”
“I am an adult.”
“You’re a mom. Fancy that.” He shook his head. “I still have to get used to that.”
She giggled and picked up the next carrot. “I constantly sent you photos of Brady over the years. It’s not like he’s a big surprise.”
“But photographs and a real-life mother and child are two completely different things.” He nodded in the direction of Brady’s room. “When I see you with the little man, it’s suddenly so real. Hard to believe he’s already six.”
“And he’s getting naughtier every day.”
“A chip off the old block, as they say.” He gave her a meaningful look.
She swallowed, but there was suddenly a lump in her throat. It was time.
“Aidan, I need to tell you something, but you have to promise me you won’t get mad.”
Her brother didn’t reply, but he put down the knife and turned to her, crossing his arms in wary expectation. She looked up at him and chewed her lower lip.
“What’s going on?”
“Do I have your promise?”
He didn’t answer, but his face turned so grim she was almost afraid of him. “Did anyone hurt you?”
“No.” She quickly shook her head. “I’m fine. I’m just worried because you’re on probation and—”
“Don’t worry about my probation. Tell me what happened.”
“Nothing happened,” she insisted. “I just wanted to tell you something before you hear it from Brady, that’s all.”
“What is it?”
Thorne sighed. “His dad is back.”
“Liam?”
“Not really.” She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. “It’s a little complicated.”
“Complicated,” he repeated, raising a black eyebrow. His face was like a mask now. “So Liam isn’t Brady’s dad after all?”
“Yes … No … I mean …” Thorne made a frustrated sound. “Liam’s name isn’t Liam. It’s Shane. Shane Fitzpatrick.”
“Shane Fitzpatrick?” Aidan wore a puzzled frown.
Thorne nodded and added hesitantly, “You’re not going to like this.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” he muttered.
She wrung her hands. “Shane Fitzpatrick is a policeman, Aidan. He was an undercover investigator.”
When he didn’t answer, her heart began to beat faster in her chest. He stared at her with an inscrutable expression.
“Aidan …”
“Excuse me?” He inhaled sharply. “He was a cop?”
“Yes.” She licked her dry lips and hastened to add, “He’s a good dad, really. Brady adores him and—”
“One moment, Thorne. Do you mean to tell me this asshole was using you to get information about me?”
She flinched. Her brother’s words hurt. But she couldn’t deny they were true. “Aidan …”
He looked as if he was ready to explode. He drew a shaky breath. “When you showed up with him in tow, I felt it in my gut that something was wrong! But then he seemed so taken with you that I told myself I was imagining things! Shit … I even felt bad for being so suspicious because you guys got engaged!”
He was beside himself. Thorne wondered if it had been such a good idea to tell him after all. She put her hand on his arm again, anxious about what he might do. “Please calm down, Aidan.”
“CALM DOWN? You just told me that some damn cop took my sister for a ride! He even got you pregnant!”
“Shh!” She frowned and pointed at the door. “Brady can’t hear anything like that!”
She could see the vein in his temple throb with anger as he stuck out his chin. “How long did you know?”
“Know what?” she asked, confused.
“How long have you known he’s a cop, Thorne?”
She swallowed again. “I’ve only known for a few weeks now. It was a stupid coincidence that we met again. And before you ask: No, he didn’t know about Brady. I’m sure he would have contacted me earlier had he known that he had a child.”
“How can you be so calm about it? I would think you’d hit the roof!”
She let her shoulders drop and sighed again. “I did hit the roof, believe me. I wanted to kill him—”
“I can take care of that.”
She took a step backwards, stunned. “Don’t say a thing like that!”
Aidan rolled his eyes, trying to show he’d been joking. “Thorne—”
“I don’t want to hear anything like that ever again!” She glared at him. “He’s Brady’s father, and you’re Brady’s uncle.”
“I wasn’t serious,” he said.
“I don’t care. You shouldn’t joke about a thing like that!”
Her brother exhaled and grinned. “Noted. No more jokes about hitmen. Understood.”
She didn’t appreciate his attempt at humor and told him so in no uncertain terms. “I don’t want to see my brother in jail again, just because he thinks he needs to beat up the father of my son, who happens to be a cop.”
He raised his hands, professing innocence, but his face remained grim. “He deserves a beating.”
“That’s my business.” Thorne clenched her teeth. “Shane and I are capable of settling our problems alone. No need to defend my honor.”
“Thorne, you are my little sister,” Aidan explained in a deliberately calm voice. “When I hear some bastard used you to get to me, I can’t help seeing red.”
“And I can’t help worrying about you if you say stuff like that. Please promise me that you won’t do anything stupid and that you won’t violate your probation.”
“I won’t do anything stupid.”
“Promise?”
“Promise,” he answered with a sigh. “But if he ever causes trouble or hurts the little man—”
“Please, Aidan,” she interrupted him. “I don’t want to be worried all the time that you’ll be at each other’s throats whenever you see each other.”
He was silent, so she searched his face and registered his thoughtful expression.
“What is it?”
Aidan pursed his lips and asked slowly, “What makes you think that he and I are going to see each other?”
She didn’t think it through before answering. “It’s only a few weeks unt
il Thanksgiving, and then a few more until Christmas. And I thought you might want to join us to see Brady’s play at his school. So that’s when you’ll meet, at the latest and—”
“Thorne, are you really telling me that you’re planning on celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with this bastard?”
She was torn between embarrassment and the desire for harmony. “He’s Brady’s dad,” she said defiantly, and hugged herself. “And his mother invited us for dinner.”
“I can’t believe it,” Aidan whispered, as if he’d just made a wondrous discovery. “You’re still in love with the jerk, aren’t you? After all he did to you!”
She blushed violently. “This is about Brady. He should spend time with his dad, Aidan, that’s all.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I’m not stupid, Thorne. If this was only about Brady, you wouldn’t be so eager to spend the holidays with him.”
“Brady is only six and—”
“Thorne,” he said dryly, just a hint of humor in his voice, “I just realized that you did not contradict me.”
“What?” She blinked unsteadily. “What do you mean?”
“I asked you if you still love the jerk. And you did not deny it.”
Her head jerked up. “Of course I no longer love him! How could I? He sent you to prison and vanished into thin air! He did nothing but use me and lie to me. How could I love a guy like that? You said it yourself: He’s a jerk. I only see him because of Brady!” She’d talked herself into a fury, but at the same time, she sensed that every word that left her mouth rang false.
“Oh, you can leave me out of that.” Aidan ran a hand through his hair. “If you think you need to use me as a pretext to explain why you can’t love the father of your son, then that’s your problem. If that makes you feel better, fine. But you’re not fooling me for a minute.”
Thorne knew it was true. She scowled. “But what am I supposed to do? How can I ignore the fact that you went to prison because of him?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t go to jail because of him. I went to jail because of me, Thorne. He’s got a lot to answer for—starting with the fact that he feigned love and played you for a fool. But the crap I did is not his fault.”
She heaved a ponderous sigh and leaned her head against her brother’s arm. “You sound so cool and contained now, Aidan.”
“I had a lot of time to think about it all, didn’t I?” He put an arm around her shoulder. “I’d have preferred to spend those six years elsewhere. Anywhere else, really. But I can’t change the past, so what good does it do to lament it?”
She felt a lump in her throat. “What are you going to do now?”
Aidan brother shrugged. “I’m going to find a job and an apartment, and I’m going to spend a lot of time with my nephew.”
She blinked away her tears. “That sounds great.”
“You don’t need to worry about me anymore, Thorne,” he insisted gently. “I’m giving you my word. I’m not going to get involved in any shady business anymore.”
“Shane’s former boss wants to use you as a spy.” She sniffled.
“I know, but I told him no. I don’t want anything to do with these people anymore. Or with the police.”
“He’s been calling me about that,” she whispered hesitantly.
He swore under his breath and hugged her more tightly. “He should leave you the hell alone! He’s not going to get anything from me, least of all my cooperation.”
“Are you sure?”
Aidan turned and put both hands on her shoulders. “I want you to never worry about me again. I’m not going to go astray anymore. And I won’t let anyone use me as a spy, either. I promise.”
“Good.” She sniffled again and tried to blink away her tears. “You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that.”
“You should be worrying your stubborn head about what you’re going to do about your cop.”
She felt herself blush again. “He’s not my cop.”
“Alright … Then worry about what you’re going to do about your son’s father.”
Thorne wrinkled her nose. “Don’t get carried away, Aidan. Shane is Brady’s dad, and that’s it. There’s nothing else going on between us.”
“You forget who you’re talking to,” her brother reprimanded her gently. “I’m not blind. I can see that you care about him more than you want to admit.”
“And who can tell me how much or how little he cares?” she asked meekly.
“Thorne …”
She shook her head defensively. “It’s idiotic to even talk about it.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” Aidan interjected.
“Yes, it is. Seven years ago, I fell in love with him, while he pretended to feel the same way about me. For him, it was nothing more than a job. If he didn’t have any genuine feelings for me then, why would he have any now?”
“Have you guys ever talked about it?”
“So I can make a fool of myself again? No thanks.”
Aidan pulled a face. “I may be a little out of practice, but the best way to resolve one’s relationship issues used to be talking to each other.”
Thorne mirrored her brother’s expression, turned-up mouth and all. “Relationship issues? Shane and I don’t have a relationship. We have a son. That’s all there is between us.”
“It didn’t sound like that earlier.”
She gave a casual shrug. “I shouldn’t read anything more into it than there actually is. And I sure as heck won’t be stupid enough to fall for the same guy twice.”
He opened his mouth to object, but there was a knock on the door.
Thorne slipped away from his hands, which had still been lying heavily on her shoulders, and left the kitchen in a state of turmoil.
To make matters worse, when she opened the door, it was none other than Shane on her doorstep, holding up a Chinese takeout box emitting a heavenly aroma. “Hi. I just wanted to see how you are, and I brought you some spring rolls. I know how you love—”
He stopped mid-sentence and his smile faded quickly, so Thorne turned around to see that her brother had stepped behind her.
“Aidan,” Shane said unsteadily.
“Hello, Shane.”
Shane exhaled. “She told you?” he asked in a surprisingly neutral tone.
“She did.” Aidan looked at Thorne. “Is Brady still in his room?”
She nodded, wondering what that had to do with anything. “Why do you ask?”
“Because.” Her brother’s fist flew forward and, to her horror, hit Shane squarely in the face. Shane emitted a loud groan and reeled back against the doorframe.
“Aidan!” she shouted, stunned and incredulous, as she rushed over to look at Shane’s busted face. “Have you gone insane?”
Her brother sounded extremely satisfied. “He deserved it.”
While Shane was still groaning, she hissed over her should at Aidan, “And you’re still on probation!” Then she frowned in concern and inspected Shane’s bruised cheek. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Shane shook his head like a dog, as if to shake off the pain, and then he straightened. “Your brother’s right hook is worse than my sister’s.”
“That isn’t funny,” she snapped. His nonchalance in the face of this outbreak of violence made her want to hit him again. And now he had the nerve to grin!
Aidan snorted with disdain. “If you have a sister, then I’m sure you know why you deserve a punch or two.”
“You’re right, I do.” Shane rubbed his face. “Are we even?”
“For now.” Her brother turned and disappeared into the kitchen.
Thorne looked at Shane, her heart still racing and her breath labored, but he shrugged it off good-humoredly.
“That went rather well, don’t you think?”
***
Shane couldn’t believe his eyes when he opened his door to find Thorne standing there. She held out a square box that looked suspiciously like a cake containe
r.
“Cake?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, cheesecake, to be precise,” she replied, stepping into his apartment without waiting for an invitation.
While he hastily tried to remember when he had last dusted or vacuumed, his eyes wandered down her back side, from head to feet. His gaze lingered on her bottom, which her pants accentuated nicely, and then glided back up to the tip of her ponytail, which brushed the collar of her jacket.
“Where did you leave Brady today?” He was distracted by her profile as she studied the framed photographs in his hallway. He had always enjoyed just looking at her face, and that hadn’t changed after all these years. He remembered her complaints about her nose. She had been of the opinion that a small snub nose like hers just didn’t fit a grown woman. Shane had always disagreed, because he thought her cheeky little nose was adorable, and he realized that he still thought so. Then his eyes wandered to her pursed lips. She didn’t seem to notice his scrutiny, as engrossed in studying the photos as she was.
He remembered exactly what he’d thought when he saw her for the very first time. He’d been inclined to believe that Snow White had somehow come to life. With her black hair, blue eyes, fair skin, and red lips, she had looked exactly as he had always pictured the fairy-tale character as a child. After one glance at the pretty young woman, his reservations about the job they’d offered him had evaporated, though he wasn’t proud to admit that, even to himself.
“Brady’s spending the night at Gayle’s,” she interrupted his reverie, and then nodded at one of the pictures. “Are these your other brothers and your sister?”
Shane tore his gaze away from her face, finally remembered to close the door, and stepped closer to look at the photo she indicated.
“Yeah, that’s all five of us. I believe this was taken on Mom’s last birthday.”
“Kayleigh’s very pretty.”
He smirked. “You sound surprised.”
“Fishing for compliments, Shane?” She chuckled. “I think you know that you and your siblings are good-looking. And that the family resemblance is really strong.”
“Yeah, especially between Kyle and Ryan, don’t you think?”
“No wonder. Didn’t you say they’re twins?”
Blast From The Past (The Boston Five Series #2) Page 15
