Page 38 of Aidan (The Doherty Mafia)
Leah looked over her shoulder at me as she walked out. Maybe she was as lost as I was—it felt like it happened too fast.
Nobody, except Colin, knew she was back in town. Now, all of a sudden, she was going to be bang in the middle of a family event.
I expected my whole family to stare at Leah, ask her a million inappropriate questions, or at the very least give me a lecture of disapproval on why they thought this was a bad idea.
Instead, they didn’t bat an eyelid.
Maybe it had something to do with all the praises Reese showered on her every time she was invited to participate in a conversation.
Leah kept her distance and tried not to interfere in the festivities, but Reese was determined that everyone knew how she’d saved the day.
I stood at the bar, watching her as Leah laughed at some stupid joke Nolan must have cracked. Colin was with them. They talked to her like they’d known her all their lives. When, in reality, she hadn’t ever gotten to know my family properly. They welcomed her in because they knew she meant something to me.
She left town before I could introduce her to the family officially. It was over before it even started.
Leah looked ravishing tonight in a short black cocktail dress that had a sexy pussy bow at the back. She’d styled her hair in a neat updo that showed off her milky smooth neck. Her shoulders were bare and had a dusting of freckles that I recognized.
In fact, every inch of her body was familiar to me.
Killian cleared his throat beside me and that was when I noticed him standing there. I had no idea how long he’d been there, observing me while stared at the girl I was falling for.
“You have Reese’s seal of approval—I’ll tell you that,” Killian said.
I tried to hide all my awkwardness by drinking heavily from the bottle of beer in my hand.
“Approval for what? We’re just hanging out,” I replied.
“Okay. Just hanging out after all these years. How many years has it been?”
I shrugged. “I dunno. I haven’t been counting.”
By the looks of the glare Killian gave me, it was pretty apparent that he knew I was lying.
I mean, why did I expect my brothers to simply forget about how I’d moped around for ages after Leah left town?
“This has turned out well. Reese is happy, so I’m happy. Maybe you should keep her around. Everybody deserves a second chance,” Killian continued.
I said nothing. I didn’t want to verbally commit myself to any response. He could assume what he wanted.
Killian waited, and then decided to change the subject.
“Anyway, so this engagement party should be the last straw in the stack. Aldo Baron is coming for us, and we have to be prepared for it.”
“Have you heard anything?” I asked.
Killian sighed, shaking his head.
“I’ve been trying to figure that out. Why? Why haven’t we heard anything? He’s been uncharacteristically quiet even though we know he’s declared war.”
My eyes drifted to Leah again. Reese was pulling her by the arm and it looked like she was about to be introduced to our stepsister, Isabelle. My thoughts went to the day I saw Leah talking to the guy who worked for Aldo Baron. I couldn’t get it out of my mind, no matter how much I tried.
“We haven’t heard anything from him because he’s planning something big,” I replied.
Twenty
Leah
Attending Reese and Killian’s engagement party was a bad idea in every way possible. The biggest problem of all was the fact that now, I felt even more guilty than I did before.
I didn’t expect all of them to be so nice to me. In fact, I didn’t expect them to be nice to me at all. I’d jilted one of their brothers. I’d disappeared for five years. Aidan had admitted to me how torn up he was after I left.
I was sure his family knew about it. Even though I hadn’t been formally introduced to any of them before—we all knew each other because we grew up in the same town. They knew who I was. They knew what I’d done.
And instead of ignoring me or shunning me, they welcomed me into their fold. At least for the night.
Reese was very sweet and the more time I spent with her and Killian—the happier I was that they’d found each other.
She brought the sweetness to Killian’s bitterness. She was the softness to his hard. And it was pretty evident how crazy he was about her, as much as he tried to downplay it.
It was adorable.
Now, more than ever, it made me think about what it would have been like if I’d stayed. If Aidan and I had the baby together. If we had somehow managed to become a family.
Would we have had an engagement party like this? Surrounded by all these people who were fiercely loyal and protective of us?
