“I was just on my way out. You can have your husband back.”
He hobbles toward the door, the vaguest smirk pulling at his mouth. As he passes her up, he gives a quick pat to her shoulder. Even Simone seems startled as she meets his gaze and then nods, taken aback by this less intense version of my father.
It’s not much. But from my father, even an inch is like a mile.
Once he’s gone, Simone turns to me with both brows raised. “Did he just... acknowledge my existence? By name? As he smirked at me and patted me on the shoulder?”
I crack my own crooked smile. “Think that means he’s accepted the fact that you’re a Callahan. You’re here to stay. But don’t get used to any smirking or grinning. That might be his quota for the decade.”
She laughs and crosses the room to sit on the arm of my chair, her hand coming to rest on my shoulder. “What was that about anyway? The two of you looked almost... civil.”
“He’s officially handing over the family.” I lean into her touch, a gesture I wouldn’t’ve allowed myself to do just a few weeks ago. “I’m the head of the Callahan Clan now. Chief. King. Whatever you want to call it.”
“King Ronan.” She tries out the words, then wrinkles her nose. “Sounds pretentious.”
“Shut up.”
She grins and kisses my temple. “Congratulations. I think.”
“You know what this means, don’t you?” I ask, cocking a brow and pulling her down into my lap. She yelps in surprise before settling on me like I’m a chair. I hold her gaze and say, “It means you’re no longer a princess, princess. It means you’re aqueennow.”
“A queen of a family of Irish gangsters,” she says slowly. Then shakes her head with another laugh. “Life is wild sometimes. That’s for sure.”
My hand glides down the side of her thigh, and I draw her in for a quick kiss. “And what were you doing snooping around? You miss me that much?”
“More like I was coming to find you. Killian’s waiting outside in the Escalade. You know, for the cemetery visit…”
“Almost forgot about that. You coming with?”
Her hazel eyes flicker with warmth, more golden hued in the light of the fire. “I’m your wife, Callahan. Your queen, right? There’s the answer to your question.”
I thumb her cheek then pull her up along with me. We put on our coats and head out to the SUV idling at the curb outside Callahan House.
Simone thinks we’re headed straight to the cemetery.
I watch from the corner of my eye as she gazes out the window, her brow furrowing slightly when we take a turn that doesn’t lead toward Lochlan’s resting place. She glances at me then back at the window a few more times as the car continues on a route that doesn’t make sense unless…
Her lips part in shock the exact moment she puts two and two together.
“Scarsdale?” She turns to face me fully, surprise coloring her tone. “We’re going to my parents’ house?”
I smirk but don’t say anything.
“Ronan, why are we going to my parents’ house?”
“You’ll see.”
She narrows her eyes at me, but I just settle back in my seat and enjoy the view of her trying to figure out what the hell I’m up to. Some things are better as surprises.
The Langston estate looks the same as it did the first time I saw it—white stucco walls and manicured grounds.
Old money elegance dripping from every fucking corner.
Killian pulls through the gates and up the circular drive, and within a couple minutes, we’re being escorted through the front door by a housekeeper obviously fond of Simone but wary of me.
She’s not alone.
Karter happens to be passing by the foyer as we walk through. The glare he shoots in my direction could curdle milk. Simone’s cousin has never warmed up to the idea of an Irish mobster in the family, and I doubt he ever will. I grin and give him a nod just to watch his jaw clench, then follow Simone toward Malcolm’s office.