Rían’s vicious smile fell into a frown as he glanced down at my attire. “Where is your cravat?”
He knew I hated those feckin’ things. “In the fire where it belongs.”
“You gowl. That cost me a small fortune.” He huffed a breath. “You know what? Never mind. I knew you’d ruin this, so I bought you two.” With a flick of his wrist, another cravat appeared in his hand. He stepped forward to tie the emerald-green noose around my neck in some fancy knot that made it impossible to swallow.
“It’s too tight.”
“It’s not.”
“It is.” I tried to slip a finger between the material and my poor throat but couldn’t. “See? It’s choking me.”
Rían’s hand shot out, gripping my gullet until my face started to burn. “Thisis choking you.” He let me go with a shake of his head and no sympathy whatsoever as I gagged and gasped. “This,” he said, flattening the end of the cravat, “is fashion. And if you even think of throwing this one in the fire, you’re going in with it.”
As if he’d be willing to ruin the custom suit he’d hand-picked over a cravat.
Ruairi and Rían wore black, while I wore a deep, forest green to match the emeralds in my crown. I still hadn’t gotten used to wearing the thing, but since this wedding would be my last, I figured I may as well go all out.
With another flick of Rían’s wrist, my coat appeared over his forearm. “Put this on.”
Eava waltzed in without so much as a knock. When she saw us, her hands flew to her mouth, and she let out a choked gasp. Tears glittered in her black eyes. “Look at my boys. Aren’t ye all so handsome?” A basket appeared in her hand, smelling suspiciously like chocolate. The angel always knew what I needed even before I did.
I gestured toward the basket. “Is that for me?”
She nodded. “A little something to get ye through. Yer all wastin’ away to nothing.”
Ruairi shoved Rían so hard, he fell into the bedpost. “Ha. See. I told ye I’m fitter than ever.”
Although Rían glared, he righted himself without any of his usual murderous threats. “Please.” He smoothed the longer hair at the top of his head back into place. “She’s only trying to fatten you up so she can keep you all to herself.”
Chuckling, Eava withdrew a chocolate biscuit from the basket and held it out to my brother. “Yer the one who needs fattening. Yer practically skin and bones.”
With a roll of his eyes, Rían took a biscuit and bit into it. I grabbed three, and when those were finished, I shifted a fourth. Eava added one more to my pocket with a wink before leaving us to finish.
Ruairi sank onto the end of the bed to pull on his boots. “What time are the ladies arriving?”
“Two.” Assuming Keelynn decided to come. Part of me felt silly for going through all this trouble for an event that may not happen, but I’d promised to wait for her and I intended to keep that promise. I’d wear this suit every single day until Keelynn came back to me. Although I might conveniently misplace the cravat.
When a screech erupted from the next room, I darted between Ruairi and Rían and out into the hall to peek around the corner into Hagan’s chambers. My son scowled at the door from his cot. The moment I stepped inside, his little mouth lifted into the brightest smile.
And just like that, all those sleepless nights were forgotten.
Hagan wasn’t concerned with my bleak past or blackened soul. All that mattered to him was the fact that I was there when he needed me.
“There’s my nephew.” Rían shouldered past me, and damn it all if Hagan’s smile didn’t grow. He wasn’t supposed to like his uncle more than he liked me. A towel appeared over my brother’s shoulder as he scooped up my son, pressed a kiss to the dark curls matted on his head, and then turned and handed him to me with a scrunched nose. “He smells like shite.”
Maybe we needed to call a physician. My son defecated more than any other living thing I had ever met. A towel appeared on my shoulder as well, presumably to catch the spittle the little lad liked to spew every so often. I brought him over to the changing table, but before I could remove his nappy, my brother caught my arm.
“What do you think you’re doing?” he snapped.
“Changing his nappy.” It wasn’t as if Rían had offered to do it.
“You can’t change him in this.” He tugged the bottom of my coat. “I don’t have spares.”
“I think I can change my son without getting shite on my clothes.”
“I have seen that child shoot a stream of piss across a feckin’ room. The coat and waistcoat come off.”
Knowing it would be less of a headache to give in, I slipped out of both. Rían also made me remove the cravat because the spare had reduced to ash. “Happy?”