“Katie!” Mam sounds shocked. “Mr. Wolf,” she says. “I’m so sorry you had to hear that. She doesn’t mean it. She’s just so overwrought, with wedding plans and all. No offense intended.”
The corners of his lips turn up in the closest thing I’ve seen to his smile. “None taken. Kate is such a sensitive soul.”
I flip him off with both hands. Mam staggers toward a chair like she might faint. I keep my voice even as I announce: “I’m moving out.”
That brings Da back to the fight. “Not without a wedding ring on your finger.”
“What do you think will happen Da? It’s not like I’m a feckin’ virgin.”
Mam gasps. Wolf smirks. Da finally swings his feet to the floor, ignoring an ominous groan from his chair. Slamming his hands onto his desk, he shouts, “No daughter of mine is living on her own! You stay under this roof until you’re married, Kaitlín, and that’s final.”
I can read his flat face like he’s a graphic novel. He wants me to pay him off—one last dip into my Red Cap winnings.
Well, that cupboard is bare. With Wolf shutting down our grab on Banque Wagner, I don’t have a penny in Red Cap funds.
But I’m a Lynch. Despite everything, I’m loyal to my clan. Even if they’re selling me off to my sworn enemy, hoping for a bigger take down the road.
Da wants a shot at Wolf’s money, along with Lone Wolf’s hacking skills? Fine. I’ll manage that now. And be out of this feckin’ madhouse forever.
I turn to Wolf. “Let’s go to the county courthouse. Now.”
“It’s Sunday,” he points out. “They’re closed.”
A little shriek of frustration squeezes out of me, like I’m a kettle on the hob. “Tomorrow then. We’ll get married tomorrow.”
“There’s a waiting requirement.” That comes from my sister. Breagha’s standing by the door, looking poised and beautiful as ever in a flowered dress and ballet flats. I have no idea how long she’s been listening. “Forty-eight hours,” she adds helpfully. “After you get the license.”
“Fine! Wednesday! We’ll get married on Wednesday!”
“I’m sorry,” Wolf says, sounding suspiciously sincere. “I have an all-day meeting on Wednesday. Something I can’t move.”
I grind my teeth so hard I think one cracks. “All right,” I say without opening my jaw. “Next Sunday. We’ll get married next Sunday.” I hold up a hand before Wolf can remind me the courthouse will be closed. “At St. Brigid’s.”
Breagha clears her throat. “It’s still Lent,” she says. “You can’t have flowers on the altar for a Sunday wedding. And you’ll have to use the scripture for the day. You can’t choose your own.”
How the hell does she know this bollocks? Is she secretly studying to become a nun? I glare at her. “Do you honestly think I give a shite about flowers? Or scripture?”
“Of course not,” she says softly.
“Any other objections?” I growl, glaring at everyone else in the room because I feel like I’ve just kicked a puppy.
Of course Mam has something more to say. “Doing things so quickly,a stór. People will think you’re…” She lowers her voice to a whisper. “Expecting.”
“So they think I’m up the duff!” I shout. “Who the fuck cares?”
I don’t mind feeling like I’ve kicked Mam.
“Breagha,” I say, because I know when to recruit an expert. “You’ll be my maid of honor?”
She clasps her hands together. “Of course!”
“And Da? You’ll pay for this?”
“Kaitlín…” He gestures at his desk. At his computer. At the floor. “The past few months, I’ve had some unexpected expenses. It’s just a little problem with cash flow…”
Cash flow. Like the millions he’s paying Wolf to take me. That fee dwarfs the Red Cap money I pay over to the Crew. Da must be liquidating assets to get me out of his house. That means he’s expecting Wolf to pay off in the not-too-distant future. Da thinks he’ll make more off my fiancé than he can off me.
There’s no reason to argue. Instead, I turn to said fiancé, whose lips twitch in something I think is amusement. I hold out my hand, snapping my fingers to emphasize my point.