Shamrocks and Secrets (10 page)

S
leep did not find me. I tossed and turned and tried to remind myself that this was exactly what I had wanted. As I got ready for work the next morning, I stayed a little longer in the shower, hoping the hot water would wash away the hurt I felt.

I had too much to do to sit and wallow. It wasn't like we had committed ourselves to each other. I mean, my God, we hadn't even shared a kiss.

I chose to wear jeans. I wasn't in the mood to be pretty and I certainly didn't feel it. I stopped by the diner on my way and grabbed a large cup of coffee. It wasn't like I needed the caffeine to keep me awake. I thanked Doris and made my way to my office.

Once inside, I checked my email and deleted all the junk. My voicemail had a few messages, I would return them later. It was then that I noticed I had no idea where my cell phone was. I clearly remembered having it on me last night at the party. I checked my purse twice, and still couldn't locate it. I was just about to sign on to the internet and do a search, when Nora walked into my office.

"Good morning, Christi, I just wanted to personally stop by and thank you for making last night a huge success."

The words had barely left her mouth when a man dressed in black entered my office, carrying a large bouquet of red roses. He sat the vase down and tipped his head at Nora. She looked none too happy to see him. He returned three more times with more roses. It looked like a florist shop in here.

Neither Nora nor I said one word as he continued to parade in and out of my office, the size and quality of the bouquets getting larger and larger. Finally, he came back in with a large white envelope and what looked to be a cell phone.

He handed me the envelope and the phone and then tipped his head at me. I noticed as he left that he had the same strange lapel pin on his suit jacket the Porchelli guards had worn.

I opened the envelope and skipped down to see that my worst fear had been realized. Tony Porchelli had sent these flowers and he'd had my cell phone.

Dear Christi,

Accept these flowers as my official invitation to dine with me this evening in my hotel room.

Yours,

Anthony Porchelli

Something in me snapped and I was so angry, I was seeing red. I tossed the card across the room with a roar, and then grabbed the first vase full of roses I came to. I picked them up and marched outside to the dumpster and hurled them into the trash. Nora watched me, shock written all over her face. Once the last vase had been tossed and I could hear the breaking of the glass in the dumpster, I marched back into my office, took the Tiffany box from my purse, and crossed the room to where Nora stood, still shocked at my outburst. I placed the box into her hand.

“
Please, give this back to him. I know you came to tell me about Sophia and I hold no ill feelings toward Patrick. I know he has no other choice."

With that, I stormed out of the office and ran to my car. I needed to talk to the one person who would let me talk without interruption.

Colleen Victoria O
’
Rourke

Always in our hearts

I traced the carved letters on my sister's headstone. Colleen had been my oldest sister. She was the only one who would just listen to me today. She wouldn't judge me or tell me how this whole thing was my fault.

"Oh, God, Colleen, what am I going to do?"

I sat with her headstone directly in front of me, gently leaning my forehead against the cold marble.

"How is it that we allow these men to ruin our lives?" I spoke quietly as the tears began to roll down my cheeks.
“
I wish you were here, Colleen, I wish you could just tell me a story like you did after mom left and make everything better."

The memory of the three of us dressed in our nightgowns, piled under our covers so dad wouldn't hear us, came to me. The tears and sobs came, too, and I welcomed them. I missed my sister, even with all her problems, I missed my big sister.

I shivered as I felt the wind blow my hair around my face. I could hear it as it tossed dead leaves and grass clippings.

"Shhh, Baby, I've got you."

The warm voice surrounded me like a soft blanket. I knew that voice, but why was he here?

I raised my head as he enveloped me in his arms, drawing me into his lap. I welcomed his touch as I melted into his chest. He just held me as I continued to sob into his shirt. I knew I shouldn't be here, this was so wrong. He was promised to another woman, but dammit, I wanted him to be here, if only for a little while.

Once my tears had finally stopped, I raised my head to look into his face. I knew this was goodbye and the best way to do this was quickly and mercifully, like ripping off a bandage.

He looked into my eyes and for a brief second, I had hope that he had come to rescue me from my sadness. He slowly and yet deliberately wiped the tears from my face.

"I took care of Tony, he won't bother you again," his voice was barely above a whisper, yet deep and masculine.

“How did you know about Tony?" I questioned as I placed my head back on his shoulder.

"For one, I saw him approach you last night. Two, my Ma told me about your quarterback tryout with his roses," he chuckled as he spoke the latter.

My head shot up and I looked at him with surprise.
“
You saw him last night?”

”Who do you think sent Tonto over to intercede?"

It was now or never, and I began to remove myself from his lap.

"Yes, well, I heard about your upcoming nuptials. She's beautiful by the way."

I couldn't look at him as I spoke, I didn't want him to see how much this affected me.

"Christi, she's a coke-head, and she was so stoned and drunk that she'd started to remove her clothes at the bar. She feels that since she's Venny's daughter, she's above everyone else. She refused to listen to anyone except me. I got her out of the party before she could do any real damage. I took her to her hotel and made sure she got into bed. I had one of her father's guards standing outside the room the whole night."

"I'm sorry; I hope she changes before..." I couldn't even say the words. I didn't want him to have to marry her.

“Christi, please, look at me."

His eyes were pleading and it nearly broke my heart. The words were written all over his face, he didn't want to marry her, either. I watched as the wind blew pieces of his hair around and I so badly wanted to run my fingers through it.

"I'm not marrying Sophia."

I gave him a puzzled look as I tried to understand. He had to marry her, it would be his duty.

"Forget the fact that she's a dope-head and she couldn't hold an intelligent conversation if it came with instructions. Forget the fact that she doesn't have a drop of Irish blood in her, and forget the fact that she has more plastic than Mattel. She isn't you. Venny has spent so many hours trying to persuade my da to blend the families that it's ridiculous. He tried with Amex and now again with me. My da won't budge. More importantly, I won't budge. Venny rules by fear, but it's not enough. Most of his men would turn their backs and run if things got really tough. My men, on the other hand, would take a bullet for me and I for them. He wants to combine the families because he's broke, that's why he moves so many drugs. Well, as much as they can keep out of Sophia's nose.”

“Tony knew who you were the second he saw your shamrock. I reminded him of that when I called your phone after I handled his sister and he answered. He only wanted to piss me off by sending you flowers. He knew he'd spooked you last night, and it gave him a rush. I reminded him who he'd have to deal with if he continued to have contact with you."

I felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. Patrick wasn't marrying Sophia. I could wear his bracelet after all.

"Did your dad ever tell you why we stay away from drug trafficking?" I shook my head as he wrapped me again in his arms.

"My Ma had two older brothers, Declan and Connor. They were already working with my Da before she arrived in the states. Anyway, they were out one night at a bar not far from where
Whiskers
is
now when a man came running into the bar and began shooting people. They were shot in the back of the head; they never saw the man who killed them. When the dust finally settled, my Da learned that the man was high on LSD and was having hallucinations. He thought the bar was full of aliens. My Da had to tell my Ma her brothers were dead. He vowed he would never be a part of drugs ever again."

He began to rub my arms and I again let myself lean into him. "Your dad says your sister died from an overdose."

I nodded my head. I hadn't talked about Colleen's death in a long while. "She was in her last semester of college when she met this man, Jimmy. He got her started on drugs and
he
supplied her with the drugs that she died from.
He
didn't actually put a gun to her head, but he killed her just the same. My dad had to identify her body. It was horrible. She was found by a maid in one of those seedy motels. Jimmy had left her there to die, alone and naked in strange place.
”

I turned my body so that I was again facing Colleen's gravestone. Patrick just kept his arms protectively around me.

"Tell me your favorite memory of your sister."

That was easy, it was the one I always thought of when I came here to visit her.

"When my mother left, Shannon and I would have bad dreams and Colleen would have us come into her bed and she would read us a story, only she would animate it. She would change her voice for the different characters and she would change the story to something different. She would have us so wrapped up in the story that we would forget all about missing mom for a while."

We sat there for the longest time just looking at the headstone. He would touch my fingers with his or kiss the back of my head.

"My Ma said you gave the pendant back. Does that mean you don't want to wait for me?" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"No, I was only trying to do the right thing when I was told you would be marrying Sophia. I knew you didn't have a choice and I didn't want to create drama."

"So, you're still considering an us?"

"Actually, I was going to ask for the bracelet during our date tomorrow night."

I felt him move around behind me and I thought he was getting up to leave, until I saw the necklace dangling in front of me.

"Can we put this back on then, please?"

I turned my head slightly and saw the smile that covered his face. It was quite contagious and I had one just as big.

The chain felt cold as he laid it around my neck. I couldn't help but touch it as it rested on my chest.

"I see no reason to wait until tomorrow for you to wear my bracelet, do you?"

I shook my head no as I felt him lift my right hand from my lap.

I watched as he removed the box from his inside jacket pocket and then he opened the hinge. The bracelet was as cold as the necklace had been and I loved how the diamonds glistened in the sunlight.

"I need you to make me a promise."

I looked from the bracelet to his green eyes. "Anything," I whispered.

"In the future, when you hear someone talking about me, no matter who it is, ask me before you do anything." I smiled as I again nodded my head.

"Good, now hold on to your hat, Christi. I
’
ve waited very patiently to kiss those pretty lips of yours."

He didn't give me a chance to respond as his lips connected with mine, leaving me breathless.

When I returned to my office, I found Nora sitting patiently in my chair. She was typing away on her cell phone and smiled as I walked into the room.

“
I see my son was able to talk to you.
”

She motioned to the pendant that hung from my neck.

“
Yes, he explained several things to me. I clearly jumped to conclusions, something I have chastised Shannon for on a number of occasions.
”
I chuckled.

“
Yes, well sometimes things present themselves in a particular way and it is hard to see the truth. I am happy to see that you were able to find that in the end.
”

I offered her a cup of tea as I had begun to make one for myself.
“
That sound
s
lovely, Lass. I wanted to speak with you as it were.
”

I handed her the cup and settled into my chair. I watched as she patiently stirred the hot liquid, watching the spoon as it mixed the sweet goodness.

“
Did your father ever tell you of the arrangement he and my Thomas made about you?
”

I nodded as I sipped my own cup.

“
He said that Thomas helped him with his divorce from my mother, but that was all he said.
”
She looked at me with such a gentle look, a motherly look.