Page 42 of A Merciless Husband
I’m more exhausted than I’d like to admit as we head inside the house. This wedding stuff is a tiring business. I handle a mafia empire on a day-to-day basis, ordering executions, arranging gun shipments, bribing theGarda. But a wedding? Apparentlythat’swhat it takes to tire me out. I could sleep for a week.
But I’m not going to. Not until I make sure mywifeis loved and satisfied.
I watch from the kitchen as Amy and Lily walk through the garden, their silhouettes illuminated by the string lights above. They give a wide berth to the staff who are still finishing upcleaning and putting everything away. I left the double doors that lead out into the garden wide open on purpose to give me a clear line of sight on them, not willing to let my Amy out of my sight for even a moment, not so soon after our wedding. They’re hand in hand, chatting like they don’t have a care in the world. They have a lot to catch up on.
Lily is lucky that she’s so important to my leannán and they won’t get to see one another for some time. Otherwise, I would’ve told her to feck off and dragged my wife up to our bedroom without a second thought.
Liam and Jack are with me, eating evenmoreof the wedding cake and talking about some video game they’re both enjoying at the moment. I don’t see Lily’s watchdog anywhere, which is confusing. The man barely left her side the entire night.
“Where’s Rostova?” I interrupt my two right hand men’s chatting.
They both look up from their plates, Liam with his fork halfway to his mouth, as if they’re both surprised I’m addressing them instead of continuing my brooding. “Um…up on the balcony upstairs?”
I arch a brow at the two of them. “He’s just watching them?”
Both men snicker, and Liam stuffs the fork in his mouth before he can reply.
I arch a brow. “What? Why are you two snickering?”
Jack lifts up one of his shoulders in a half-shrug. “Well, boss…you’re kind of doing the same thing, aren’t you? You’ve been just sitting there staring for the past fifteen minutes.”
The accuracy of his statement burns the back of my neck for a moment. I scratch my head and wince. “All right, that is a good point. I hadn’t thought about it like that.”
Liam chuckles and shrugs. “Just two husbands looking after their wives, that’s all I see.”
I arch a brow. “Don’t you think that our situations are a bit different? He’s controlling his wife. I care about mine and want to make sure she’s okay.”
Both men snicker again, like they’re in on an inside joke that I’m not a part of. “Hm. Maybe.”
“No, nomaybe.What are you two laughing about now?” I lean against the counter and glare at them.
Jack laughs and shakes his head. “We’re rather used to being around a man that doesn’t show his feelings, you know. We can tell when someone is keeping their cards close to their chest. It’s strange that you can’t see the similarities. You’d think that like would recognize like.”
I grunt, about to snap at them to mind their own business, when Amy and Lily step through the open doorway. All arguments die on my tongue. “Well, I’m headed to find myhusbandand go to bed,” Lily grumbles and hugs Amy one last time before heading upstairs.
Liam chuckles. “She doesn’t like that guy, does she?” He asks once Lily is gone.
Amy sighs and looks back at us. “It’s…complicated.”
I push off the counter and hold out my hand to her. “But you know what’snotcomplicated? My desire to spend my wedding night with mywife.You two, go home. Rest. You’ve been working hard.”
I’ve never seen Liam and Jack hurry to leave so quickly before. Except for the fact that Jack grabs some more cake for both of them.
Bastards.
Amy and I watch them go, and when they shut the door behind them, I tug her forward by the hand and kiss her with a softness that doesn’t betray any of the hunger I feel for her. I’m trying to be good. At least until we get to our bedroom.
She smiles up at me and yawns. “I’m exhausted. It was such a wonderful day. Thank you, Kerry.”
I scoff and cup her cheeks. “I should be the one thanking you. You did most of the hard work and planning for this beautiful day.”
She shakes her head. “Marjorie helped so much, and you helped make decisions, too.”
I run my thumb over her bottom lip. “You should know better than to discount yourself by now, leannán. You know I won’t let that happen. You deserve better.”
She chuckles and leans into my hand that’s still cupping her cheek. “You’re a good man, you know that? More than you give yourself credit for.”
I lean down and kiss her nose. “Because you deserve a good man to love you, leannán. And I’ll be damned if I give you anything less than the absolute best. Now, how about that wedding night?”
