Page 50 of Sins of Innocence

Áine: Yeah, she kinda is. 😹 I never wanted to be a domestic employee, but working for her makes it worse.

Kieran: You don't have to work at all now.

Áine: What?!! You think I'm just going to live off of you now?

Kieran: Taking care of you and our family is my job.

Áine: Sexist much?

Kieran: I didn't say you couldn't work.

Áine: Good. Because if you did, I wouldn't listen.

Kieran: 🤔

Áine: Get over yourself. I'd like to use my accounting degree.

Kieran:👍

Áine: Watch out using all those emojis. Someone might think you're dramatic, or something. 😜

Kieran: 😏

Chapter ten

Orgasms and the Perfect Latte

ÁINE

Thumbs up emoji? That means he supports me getting a job that uses my education, right?

It shouldn't matter.

It doesn't matter.

I'll do what I want.

But…

Gah!

I'm driving myself around the bend in a Formula 1 car without brakes. There is no but. His approval does not matter. I'm a grown woman. My choices are my own. My life is mine.

Sure. Your life is yours and that's why you're marrying a practical stranger. My inner voice's snark level is high but it's not wrong.

I don't have a choice about this marriage thing, not if I want to stay alive and raise my children in safety. So, why does marrying Kieran, literally tying my life to his, feel freer than working for Kenneth Shaughnessy?

It makes no rational sense, but I trust Kieran to keep us safe, not to harm me intentionally. That's not something I've been sure of in the Shaughnessy household.

Why am I so sure of Kieran's integrity? I have no concrete reason to trust him, but my instincts demand that I do. That trusting him is the only viable way forward. Maybe the fact he's been nothing but protective since he picked me up from work yesterday has something to do with it.

He didn't have to offer his protection to me and my girls. He sure as heck didn't have to be willing to sacrifice the rest of his life for it.

And still…

I'M MARRYING A MAN I MET YESTERDAY!

Forget a Formula 1 car, this is a souped-up Chevy in a drag race burning rubber down the path of my life.