Sloan tossed a few T-bone steaks onto the grill. “So, Liam, how long are you visiting?”
“I’m staying through the weekend. Are you trying to get rid of me already?”
“No. I rather enjoy having my two fathers with me again.”
Liam shook his head. “If I weren’t mistaken, I’d almost think you’ve developed a soft spot in that rock-hard heart of yours.”
Gordon laughed. “I don’t know if Sloan knows what a soft spot is.”
Sloan shot Gordon a glare. “Your stepdaughter is responsible for my soft spot. No part of me has been cold and hard since she came into my life.” He paused as a sly smirk appeared on his lips. “Forgive me, I misspoke. No part of me has been cold. There certainly have been parts of me that have been hard.”
Both older men winced at the thought. The sound of the sliding door opening ended the conversation. Liam sighed. Good thing too. It was starting to derail.
A tall, well-built blond man in a polo shirt and jeans stepped out onto the patio, a manila folder in his hand. His muscles were defined through the cotton. He spun on his toe and headed toward them. “Sloan, I have the contracts for Hong Kong. You weren’t in the office. I need these signed.”
Sloan smirked at him. “Is Ashleigh in the car?”
“Yes. We’re going to get supper. What does that matter?”
Sloan pointed at the glass patio table. “Set the file there, Logan. Go get your girlfriend. You can eat here. We have plenty of steak.”
Logan exhaled with exasperation. “Sloan, I don’t have time to play games.”
“I’m not playing games. And I’m not signing anything until you do as I say. Ashleigh can talk with Mary and Abbey. You can come out here and have a beer with us.”
“You’re a controlling, manipulative ass.”
“Who pays you seven figures a year. It’s not like I’m demanding you run naked through downtown Minneapolis. I’m asking you and Ashleigh to stay for dinner.” Sloan motioned toward Liam. “We have company in from Belfast. Liam helped Gordon raise me after the shooting while I was a member of the IRA.”
Logan reached out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Liam.”
Liam shook Logan’s hand firmly. “Likewise, Logan. And for the record, we didn’t teach him to be a controlling ass. He picked that up on his own.”
Logan laughed. “I know. I work with Gordon nearly every day. It still baffles me how someone as calm, generous, and soft-spoken as Gordon raised—” Logan threw a thumb in Sloan’s direction. “That.”
“Ashleigh,” Sloan said with a growl as he crossed his broad, muscular arms over his chest.
“Yeah. I’ll be right back.” Logan tossed the folder on the table and strode through the open patio door.
“Seems like a nice lad,” Liam commented. “Where did you find him?”
Sloan flipped the steaks searing on the grill and then tossed on a couple more. “He worked for Sloan Enterprises in Zurich. I fired him. It was during my darker period.”
“Sloan, really,” Gordon chided. “That wasn’t where you determined to hire him to be on Sloan Enterprises’ Executive Council.” He turned to Liam. “He dated Abbey while she and Sloan thought they were divorced.”
Liam looked at him, astounded. “You hired your wife’s ex-boyfriend?”
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” Sloan said, scowling.
Gordon shook his head. “Sloan, Logan is not your enemy.”
“Any man who touches my Abigail like he did isn’t my friend.”
“Considering the knowledge and talent that man possesses, you might want to change your mind.”
The attention of the three men was pulled toward the doorway by the sound of footsteps. Logan had returned, accompanied by Robert and Bartholomew. Each man held a bottle of beer. The sound of female chatter amplified through the open glass door. Liam shook Robert and Bartholomew’s hands as Logan dropped into a patio chair.
“So, Robert and Bartholomew, how’s the security business doing?” Liam questioned.
The two men glanced at each other and then turned back to Gordon. “We sold it about nine months ago,” Bartholomew answered.
“You did? Wasn’t it making money?”
“It was. But we were offered much more lucrative positions. One of our competitors bought us out.”
“Where are you now?”
Bartholomew and Robert stared uneasily at Sloan. Sloan returned it with a grin as he took a sip of beer. Liam caught the interchange and shook his head with a chuckle. “So, what you’re telling me is that you all work for Sloan Enterprises now, correct?”
Robert shrugged. “I’m VP of Security for all the complexes.”
“And I’m VP of Finance,” Bartholomew followed.
“Still taking care of your own, aren’t you, boy?” Liam quizzed Sloan.
“I always will,” Sloan answered. “That’ll never change.”
“And it’ll always be with that self-important, smug attitude we’ve all grown used to,” Robert added.
Sloan glared at him, never noticing the little girl who had quietly joined them until she tugged on his arm. He looked down at Ame, his icy stare growing instantly warm as his eyes met hers. He crouched lower until he reached her level. Liam beamed in pride and noticed Gordon doing likewise. Perhaps they had never lost him. He certainly held plenty of love for his family. “Yes, angel?”
Ame’s little voice was timid around all the men. “Mommy wants to know when you’re going to be done.”
“Tell Mommy the steaks are almost ready. We’ll be in in a minute.”
“Okay.” Ame leaned over to press a butterfly kiss on her daddy’s cheek. Sloan let go a soft, contented sigh as he straightened himself and watched her scamper back inside.
“Both Ame and Ethan are beautiful, Sloan.” Liam smiled. “You should be very proud.”
“I am. But they’re more their mother than me. They laugh like her, smile like her.” Sloan lifted the lid of the grill, picked up the platter beside it, and began to tug off the meat.
“There’s more of you in them than you think, young one,” Gordon reminded.
“What? Their short tempers? Yes. I can claim that one. Abigail has the patience of a saint to deal with all three of us.” Sloan plopped the last piece of beef onto the plate and then turned off the burner. He motioned the rest to follow him into the house.
Dinner was a noisy celebration, just as Liam had expected. People talked over each other, yet every word spoken made sense. The clatter of dishes chimed in between the conversations. Once the plates were empty and taken to the kitchen and Ame was sent off to play, the adults wandered into the living room.
They visited late into the night, long after Ame had fallen asleep against her father’s chest. It was nearly midnight when Logan glanced at his watch. “Sloan, we need to get going. It’s late.”
“Your point?” Sloan questioned, his brogue soft so that he wouldn’t wake his daughter.
“I came over for you to sign those papers. I’m not leaving until you do.”
Sloan motioned down to Ame. “Going to be difficult, Logan.”
“Wait.” Abbey slid off the kitchen stool she had been perched on and approached the men. “You mean Logan only came over to have something signed? You forced them to stay and have dinner?”
Sloan didn’t answer. He just flashed her his sly, sensual grin.
“Sloan, did you ever think that they might have had plans other than hanging around with us?”
“I did, then I promptly rejected the thought.”
“Abbey, it’s all right. We didn’t have any other plans,” Logan interjected.
Abbey let go a low growl as she ripped the file out of his hand. She opened it and gripped the pen inside. All the while, her eyes were locked with Sloan’s in a silent battle of wills.
“Abbey,” Logan interrupted. “I have to have Sloan’s signature on this one. They won’t accept it with yours.”
His words
were too late. With one last, hot glance at her husband, Abbey scrawled on the paper. She tossed the pen back inside and handed it all back to Logan. Then she scooped up a fussy Ethan from his swing. “I’m sorry, everyone. I need to nurse him and put him back to bed. I’ll be out in a bit. And Sloan? You’re an ass.” She stormed down the hall, slamming the door behind her.
Logan let go an exasperated sigh as he opened the folder. Then his mouth gaped open as he stared. “Holy…”
“What?” Robert questioned as he and Bartholomew joined him. With one glance, they joined in Logan’s amazement.
“What are you ladies babbling about?” Sloan interrogated.
Robert looked up at him. “Did you know your wife can sign your name? I mean, it’s identical.”
“I’ve seen your signature a thousand times,” Logan added. “I can’t tell them apart.”
Sloan grinned. “I’m well aware of it. She picked it up at all those book signings. Incredibly she can sign my birth name near as perfect also.”
Robert cocked his head toward the hallway. “Is she all right? She seems really pissed.”
Sloan’s eyes followed where Robert had indicated. His eyes glimmered as his smile curved deeper into pure sin. “Oh, yes. She’ll be fine. Trust me. She’ll be purring my name by morning.”
Liam shook his head. Of course, Sloan took Abbey’s angry outburst as a challenge. And there was no doubt who was going to win. He glanced at Gordon and Mary, watching them gather their things to leave. The consensus was in. Even as a faux parent, there were things Liam didn’t need to witness Sloan doing. Seducing Abbey was at the top of that list.
It was time to go before things got heated in the O’Riley household and someone ended up naked.
»»•««
Abbey clenched the warm coffee mug in her hands as she pushed the back door of her parents’ house open with her hip and stepped out into the cool, spring morning. She had roused Ame and Ethan out of bed specifically for this trip to Grandpa and Grandma’s. It wasn’t anything earth-shattering, by any means, but she wasn’t going to miss it for the world.
Sloan was not your typical man. He intimidated anyone who came near him. He was a Greek god with an Irish bent. He played rugby. He worked out. He swam daily. No one compared to him in creativity. But she never actually saw him do any sort of manual labor. Not that she doubted he could. Sloan could do anything he set his mind to, but coming from a small, rural town where manual labor was the norm, watching him actually work intrigued her.
She smiled slyly at the piles of lumber stacked across the back lawn. The boys were all mulling around, a couple rather grumpily for being woken up so early on a Saturday. They were all there to help Gordon build the deck her Mom had wanted since they moved to Minneapolis. Liam was even awake and ready to build.
Abbey giggled. Bet he didn’t think he was doing this when he visited from Belfast. Her brow knit in confusion as Logan appeared from around the garage. How’d he get roped into this? The glare he shot Sloan answered the question. Another chuckle erupted from her throat.
Sloan picked up a four-by-four in his large, gloved hands and inspected it. “Hmm,” he hummed to himself as he slapped the wood against his palm, breaking free some of the residual dirt that clung to it. “Rough. Hard. Dirty.” His gaze met hers, his eyes twinkling.
Abbey could read the message there. Her husband may have been talking about the board in his grip, but his thoughts were far from it. She felt her face flush hot as her mouth went dry. The heat from her cheeks shot straight through her, twisting her core into a knot only he could unwind.
“Don’t you need the boards to be clean?” she squeaked out in protest.
Robert shot her a glare. “It’s a footing, Abbey. We’re about to sink it into concrete. Plus it’s going to be exposed to the elements. So, no. Are you planning to play supervisor this morning? Where are your kids?”
“Maybe I am. And the kids are watching cartoons with their Grandma. Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” she quipped back.
Robert snarled at her before he returned to the pile of lumber he was sorting. Abbey grinned as her husband winked at her in victory. She settled into a lawn chair to watch construction begin.
It didn’t take long for the deck to be assembled and stained. Abbey giggled every time she was rather gruffly asked to move. It seemed that every time she resettled her chair, she was in their way. Abbey chuckled to herself as she set her mug on the ground. Little do they know I’ve been doing it on purpose.
As everyone settled in for an indoor picnic of Mary’s famous fried chicken and all the fixings, Sloan cleared his throat. “How is everything in Belfast, Liam?”
“Not much has changed. Still working toward peace.”
“And your flight?”
“Good. Pleasant. How’s the company?”
“Growing. Abbey and I just broke ground on a complex in Hong Kong. It should go quick.”
“That’s wonderful. And when is the next O’Riley lad or lass coming?”
Abbey’s eyes grew wide. “Not for a while, Liam.”
Everyone laughed as Abbey shook her head adamantly and then turned back to the feast in front of them. When everyone was finished, the dishes were cleared as Abbey laid her children down for a nap. The men sat down in from of the television to watch baseball, while the women chatted as they drank coffee.
When it was nearly time for supper, Abbey wrapped her arms around Sloan’s shoulders from behind and kissed his cheek. “Tomorrow is a big day. We need to take the kids home so they can get to bed a little earlier.”
“Aye, luv. Even though you’re planning the impossible.”
“We’ll see.”
He chuckled as he stood. They hugged each member of their family and then carried the kids to the car. Abbey gazed at the neighboring houses and large, leafy trees as he backed the Hummer out of the driveway and drove down the street.
“Do you regret it?” she asked.
“Regret what?”
“The ceremony tomorrow. Giving up your citizenship to Northern Ireland.”
“Nay. There’s nothing for me there. All I love is here.”
“In the United States.”
“In this car.”
Abbey smiled as she leaned over the console and kissed his cheek. “I love you, Sloan O’Riley.”
“I love you, Abigail O’Riley.”
She took his hand tight in hers. She looked back at her children in the backseat. He was right. Everything she loved was in that car at that moment. Life couldn’t be more perfect.
Chapter Two
Sloan slid the knot of his tie closer to his throat as he stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He breathed a heavy sigh. In just a couple of hours, he would renounce the country of his birth to become a naturalized citizen of the United States.
He braced his large, powerful hands against the granite of the counter and lowered his head. He had fought for freedom for his homeland. He chuckled to himself. Truthfully, he had wanted revenge against the bastards who killed his da and brother. But freedom for the people of Northern Ireland to make their own laws would have been a lovely bonus. Granted, he never got to that point. He wasn’t sure he had made much of a difference as an errand boy. And before he could fight, he had been driven from the country.
He turned at the sound of soft giggles. Slowly, he straightened and started to stride out of the bathroom. He stopped at the threshold of the door. He leaned against the doorway and smiled, any allegiance to his native country drifting away. Like I can forget why I want to remain here permanently.
Ethan, dressed in a tiny polo shirt and slacks, was lying in the middle of a massive, steel gray comforter, buffered on each side by a pile of pillows to keep him from rolling off the bed. He kicked his little feet in the air as he cooed. Ame sat beside him, dressed in her lilac Easter dress, tickling her baby brother. Their combined laughter was simply music. Sloan smiled at his children proudly.
>
His gaze wandered from the bed to the dresser a few feet from it. His grin faded slightly as his heart thundered in his chest. After all these years, that wee woman still undoes me every time I lay eyes on her.
Abbey stood in front of her vanity mirror, slipping a modest diamond earring into her earlobe. The black wrap dress she wore accentuated every curve. Her brown hair brushed her shoulders and back with each movement. Her eyes glanced past her own reflection to his. Her soft, pink lips curved into a proud smile. “As usual, drop-dead sexy.”
Sloan crossed the room, tugging her into his arms. He buried his lips in the curve of her neck. Abbey’s breath hitched as his mouth roamed until his teeth clamped gently around the earring. She turned in his grasp to face him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pressing a kiss to his lips. He moaned, the sensation of her curves molding against his body setting him on fire. “Bloody hell, luv. You’re beautiful.”
Her cheeks tinged pink at his compliment. “Are you ready for this? It’s a huge step, Sloan.”
“Abigail, I’ll never leave you or our children. You’re my life. It makes no sense for me to pledge allegiance to Northern Ireland when my life is here in the United States. And once this is over, hopefully the CIA will finally be content. Are you ready to leave?”
“I am whenever you are.” Abbey kissed him again, her soft, warm lips caressing his.
He groaned again as he pulled her tighter against him. “Maybe we should put a movie on for Ame,” he murmured.
“And what do we do about Ethan? And the ceremony? We’ll be late. I would have thought you had enough last night. And the night before when you were apologizing.”
“I can never get enough of you.”
Abbey softly kissed him a third time. “Sloan, I promise you that you’ll fall asleep a satisfied man, probably sometime near dawn tomorrow. The citizenship ceremony officials won’t be very happy if we’re late.”
Sloan sighed as he let her slip from his arms. “Fine. But believe me, luv. I’m holding you to your word.”
“I’m counting on it.”
Trial by Fire Page 2