“I appreciate it,” I told him honestly.

“Look, if you’re serious and you can get a handle on your anger management, then I think I can help you. But you need to listen and take my advice. You do that and fight like you’ve been fighting, and I’ll take you to the top.”

“Done,” I agreed with a rare smile.

Chapter 7

I loved to watch Em sleep. It was the most peaceful thing in the world to watch her pulse tick gently at her throat while her chest moved slowly up and down. Every protective instinct in me flared to life, like my body knew she was at her most vulnerable and it was my job to protect her.

Usually I could watch her sleep for hours. Usually. Today I paced back and forth in front of the bed waiting for her to open her eyes. I’d already been for a five-mile run to burn off some excess energy but it hadn’t worked. What if she didn’t like it? Today was her twenty-first birthday. I’d spent my twenty-first in a series of bars and fuck knows where after that. I had no memory after the first ten pints. Sunshine’s birthday was going to be different though. With everything that had gone down this year, she needed a day filled with happiness, and I was going to give it to her. Her flushed, warm cheeks dimpled as she grinned, amused by my excitement.

“Happy birthday, baby,” I whispered.

“Best birthday ever,” she replied.

“How do you know? You’ve only just woken up,” I asked.

“Because it’s the first birthday I’ve ever woken up with you,” she told me.

God, sometimes it’s like she reached into my chest and held my heart in her hand, just to remind me why it belonged to her.

Her answer was rewarded with another lingering kiss before I bounded from the bed to the kitchenette, full of excitement and restless energy. I opened the oven and put the pastries I had warming on a plate, then placed them on the tray next to the expensive coffee I prayed was still hot. Frowning down, I figured the tray needed something fancy like a flower or something. Grabbing a couple of paper towels off the countertop, I folded them origami style into a sailboat and placed it next to the pastries. Placing the folded tea towel over my arm in my best imitation of a butler, I turned to look at her.

“Ma’am, breakfast is served.”

I’d like to say I walked the tray through to the breakfast room but our flat was so tiny that you were literally in the bedroom/living room if you turned around in the kitchenette.

Giggling in delight she sat up against the pillows and groaned sexily when she poured the coffee.

“This is wonderful. I can’t believe you did this,” she squealed in delight.

“I’ll be back in a minute, love,” I told her. Placing a kiss on her forehead, I disappeared to get everything ready. When I came back breakfast was over, and she was in the kitchenette washing dishes.

“Hey! None of that. It’s your birthday. No one washes dishes on their birthday.”

“It’s just another day, O’Connell.” She laughed and I growled at her for not wanting more for herself today. I love that, even growling I didn’t intimidate her. Mostly my acting tough just made her giggle or roll her eyes. We’d come a long way since our spectacular showdown and were closer for it. I sat down on the bed and pulled her by her wrist to sit down on my lap. Pulling a box from behind my back, I placed it in her hands. Her eyes instantly welled up, and all my fears evaporated. It didn’t matter what was in the box. She’d love it anyway. She was tracing her fingers over the ribbon reverently.

“Are you going to open that or stare at it all day?” I asked, amused.

She wound her hand around the base of my neck and kissed me gently, then carefully peeled away the ribbon and tape. I swear to God, I was about to rip open the damn thing myself if she took much longer. Finally she slid off the lid to reveal a silver locket.

“Oh, O’Connell. It’s breathtaking.” She sighed wondrously.

“Open it up,” I told her. Inside was a tiny, perfectly sized picture. Danny was in the center looking pretty pissed off, Liam was smirking, Kieran was grinning, Tommy was pulling a face, and I was smiling as I thought about what my girl would think when she saw this. To get all of us in the locket picture, we had to squeeze around Danny. We looked like a scary arse version of the Brady Bunch. Em burst out laughing when she saw it.

“This is wonderful,” she told me. “How on earth did you get them all to sit for it?”

“I asked Danny to do it, and he told me to fuck off. Pleading and begging didn’t work, and finally Kieran asked him what he had bought you for your birthday. Danny went a bit green and told me he’d sit for one picture and give me fifty pounds if I let him say it was a joint present.”

“I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when it was being taken. I really can’t imagine Danny doing this, even for me,” she said with a laugh.

“Kieran and Tommy fucked about so much, Danny was just about hoarse from telling them off when the picture was taken. He told the photographer he’d stay for one shot, after that Kieran and Tommy wouldn’t have been in it anyway because he would have murdered them. That was the picture, and the photo people sized it down enough to fit in your locket.”

“Thank you so much, love. I’ll treasure it. But you shouldn’t have spent so much money on me.”

“I spent exactly the limit we set for birthdays. The boys all chipped in so I even managed to get a couple of odds and ends in.” She stared at it, running her finger gently across the picture. “It’s a Celtic family locket. You got us in one picture, and I’ve left the other one blank. You know. In case we ever have kids.”

She bit her lip, and her eyes teared up. She handed me the locket as she lifted her hair and secured it around her neck. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her to her feet and toward the bathroom.

“Time to get dressed. There’s one more thing you need to see,” I told her and with a quick kiss and a tap on the arse, I left her to get ready.

* * *

“Okay. Open your eyes. What do you think?” I took my hands away and let her look. This was almost as nerve-wracking as asking her to marry me. Back then I was asking her to forget all the crap surrounding me and imagine a better version who’d made something of himself. I was asking her to take a chance on me. Now I was doing the same with this house. Tommy was right. It was a shit hole. But when I was done, it would be a palace. A home for the two of us no one could ever take away. I stared at her expression, looking for any sign at all about how she felt.