Dinner With Dad
Dinner was full of lively chatter as Egan excitedly told his new Granddad all about the movie he’d watched with his father and uncle. Lorcan was giving the boy what appeared to be his undivided attention, but Genesis knew his thoughts were. elsewhere.
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Luckily for her, she was seated between Egan and Lorcan at the dinner table. Kiefer was sitting in his usual seat, at the head of the table and while he’d offered it to his father, Lorcan simply winked at her and said he’d rather sit next to the pretty lady than alone at the head. Tadgh and Jerren sat opposite them.
Tadgh’s eyes were suspiciously watching every move his father made and Kiefer’s hand was tight on his cutlery.
Lorcan’s hand however, despite the glowers of his two sons, remained firmly planted on Genesis‘ thigh. She felt smug and nervous all at once. There was something deliciously sinful. about playing the three of them off each other after all the hell she’d been through. Yet, the man sitting to her right was by far the scariest, manliest man she’d ever met, and she was married. to Kiefer O’Reilly who once made a man piss himself simply by walking into a room.
“Granddad, when the bad guy in the movie used his powers to make the good guy fall from the building, I thought the good guy
to die.”
was a
“He didn’t?”
Dinner With Dad
expression as his hand inched up higher on Genesis’s leg.
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She moved her hand to stop him going higher and he caught it to pin it under his and laced their fingers together.
“The good guy was cool and he’s the good guy, but the bad guy was way smarter! He was a scientist, and he had all kinds of cool gadgets and things, and he was even stronger. The good guy only got his powers because of aliens, not because he’s smart or worked hard.”
Lorcan was eying him carefully. “Tell me more, Egan.”
Kiefer who cleared his throat and Genesis shot him a curious.
look.
“Egan told us today when we were watching the movie about. how his mother told him sometimes the best people in the world do really terrible things because they feel they have no other choice. She apparently taught him not to judge everyone the same way and to examine their situations carefully. He said it made him look at the villains in the movies in a different way. Do you follow the advice you gave your son, Genesis?” Kiefer lifted a piece of steak to his lips, “do you examine situations. carefully.” His eyes pointedly went to where her lower body was hidden behind the table.
She gave a shrug, “I simply taught my son, not all situations are black and white. For example, where we lived in Canada, it was a lovely place in a nice neighbourhood but fifteen minutes int another direction was full of low income and poverty–stricken people. We’d stopped in at a store for milk one evening on our way home but couldn’t go in because the police were there since someone robbed it. Egan expressed it was bad how someone.
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do things which they wouldn’t normally do out of necessity, hurt, fear or simply hunger. Not everything is black and white. Robbing a store simply because you want money and to terrorize surely shouldn’t be judged the same way as robbing a store because you have two children at home and you’re at risk for eviction because you were laid off from your job due to downsizing and the job market is shit and you’re a single parent and it feels like there is nothing left to do in the world to provide for your family. People get pushed in different directions all the time. Everyone has good in them. Everyone has the potential to be bad. You manage your business in life the way you need to if you want to survive.”
Lorcan squeezed her leg, “spoken like a woman pushed to the cusp a few times and I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
“Dad, really?” Tadgh gave a glare at his father’s arm.
“What? Gen, am I making you uncomfortable?”
“Not in the least,” she looked back at her plate knowing Kiefer would see through her lie. She was uncomfortable. Highly uncomfortable. Yet, knowing Lorcan’s actions were pissing the twins off to no end was far outweighing her discomfort. She was rather enjoying their misery.
“There you have it.”
“Granddad, my Dad said someday I’ll be able to go to Ireland see where he grew up and you live in Ireland, and you’ll go back soon. When you go back are we going with you to visit?”
“It will be up to your Mom if she wants to come for a visit, but your dad was wrong about me going back soon. I have no
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“How long are you staying?” Kiefer asked through a tight jaw.
“Until I’m certain the mother of my grandson is in a safe place and feeling far less vulnerable than she has been.”
“You think pressuring her is making her feel less vulnerable?” Tadgh asked boldly.
“Have I pressured you, Gen?”
“No.”
“When you and I chatted this afternoon in the living room, did I say anything which made you feel you were not given any choices or autonomy in making your decisions?”
“No.”
“You chatted earlier?”
“What the hell did you talk about?”
Kiefer and Tadgh spoke over each other and Genesis couldn’t help her chuckle.
“Genesis, at any time did I tell you I would force you to sit with me, talk with me, be in my presence or tell you what was going to happen without your input?”
“No sir.” She looked at him with a smile and batted her lashes.
His laugh was low at her boldness. He gave her fingers a squeeze. “Have the pair of you given her any choices, autonomy in decision
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making or even asked her opinion?” The two men looked at cach other before looking at their father who lifted his eyebrow. “Let me guess. You told her how it was going to be. You gave her an ultimatum of two or none and if she chose none then it meant she left her heart,” he gave a pointed glance to the child who was watching the conversation in confusion, “behind.”
“Well,” Kiefer cleared his throat. “We need to ensure their safety.”
“You’re an idiot.” Lorcan stared at Kiefer. “I gave her options. I will let her make her own decisions. Gen, a third option for you, if the first two aren’t to your laste,” he was boldly enforcing his role as head of the family and the man in control, “we can always. have a guest house built for you on the estate.”
“There will be no building of a guest house here on the estate.” Kiefer griped.
“Why not? There is room and we have resources.”
“Tadgh and I were talking about this yesterday and were going to broach it with you this evening after dinner. This house. carries too much trauma for Gen. We want to buy a new estate, one without the past hanging over our heads. We will keep this one in the family for obvious reasons,” he made a face at his father, “but a new place for us to start fresh feels like a better
idea.”
“What brought you to this idea?” Lorcan eyed his sons curiously.
“Genesis has experienced a couple of,” Kiefer shot a look at Egan, “episodes when entering this house. After a lot of back and forth, Tadgh and I both feel the best way to keep her health
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“Gen,” Lorcan look her by the shoulders and turned her to face. him completely, “you didn’t mention to me earlier you were finding it so difficult living in the house, but it makes sense given. all you’ve been through. How do you feel about relocating?”
“Truth?”
“I would never want anything else from you.”
“I wish I’d never set foot in this house. I’d blow it up if I could.”
“Mom!” Egan laughed at her words. “You can’t blow up our house!”
“Why can’t she?” Lorcan laughed, “relocate the cemetery and then let Gen light the fuse.”
“Cemetery?” Egan’s eyes widened as he looked around.
“There is no cemetery,” Kiefer reassured his son with an exasperated glare at his father. “It makes more sense to leave this place standing, Dad and to use it as a base for the men and guests coming in from Europe. It’s location within an hour of Boston’s piers is good. But” he gave a nod to Genesis, “if you wish to blow up and bulldoze the mansion, we can make it happen.”
She shrugged, “of all the suggestions, I like the idea of living separate from you.”
“Not happening.” This time the twins spoke in sync.
She made a face, “I want my own room at least.”
Dinner With Dad
“The last three nights I’ve slept with Egan and they’ve both crawled in with us.”
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“It’s a good damn thing you’re not sitting beside me because I’d smack you up the back of the head. Fool.” Lorcan glared at Kiefer.
“We are trying to build our relationship as a family.”
“You are trying to force yourself on a woman who is confused, scared and hurting without regard to her needs.”
“Not me.” Tadgh argued.
“Are you or are you not climbing into a bed where she sleeps?”
“He cuddles me from behind,” she shot Lorcan a pleading look.
“Egan,” Lorcan looked at his grandson, “do you mind sleeping alone or do you prefer Mom to sleep with you.”
“She snores.” Egan gave a one shouldered shrug as if bored and lifted a spoonful of carrots into his mouth. “I like sleeping alone but if Mom needs to cuddle me, then I’m happy to hug her. Also, Roan stays longer when Mom is close.”
“Your brother Roan?” Lorcan asked. “Does he look like you?”
“Yes.” Again, Egan shoved food into his mouth, not stopping chewing while he talked.
“Egan, don’t speak with your mouth full of food.”
Lorcan waved at one of the housekeepers, “Prepare a room for
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Genesis near Egan but ensure it is equipped with a lock from the inside and give her the only key. I want it done this evening. I don’t care how many it takes to get it done, get it done.”
“Yes sir,” the woman bowed at him and turned to walk away.
“Doesn’t quite have the same ring as when you say it,” Lorcan whispered in Genesis’s ear and the gave direct looks to his sons. “Starting immediately Genesis is not going to be forced to hide in her son’s arms to escape your advances. You can keep her safe without crawling uninvited into her bed.”
She smiled genuinely at Lorcan, “thank you.” Feeling impulsive she kissed his cheek ignoring the hiss of fury from the two men. As he squeezed her leg and hand simultaneously under the table, she wondered if having a dirty daddy wasn’t such a bad
idea.
B
