Sincerely, Your Inconvenient Wife (The Harder They Fall, #2)(50)

“It’s fine, pretty girl.” I took her hand in mine, angry to find it trembling. This woman had screwed Saoirse up so bad her very presence made her shake. “I’m here with you. We’ll have dinner with her. I won’t let you do this alone. I promised you that, remember?”

She nodded, her eyes clouded with unshed tears. “I just really don’t want her to come here.”

“She won’t. Let’s go get cleaned up. Tell Lock what’s going on. Warn your dad if you feel like you have to. Keep it quiet if you don’t. I’m with you every step of the way. That’s our deal, right?”

It took her a second to respond. Her chin quivered even as she raised it. “Right. That’s our deal.”



Main Street of Sugar Brush, Wyoming, looked like it had stepped out of a greeting card. Glass-front mom-and-pop shops lined the street, with a few restaurants scattered in between. I rolled down the road on my bike, Saoirse wrapped tightly around my back. She pointed out the pub where we were meeting her mom.

Joy’s Elbow Room.

Cute. The whole town was.

I’d never be able to live in a place this small, but in another life, I could see myself spending long weekends here with Saoirse. That would never be us. This was what we had, so I’d take it and enjoy the hell out of the entire Saoirse experience.

I parked the bike, helping Saoirse off, as Lock pulled in beside us. The second his sister had told him their mother was in town, he’d told her he was coming with her. Elena and the kids stayed back, having dinner with Connell.

In the end, Saoirse had decided to tell her dad Lily was in town. The way he went from open and amiable to shuttered and silent told me everything Saoirse had said about her parents was true. They were broken, and she had to witness the continued crumbling of her father.

It struck me deeply. I wondered if her parents even understood what they had done to her. I didn’t think I knew a tenth of how far her pain reached, but with her shaking hand in mine, I suspected it was all the way to her core.

Lock patted his sister’s back. “It’ll be okay. We’ll deal with whatever she has to say then go have some ice cream back home.”

She listed toward him, her head hitting his shoulder. “Can we skip this and go home now?”

“Nope. Gotta face the music, kid.”

I would have recognized Lily as Saoirse’s mother without anyone telling me. Willowy and blonde, she’d passed her looks down to her daughter. She was already seated at a round, wooden table that looked like it belonged on a pirate ship, and she wasn’t alone. A slim, balding man in a navy suit rose to his feet beside her as we approached.

Saoirse turned her head, speaking lowly to me. “That’s Peter, her chief of staff.”

“He looks like a jackhole,” I muttered.

“He is.”

I squeezed her nape, then slid my hand to the small of her back, reminding her I was with her all the way.

Lily pulled Saoirse and Lock into stiff hugs—stiff on her children’s part, her embrace was firm and fierce, which took me by surprise. She offered me a warm handshake and an introduction to Peter that thankfully didn’t involve touching. I got the vibe this guy had perpetually sweaty hands.

We all sat and got ordering out of the way. Saoirse stared at her menu blindly, so I helped her pick out a burger I thought she’d like. I ordered her a beer too. She needed something to take the edge off, or she’d burst.

“So…” Lily folded her hands on the table, her gaze trailing from me to Saoirse, “I’d like to know why I had to read about your marriage in the Denver Times. Cora sent me the clipping, and I thought it was some sort of practical joke.”

I found Saoirse’s hand under the table and brought it to my thigh. She wove her fingers between mine and squeezed.

“Obviously, I’d planned to tell you, but the news got out before we expected it to. I’m sorry for that. It wasn’t intentional.”

“Your mother was very hurt,” Peter chimed in.

Lock glared at him. “Why is he here?”

Lily straightened her shoulders. “I don’t like traveling alone. Peter volunteered to come with me.”

“That doesn’t answer why he’s sitting here at this table. This doesn’t involve him. Saoirse shouldn’t have to reveal personal information in front of your employee,” Lock stated, his thick arms folded over his chest.

“Peter knows everything. In his position, he has to,” Lily answered.

“Bullshit,” Lock uttered.

“Peter isn’t family, Mother. He’s nothing more than a clinger,” Saoirse said.

Peter went crimson from his collar to his receding hairline. “Show some respect, young lady. I know that’s a foreign concept to you. All that matters is ‘living free’ or whatever you call your irresponsible life—”

I slammed my hand down on the table, possibly drawing more attention than any of us wanted, but I was past caring. This piece of shit thought he could sit here, disparaging Saoirse, and get away with it? He had a lot to learn about me if he really believed that.

“That’s enough. I will not sit here and allow you to speak to my wife that way.” I flicked my gaze to her mother. “This ends now, or I am taking my wife out of here, and in the future, you’ll have to go through me to speak to her. No one will ever disrespect her that way. Not if I have anything to say about it.”