Enzo (Jinx Tattoos Book 1) (15 page)

The whimpering bundle on her chest pulled her from a deep sleep. She blinked and found herself peering down into curious grey eyes.

“Hello, a mhuirnin,” she said with a smile.
A girl could get used to this.
The baby cooed in response and she eased off the couch, holding the baby securely to her chest.
Too bad we don’t have a swing or a bumbo chair.
She added the items to an imaginary list, and her heart dropped. She wasn’t theirs to provide for. “I wish we could keep you, little one,” she murmured, brushing her lips across Aoife’s forehead. She laid the squirming bundle onto the changing table and unsnapped her footed pajamas. It was hard to believe this was the wet, miserable infant they’d found in the wooded area.
In another time and another place, she could’ve been
ours.
The thought pleased her far more than it should. They’d solved nothing between them, but she couldn’t blame the interruption on him. For once, he hadn’t stalled out or ran.
Yet, I still have no clue where we stand.

She focused on changing the baby and putting her in a fresh outfit. The little pink jogging suit with a white stripe down the leg made her smile. “Okay, kiddo, I hate to strap you in the chair again. But I need to go to the potty, and I don’t trust you not to try to roll away.”

The baby continued to stare on.

It was silly, but she almost thought the little girl understood her in some way, so she continued to chatter on. They formed a bond as she got ready for the day and made her bottle. She was sitting on the couch, feeding her a bottle when the door opened. “Hey, you’re back. Is everything okay?” she asked, taking in his somber expression.

“I did something I’m not sure you’re going to agree with. But I need you to promise me even if you don’t, you’ll trust me to do what’s right.”

Scooting to the edge of the couch, she took a shaky breath then let it out slowly. “I’m listening.”

“Nu-uh. Promise first, Aibhlinn. I know how you can be about things.”

She closed her eyes and mentally counted to ten. There were times when they were on opposite ends of the belief spectrum. He came from a place of survival, and she would never fully understand. Despite the dangers present in her youth, she had two parents who loved and cared for her. Once you removed that foundation, it was the law of the jungle where every person was for themselves, and survival of the fittest was the lay of the land. She understood it, but it killed her. “Okay,” she whispered.

“I went to see Snake.”

The image of the tattooed co-leader of the Wild Ones popped into her head. “Why?”

“I wanted him to look into Aoife, see if there were any missing person reports or kidnapping situations. He’s working on it now.”

“Makes sense. Why did you think I’d be upset?”

“Because I also asked him to get the paperwork started.”

She frowned. “I’m not following you. Paperwork for what?”

“To claim her as my own.”

“What?” She rose from the couch.

Aoife tensed and began to whimper.

Forcing her body to relax, she took a deep breath again, but it whooshed out rapidly this time. “But she’s not—”

“No one else needs to know that. We’ll draw up papers, have her rights signed to me, and that will be that.”

“No.” She shook her head. “This is incredibly illegal and selfish.”

“Why? Because it doesn’t fit in a pretty little box the way you like things to?”

“Oh, don’t you turn this around on me.”

“If that search comes up blank, it means she has no one looking out for her. She’ll be another hungry mouth and a faceless person in the system. Sure, she might get adopted out right away and have a good life, but I’m not counting on it. All you need is one person to care and look out for your well-being.”

“And that’s you, is it?” Aibhlinn countered.

“Yes, I’m making that decision now,” he said.

The stubborn set of his jaw and the determination in his eyes told her he wasn’t hearing her. “You can’t just take someone’s baby.”

“I didn’t. They threw her away. Don’t act like I crept through a window and stole her from a crib.”

Aoife began to squirm.

“I knew you’d balk at this because I didn’t go through legal channels. But what do you expect? I’m not even registered to be a foster parent. You think they’ll just hold her until I go through the lengthy process of classes and information gathering?”

“No, but your mother knows people. She could take her—”

“Saying they did allow her to, what then? You think they like to give foster girls to single men?”

“I’d help you.”

“Doesn’t matter in the eyes of the law unless we’re married.”

Aoife began to fuss. Aibhlinn removed the bottle from her mouth, and placed her over her shoulder, patting her back. Guilt gained her silence. The little one knew the mood in the room had changed.

“You going to rat on me, Aibhlinn?”

“Leahys aren’t rats,” she spat, furious that Enzo thought so little of her.

“No, but you have one hell of a rigid moral compass,” Enzo argued.

“Suddenly, that’s a bad thing?” she asked.

“I didn’t say it was—”

“You didn’t have to, Enzo.”

He ran a hand over his head. “See it from my point of view. I’d never be able to look at myself in the mirror, if I did wrong by this little girl. Could you just hand her over to some stranger and never hear about what happened next? The minute we alert the authorities, this is out of our hands.”

“So…we just hope she’s okay?”

“Once we have the paperwork I can take her. If you’re that worried, we can call on Snake’s doc. I thought this out. It’s not some split-second decision.”

“So why are you telling me? You’ve already made up your mind.”

“Because I need you, Aibhlinn…we need you.”

“Don’t do that.” She rocked back and forth. When Aoife burped, pride filled her chest; a warmth she’d never experienced spread through her body. “Please don’t lay this on me.”

“I am. Because it’s true.” He dropped to his knee in front of her. “Let’s do this properly, give her a family.”

Her heart raced as she gazed down at him.
Is he asking me what I think he is?

“We both deserve to give this a real try. One year is all I’m asking. If we don’t work, then we’ll annul it.”

“Is this because of her?” she whispered. He was dangling a golden carrot in front of her. She desperately wanted to take it and run, but not if it was for the wrong reason.

He shook his head. “No, she’s given me the courage to go for the things I want. If I was ever to have a family you were the mother and wife I envisioned. If I can do this… I can do it properly.”

“This is crazy,” she whispered.

“We’re crazy, so that’s nothing new.”

She peered down at him. Everything inside her screamed
yes!
“I-I need some time to think about t-this.”

His face fell. He bowed his head and nodded, refusing to meet her gaze.

“It’s not for lack of want, Enzo. I want to be your wife, and this little one’s mother, but I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do. I need a minute.” She absently rubbed Aoife’s back. The baby had fallen into a milk induced coma and drifted off. She placed her into the playpen.

He glanced up. “What are you worried about?”

“What aren’t I worried about? We’d be going into this thing ass backward. What if no good could come of it? You know how Catholics look at divorce. If I can’t prove to them this union was invalid after we married, that’s it. I could never marry again, in the eyes of the church. You went from running away to wanting to walk down the aisle. If you’re hot and cold now, what happens once we both have rings on our fingers? I refuse to be made out to be a fool.” She walked over to the bassinet and gently laid the sleeping infant inside.

“I’d never do that to you—”

“You’d never mean to. Doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”

Enzo came up behind her. “Aibhlinn. You’ve always been the one person who believed in me. I’m asking you to do that for just a little longer.”

You’re asking me for so much more. Once I let down my guard and embrace this, that’s it for me. Why can’t you understand that?
“A day, it’s all I’m asking, Enz. You dropped this all in my life and I’m drowning in what could happen and what should happen. I need to make up my own mind, you keen?” She turned and pleaded with her eyes. Her mother had married young and ended up going down a dark path she could never return from. At least she’d been head over heels in love with her Da. Could she say the same?
And if I say no and walk away, what then?

“Okay. Aoife and I can do our thing for twenty-four hours.”

“Don’t be cross with me. It’s a big deal. You know how I feel about marriage and lying. It’s a tough spot for me to be in. Let me get my head around all these new developments and we’ll talk.”

He rested his forehead against hers. “I don’t want you to do anything you’re going to regret. That shit would kill me.”

“No matter what, I’ll always have your back. We don’t need to say vows in a church for that.”

“I do. I need it to show every motherfucker out there breathing who you belong to. I spent a lot of time running away from this. That’s over now, and it’s not just because of Aoife. I’ve been putting in hard work with the doc, and it’s opened my eyes in more ways than one.”