Bad Bishop by L.J. Shen - 54

“ What will you do with Harlem, now that it’s yours? ” I asked as we drove to my baby shower at my parents’ house.

It was a last-minute gathering, but Mama insisted we should make up for some lost time.

She’d been the picture of a perfect mother since our talk at the hospital, dropping by with food and clothes, sometimes accompanying Tiernan and me to our weekly checkups at the doctor’s office.

I was excited to spend time with Tierney and Sofia. Really, I was excited to see everyone other than Vello.

I was relieved to find out he wasn’t my biological father, and unlike with Mama, I saw no reason to try to patch things up with him. It wasn’t my fault I wasn’t his, and it certainly wasn’t my job to make him love me. If he wanted us to be strangers, that was exactly what we’d be.

“Nothing,” Tiernan clipped out, his gaze unwavering from the road.

“ You mean, you’re going to keep things as is? ”

“I mean, I’m not getting Harlem.”

Rearing my head back, I frowned. “ Vello refused to fulfill his side of the bargain? ”

It wouldn’t surprise me. The man was a menace.

“He tried giving it to me. I declined it.”

“ Why? ” I asked incredulously.

“Because finding that asshole had stopped being about territory and prestige a long time ago.”

His veiny, big hand tap-tap-tapped the wheel impatiently. “And I don’t want you to ever doubt why I’m here. Besides, I’ve no interest in Harlem anymore. Alex and I have bigger plans. The Midwest is wide open, waiting to be claimed. Fewer feds’ eyes on it, too.”

“ You should’ve taken what’s yours. ” But even as I said this, I couldn’t deny the pleasure it gave me to know he gave up Harlem to show me his devotion. “ I already know that you love me. ”

“I have claimed what’s mine.” He ran his palm over my stomach, up my torso, thumbing my chin. “She’s sitting next to me, and I’m never letting her go.”

_______

Thirty minutes later, we parked in front of my parents’ house. The front lawn was decorated with arches of balloons in blue, white, and gold. The cobbled pathway leading to the doors was lined up with little stork signs that exclaimed: It’s a boy!

My heart pitter-pattered. Not only did Tiernan accept the baby, but Mama did, too. The two most important people in my life.

Tiernan rounded the car and opened the passenger door for me. He offered me a hand, keeping my palm in his as we made our way inside.

We were greeted by my family. Tierney was there, too, looking especially beautiful in a risqué black Balmain dress that clung to her killer body, black lacy gloves, and a pearl choker.

She was never going to get Achilles off her back if she continued baiting him, looking like she did.

A part of me suspected she didn’t want him to stop.

“You look so beautiful, bambina mia .” Mama kissed my cheeks with glittering eyes. “Glowing.”

“Thank you.” I held her wrists, kissing her back.

“And you’re wearing pink.” Tierney’s grin was conspiratorial. “To a blue-themed party. That’s so… you .”

Luca, Achilles, and Enzo hugged me, too. Sofia and I rubbed each other’s bumps, giggling. It was the first time I saw a genuine smile on her face. I knew better than to think that smile was because Luca and she were doing better. She still lived in Chicago, and he still lived in New York.

Vello wasn’t in attendance. Mama said he was feeling unwell, and I didn’t push. Frankly, I felt more relaxed without him being around.

There was food, cupcakes, virgin cocktails, laughter, and a game of trivia. Mama brought out the big guns at some point. Thick, dusty photo albums of me as a baby. I held my breath the entire time Tiernan and Tierney examined them, knowing their infancy did not include baby pictures, smash cakes, colorful bikes, and Barbie-themed Band-Aids.

At some point, I had to excuse myself to go to the bathroom. Peeing every ten minutes was the unfortunate by-product of having a six-pound human using your bladder as a pillow. I slipped into the restroom, did my business, and washed my hands. When I got out, I saw Achilles and Tierney huddled in a darkened corner of the hallway. I froze. She was pressed against the wall, him crowding her, his arms on either side of her shoulders. It was the first time he paid her attention all evening. He’d refused to look her way the entire evening. I suspected it had something to do with the revelation she’d been sleeping with Angelo. It was hard to think of Achilles as heartbroken. Then again, his behavior had always been so weird around her.

Stepping back behind the door, I studied them, waiting to see if Tierney needed any help.

I loved my brother, but I was fully prepared to jump to my sister-in-law’s defense and protect her.

“Did you touch my mistress?” Achilles’s face gave away nothing.

“Hmm.” Tierney yawned in his face provocatively. “Which one?”

“Don’t fuck with me, Tierney.”

“Honey, don’t you worry your ugly head about that. I’ll never fuck you.”

I pressed my lips to suppress a giggle.

“I only have one. Tessa.” The corded muscles in his tanned arms flexed. He looked like he was trying his best not to touch her and losing his control rapidly. Every hair on my body stood on end. I really didn’t want to smash something on his head but could see it happening if things went south. “She says her legs were broken with a baseball bat.”

“You mean, she can’t open them for you anymore?” Tierney clutched her choker in mock horror. She laughed, patting his shoulder good-naturedly. “Oh, come, Achilles. I’m harmless enough. The only thing I’ve ever killed is a sourdough starter.”

Achilles obviously wasn’t buying it.

“Did you do it yourself or send someone else?” he asked.

“I’m a hardworking gal.” She flipped her hair to one shoulder. “If I want to get something done, I always do it myself.”

“Thought you said you’d never hurt another woman.”

“ That woman has a rap sheet a mile long,” Tierney quipped. “Have you read it?”

“No.”

“She’s not exactly a symbol of feminism. Child abandonment, child neglect, solicitation, statutory rape of a seventeen-year-old boy…” She listed the colorful past of my brother’s mistress. “Honestly? She’s lucky I stopped at her legs. That neck was sooo squeezable.”

Achilles’s mask slipped, and a flash of surprise crossed his face. A rarity in itself. “Didn’t know all that.”

“Even if you did, it wouldn’t have made any difference to you.” She shrugged.

He didn’t deny it. “This was your payback for Angelo.”

“If I can’t get some, Ferrante, then neither can you.”

“Listen carefully now, piccola fiamma .” He snatched her jaw, making her meet his eyes. “You’re making one fatal mistake after another. Don’t push my limits. That self-destruction button of yours will get you killed one day, sweetheart. And I just might do the honor.”

Unable to stomach any more of this, I stepped out of the bathroom and cleared my throat, making myself known. Both their gazes fluttered to me. Achilles stepped back, sneering at Tierney like she was garbage.

“Your little friend saved the day.” He rearranged the choker around her neck gently, without touching her skin. “I’m watching you, Tierney.”

“Keep looking, asshole.” She smiled serenely. “Because that’s all you’ll do when it comes to me.”

“You okay?” I asked verbally, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She nodded, putting on a brave smile, but the light in her eyes was gone.

“Me? Oh, grand. Don’t worry about me at all. What about you? Having fun?”

I nodded.

“Great. That’s all I needed to know.”

_______

When we got to the gift portion of the event, worry began nibbling at the corners of my gut.

Imma gifted me the most beautiful changing table, powder blue and carved lavishly, but it was ginormous and would never fit into our bedroom, unless we removed a few pieces of furniture.

Mama bought the baby a SNOO.

Luca and Sofia gifted us a bougie designer stroller, a baby tub, and a car seat.

Achilles and Enzo contributed a bunch of toys and the rocker I’d put on my registry.

Tierney, an entire wardrobe of designer onesies and extravagant Burberry and Gucci baby blankets.

While I appreciated everything, we simply didn’t have space for all these things. I already knew I’d have to send Imma back to live with my parents, since there weren’t enough bedrooms in the apartment.

I suppose I didn’t really need my vanity…or my walk-in closet. My clothes could fit into some drawers, and I could convert the closet into a space for the baby’s changing table and clothes.

An hour later, Tiernan and I got into the car and made our way to the apartment. I continued trying to shift things around in my head to accommodate our growing family. Maybe we could keep the stroller in the communal hallway? I was sure Tierney wouldn’t mind.

But the truth was, squeezing things into our apartment was the least of my worries. We lived above a crowded pub. Surely, the constant hustle and bustle would wake the baby. And how was I to take him for strolls when we needed fresh air? We lived in an unsafe neighborhood.

“I’m sorry I didn’t give you anything for your baby shower.” Tiernan snatched me out of my own thoughts.

“ Please don’t be. ” I shook my head. “ We’ve both had so much on our minds lately. ”

“I did get you something small.” He reached across the central console, took my hand, and pressed my knuckles to his lips. “I hope you like it,” he murmured into my skin.

“ I’m sure I will. ”

“Mind if we make a pit stop to see it? It’s just around the corner.”

“ Not at all. I’m all yours. ”

In every single way possible.

We drove from Massapequa to Huntington in silence. I drummed my fingers on my thigh, feeling the baby readjusting inside my tummy. It had become unbearably uncomfortable for both of us lately.

Tiernan killed the engine in front of a stunning gray-stoned colonial with black shutters and floor-to-ceiling doors and windows. It was a jaw-dropping mansion with two white columns on either way of the entrance, a grand balcony above it, four chimneys, and two wings spurting from each side of it. There must be at least nine bedrooms in this place, I thought, as I took in the manicured bright green bushes bracketing the serpentine pathway to the house.

Tiernan stared at the manor. Grimly, he turned to me, rummaging in his pocket and depositing a small set of keys in my hand. “Here’s the something small I got you.”

“ You got me a key? ” I blinked, confused.

“Not just any key.” He gestured at the mansion. “One that opens the door to this house.”

I stared at him, processing the meaning of his words.

“Is this big enough for us?” He searched my face, something urgent flicking behind his eye.

“ I’m sorry? ” My pulse hammered against the side of my neck, my heart expanding like a sponge.

“Is the house big enough?” he repeated. “For you, me, Imma, the baby, and the other two or three you’ll want in the future, since, unlike me, you don’t detest people.”

Stunned, I stared at him, looking for the right words.

He…bought this? For me? For us ?

“It’s a little shy of twelve thousand square feet. Ten bedrooms. Way too many baths. A pool. A tennis court. I think I’ll convert it to a stable, though. I know you like horses.” He scratched his jaw absentmindedly. “The kitchen is huge. There are two of them, actually. Imma will be happy. And the nurseries are good-sized.”

I seized his jawline, making him stop talking. I shook my head. He looked…dejected. Like he lost, somehow. And I knew why.

“ Thank you. I appreciate it. But if you’re doing this just to appease me, please don’t. We’ll find a way to fit everything in our apartment. I don’t even need half the things we were gifted. I’ll happily donate them. And Imma can stay with my parents. I’ll be okay. All I care about is being with you. ”

“I’m not letting you and the baby live in Hunts Point.” He stared at me like I was insane. “Living above a pub…it’s no place for a new mother and a child.”

“ But you love Hunts Point. ”

“There are things I love more. One of them happens to sit right in front of me.”

“ You don’t have to choose. ”

“I do, and I am. I’ll be in New York daily, for work. You’ll be close to your parents and have all the assistance you need.”

I was going to argue, but it seemed his mind was set. I started signing something, but he ignored me, slipping out of the driver’s seat and opening the door for me.

Hesitantly, I stepped out and allowed myself a good look at the house.

It wasn’t as grand and flashy as my parents’, but ten times prettier. It looked like something out of the historical books I read about England, where soirees took place and people fell in love.

I got a little choked up as the soles of our shoes slapped the bricked trail toward the dramatic black door.

“Don’t you dare cry, Gealach .” Tiernan squeezed my hand in his, his expression stone-cold and oddly focused, like he was in the middle of an important mission. “We haven’t even reached the best part yet.”

The best part?

What could be better than gifting me an entire freaking house for my baby shower?

We walked into the foyer, and the scent hit me immediately. Fresh paint. This must’ve been in the works for a while now. A small tremor danced behind my sternum. Dark hardwood floors and crown moldings greeted us. The hallway was vast and newly remodeled. The house was empty, but still felt somehow full. Of promise and character and memories just waiting to be created between these walls.

My husband tugged me toward the kitchen.

The island and woodwork were painted navy, the backsplash a crème, veiny marble accented in blue. The parquet flooring still emitted the pleasant scent of freshly sawed wood.

Tiernan turned to spear me with a look. “I can already see Imma standing here, yelling at me not to leave crumbs in her kitchen.”

A giddy giggle escaped me.

We went up the wide-set stairway and onto the second floor. First, we checked the residential wing of the house. The master was luxuriously sparse, with separate bathrooms for both of us and a walk-in closet I could easily get lost in. The nursery was painted baby blue, one wall already wallpapered with teddy bears hanging from balloons. It was big enough to fit everything we were gifted, and more.

“Tiernan…” I choked out, breathless.

“Shh. There are two more surprises.” He yanked me to the other wing of the house. This feeling, of unrestrained happiness, was foreign to me. I felt like I could burst any minute with all the glee brimming inside me.

Tiernan stopped in front of a closed door, only a few feet away from a set of double doors down the hallway.

He opened the door.

It was an art room.

With huge windows to let the place air, a heavy wooden easel, a desktop, and portable drawers with supplies. There were canvases and brushes and pencils and paints. Inspiration boards and palettes and different shade lamps.

Tiernan knew nothing about art, and yet he took the time and the effort.

He did this for me.

He did all of this for me.

I cupped my mouth, overcome with emotions.

“ This is perfect. Is it okay to cry now? ” I signed. “ Because I’m dangerously close. ”

“Almost.” He put his finger in the air, motioning for me to hold. “Give me about…” He scowled at his watch. “Eight more minutes.”

I couldn’t imagine anything better than what he’d already shown me. But I nodded my agreement, letting him lead me back into the hallway, and in front of the double doors.

He stopped, turning to me fully. He shoved his hand into his front pocket, producing something small in his hand.

“ What’s this? ”

“I know that Tate Blackthorn gave you your first dance. I can’t take that away from him. Truth be told, I’m not sure I want to. It’s your fondest memory, and as much as I hate him, I love that you have something that pleased you so much.”

My heart accelerated. My breath hitched. Tiernan’s fierce gaze bore into me, scorching through all of my protective layers.

He was wrong. It wasn’t my fondest memory at all. Every single moment with him was better than my first dance. Even the bad times, when we fought and drove each other to the brink of madness. Because we still did it together.

“But I wanted you to know that next to me, you’ll dance every night until your feet hurt. You will hear music and enjoy it.”

He raised his hands, unveiling a small hearing aid in his palm. It was a clear small tube attached to something that looked like a USB.

“Your doctor told me you won’t be able to hear the nuance of the music, but you can follow the soundwaves.”

And then I knew what it felt like to have your heart burst, because mine did, and warmth poured into my chest.

Tiernan reached for my ears and put the small device in each of them. He flicked the back of one of the devices. A static screech filled my ears, making my head hurt. I stumbled back, wincing.

He reached to grab my hands and steady me. I stared at him, shocked. Was I going to hear now?

“I love you.”

My heart skipped a beat.

I heard him.

His voice was rough. Husky. Beautiful.

“I wanted it to be the first thing you’ll ever hear,” he explained. “So I’ll say it again—I. Love. You.”

I wanted to fall down on my knees and scream in triumph. Listen to my own voice. Bask in my laughter.

But before I could do any of that, Tiernan pushed the doors open and in front of me stood a lush, huge ballroom.

A live orchestra sat on a stage, musicians poised and swathed in formalwear.

Violinists, cellists, clarinet and flute players, trombones and trumpets. Bass and snare drums.

“May I humbly ask for the pleasure of a dance with you, Lila?” He bowed his head, and I realized I heard him because he spoke, not because I could read his lips.

That voice . This man . God help me.

Tiernan offered me his open palm.

I took it.

We stepped inside.

The band began to play on cue.

The music filled my ears.

The harmony, the sound, the emotions it stirred in me…

I couldn’t breathe; I was so overwhelmed. It was pleasant and happy, but I got choked up on my own emotions.

I started shaking in his arms as he swept me elegantly across the dance floor in a waltz. Tears leaked from my eyes, and this time I let them fall. I didn’t feel weak. On the contrary, I’d never felt more powerful in my life.

“You waltz?” I heard my voice. It sounded slurred in comparison to my husband’s. But it was pretty. I liked it. It was… kind .

“For you, I do,” he confirmed. “We’re not talking about the dance classes I took last week, though.”

I listened to the edge of his voice.

To the playful lilt of his sarcasm.

To that low, soothing, manly baritone that I always fantasized about.

Whoa.

“What are they playing?” I asked.

I doubted whatever version of this song entered my ears was the complete product, but it was enough.

“‘The Blue Danube’ waltz by Johann Strauss.” He smiled down at me, happy because I was. “We’re going to go through all of the classics, darlin’. And then we are going to attend every ball in greater New York and flaunt your moves,” he continued, just as I stomped on his foot, my huge belly poking between us. “Well, we have a few months to practice.”

I tried to laugh, but the thrill of it all finally took its toll on my body. I fell to my knees in the middle of the ballroom and started sobbing uncontrollably.

Music.

Sound.

Love.

This man had given me so many things. And we almost never happened. It took a terrorizing tragedy to put us in each other’s paths.

Tiernan sank down to the floor, wrapping his arms around me. His fingers disappeared in my hair. He kissed my tears while I hiccuped, clutching him desperately, never wanting to let go.

Was it terrible that I was glad I had been raped and brutalized? I marveled at the stunning realization that my rape—the lowest point of my life, of my existence—carved my path to this beautiful life I had today.

If it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have ended up here. With this man. Who had given me all I’d ever wanted, and things I didn’t even know I could dream of having. I’d always dreamed about a dashing prince. Heavily lashed, with pouty lips and big, beautiful eyes.

As it turned out, I fell in love with the complete opposite of it. With a Nephilim, a fallen giant, hands scarred from murder.

No, he wasn’t just my lover.

He was my god.

It was only when the music died, when the final note was struck by the orchestra, that I took in the room I was standing in fully. Beforehand, I was too overwhelmed to examine it.

It was filled with roses.

In every color and shape.

Every corner. Every crook. The heavy scent of them in my nose, sweet and pleasant.

White. Yellow. Lavender. Peach. Green. Orange. Red.

He made me face my fear of roses.

In a safe space. Erasing my last memory of the flower and replacing it with something I never wanted to forget.

Tiernan cupped my cheeks, staring down at me. “Hey, Moon.”

“Hey, Sun.” I put my hands on his, keeping them on my face. I leaned into his palm.

“Thank you for this dance.”

I closed my eyes, breathing him in. “Thank you for this life.”