TIGERLILLY- THE BRAVO BOYS [book two]

Chapter FIFTY TWO

River O'Riley

The celtic ring fits perfectly on Frankie's delicate finger as if it were made for her, the pale gold contrasting so beautifully with her milky soft skin..

It's hardly the most expensive or extravagant piece of jewelry, and maybe my methods aren't the most romantic.. But it's more meaningful than I could express with any sappy demonstration and she is too precious for me to allow another second to pass without her knowing that with absolute certainty..

Okay, so maybe I could have planned some over the top proposal and out on some dog and pony show designed to charm her afferctions in my favour.. Really, I had fully intended to do something a little more special than fall to my knees on the kitchen floor, but at that moment, with her sitting there and looking all irresistibly adorable, I couldn't help myself.. Nothing ever felt so right and I'm done fighting against my true nature, the one Isla instilled in me that my father despised so much..

Maybe I am 'soft' as Ronan would call it.. Maybe I am hopeless.. Pathetic and weak.. Malleable and made to please.. Maybe I am nothing.. Nobody..

But Frankie, she is everything.. To let her slip through my fingers would be my greatest failure..

Meeting with The Dragon had proven to me what I'd already suspected to be true.. He is old and exhausted, his dynasty hangs in the balance and his ability to control his own men is fragile.. If Frankie really is to be returned to that life, then I have to be a part of it.. I have to stand beside her and protect her from whatever comes next..

Sure, it's insane of me to dive any deeper than I already have.. But then again, I've never exactly been right in the head..

Some things make sense to me..

Politics..

Language..

Service..

Duty..

But love?

Nah, I won't pretend to understand it.. It's inexplicable, indescribable and apparently it's inescapable..

Every crazy decision I've made from the minute we met has been dictated by her.. From the second I saw her and she asked for my help to the moment I decided she was coming home with me, I was free falling.. And it's the happiest I've ever felt..

I can't give that up..

Regardless of her family ties, I've found myself unable to walk away..

How could I, knowing that I'd never be anything without her?
I'll never find another woman who could hold a candle to her perfection..

The way she smiles melts the shards of ice that had once pierced my heart.. So that instead of pain, all I feel is immense pleasure..

The way she smells, like a meadow of spring flowers, intoxicates my thoughts like a drug..

The way she speaks enlightens me with the spirit of her old soul, so earnest and insightful, almost as if she has lived a hundred lifetimes and had cared so compassionately for others in each and every one..

And the way she sees me, sees beneath my skin and the terrible things that have shaped me into whatever it is I am.. She sees the best in me and it's enough to make me want to be the best man I can possibly be, all for her..

Only her..

I kiss her hands, holding them in mine as she admires the ring on her finger with a sweet sigh.. "I can't believe this!"

"Ye' can't? Huh, That's funny, since ye' predicted it weeks ago.. Ye' told me I'd know riches, and ye' were right, Wallflower.. I found a treasure in a Chinatown parking lot and now.. I'm the luckiest man alive.."