She grabbed the front of his shirt, yanked him down, and kissed him hard.
The pub howled like a winning football match.
She tore her mouth away just long enough to growl, loud enough for everyone to hear:
"I love you, too, Ronan Gallagher. But I had to wait ninety-one days to make damn sure you weren’t going to steal my bloody castle.”
The laughter roared even louder.
Ronan dropped his paper and reached into his pocket—and got down on one knee.
The room went dead silent.
All the air seemed to leave the pub at once.
He looked up at her, eyes fierce, tender, a little wild.
“Aisling O’Byrne,” he said, voice shaking just a little, “marry me. Make me the happiest, most cursed man in all of County Clare. Marry me—not because of some stupid piece of paper, not because of the past—but because you’re my future. Because I’m bloody miserable without you.”
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
Tears stung her eyes.
She knelt down in front of him, cupped his scruffy, stubborn face in her hands, and said:
"Yes. On one condition."
He grinned, fierce and reckless. "Anything."
"We keep the lands separate. No merging castles. No combining goats."
The pub burst into another wave of laughter.
Ronan’s grin widened. “Done. Hell, you can have my land if you’ll just marry me.”
Her throat tightened. She leaned in and whispered:
“I don’t want your land, Gallagher. I want your heart. And it’s mine now."
He crushed his mouth to hers again, and this time, there was no anger. No old wounds. Only promise. Only the future.
The pub around them melted away. The shouts, the cheers, the stomping feet—all faded until it was just her and Ronan and a future she hadn't dared dream about.
Until now.
CHAPTER36
One year later.
Aisling stood in the middle of the grand hall of the newly restored O'Byrne Castle, clutching a bouquet of wild Irish flowers and silently contemplating murder.
Not her own.
Ronan Gallagher’s.
Because marrying him had turned out to be the easy part. Surviving their wedding day? That was the real battle.
"Move the damn goat!" Paddy bellowed from somewhere near the front steps.
