His.
The Butcher swayed in front of Tavish, looking as tired as he felt.This was it, his opportunity to end the bigger man’s brutality once and for all.He wasn’t a murderer like The Butcher, but he would kill to protect the people he loved.
A left hook connected to his jaw, shocking him out of his own head.A right punch came at him, but this time Tavish was ready.
He ducked, then weaved, and then threw his own punch.
Right to the kidney.Left to the kidney.Right to the kidney.Left to the eye.Right to the eye.Left to the nose.
The Butcher stumbled backwards, blood running down his face from the cut near his eye.Tavish didn’t take a breath, as he pummeled the man.Left.Right.Left.Over and over.
“Knock him out!”Florentia shouted over the crowd, and Tavish couldn’t help the smile that came to his face at her blood lust.
God he fecking loved that woman.
His right hand connected with The Butcher’s kidney, once, twice, then his left shot out tried and true, connecting with his opponents chin, knocking him out cold.
The Butcher hit the mat, still breathing, but no longer a threat.
The bell rang, the crowd shouted wildly, the noise deafening.But none of it mattered to Tavish, the only thing he cared about was the woman running toward him.
“That was bloody brilliant,” she said, wrapping her arms around him.
He lifted her, bringing her closer, not caring that he was sweaty and covered in blood.He kissed her sweet lips, wishing that they were alone and not covered by what seemed to be all of society and the lower class in London.
“Marry me, Princess,” he rasped against her lips, not wanting to spend another second without her as his wife.
She reared back, looking up at him.“Is that your way of proposing?”
“Aye.I love you,” he admitted happily.“I’ve loved you since the moment you stepped out of that tub and faced me like a warrior princess.”
She gave him a cheeky smile.“You have a deal.I’ll marry you, but only because you’ve already agreed to belong to me and…” she added tightening her hold against his neck.“I love you too.”
Fecking bloody hell.
He kissed her, long and hard, not caring that they were suddenly surrounded by their family and friends, all he cared about was the woman in his arms and the future they would have together.
Forever.
EPILOGUE
Three Years Later
As soon as the carriage came to a stop, Florentia opened the door, and carefully extracted herself as fast as she could with her seven-month swollen abdomen.She had taken two years of precaution, vinegar baths, the occasional withdrawing method—when she could convince her husband to leave the warmth of her sex.It all had prevented them from conceiving their first two years of marriage.
Florentia insisted, not only did it allow her and Tavish time to have alone just the two of them, but it would ensure that no one could gossip about the legitimacy of her children.
“Oi!What do you think you’re doing?”her brother-in-law Declan shouted out, running to her from the doors of O’Brien’s Gentleman’s Club.
He reached her in a blink of an eye, taking her by the arm to assist her from the carriage.“I’m visiting my husband,” she told him, trying to dislodge her arm from him.
“You are in possession of the next generation of O’Briens, you’re not allowed to step out of a carriage unassisted or to go anywhere unaccompanied.”
Bloody hell.
Every O’Brien had been watching her like a nursemaid since the moment she revealed that that she and Tavish were indeed expecting.It was one matter to deal with her husband, but a complete other to deal with his mother and his siblings.Combined it all was a rather tedious task, as they would often arrive unannounced to check on her and the future O’Brien whenever they wanted.
Ma was partially better than the others, at least she would bring fresh bread and stew, which Florentia could not get enough of during her pregnancy.
