"Welcome to the United States of America, Miss. O'Toole."

A goofy smile was plastered on Jimmy's face as he held out his hand for Catherine. Without a moment's hesitation, she grabbed hold and jumped out of the cargo plane. With her feet finally on sturdy ground, Catherine couldn't help mirror his blithe expression. He dropped her hand to help Fiona.

The hot desert sun hit Catherine's face, and she shed the sweatshirt she had put on when she left the Republic of Ireland. Tying the sleeves around her waist, she gazed out to the trio of blacked-out SUVs a few hundred yards away. Luke Moran and his brother Kevin were leaning against the hood of one as they smoked. She wondered which Moran brother had been tasked with watching her every move while she was in California. Having Luke or Kevin lurking close behind would make it more difficult than she originally planned to tail Eddie and Cameron.

"Are these the only bags you packed?" asked Jimmy.

Snapping back to reality, Catherine turned around to see him pointing to the two Chanel duffel bags slung over his shoulder. It was somewhat surreal to see him carrying those again. He'd bought them for her before a trip to Paris, and the last time she used them was the last time he brought her to California six years ago.

"Aye." Reaching out, Catherine tried to take the strap off his shoulder. "I can take 'em so you can help Fi with hers."

He nudged her away. "Don't you worry about me. Follow Fiona; youse are ridin' with me."

"Thank you for not makin' me ride with Tweedledee or Tweedledum."

After kissing Jimmy's cheek, Catherine took off for the SUV's, climbing into the backseat as Fiona claimed shotgun.

Once Jimmy got Catherine and Fiona's bags loaded into the back, he went over the route one last time with Luke and Kevin who were scout drivers. With a seven-hour trip, Jimmy wasn't taking any chances.

Ready to hit the road, he started the SUV and pulled out behind Luke, ahead of Kevin. When they reached the highway, Jimmy broke the silence.

"How was the flight?"

From her purse, Fiona grabbed her compact and started touching up her makeup in the visor mirror. She tossed a quick thumb over her shoulder in Catherine's direction.

"Fine. Sleepin' Beauty over here was out cold before we even got off the ground; slept the entire time."

Jimmy glanced into the rear-view mirror just in time to see Catherine shrug.

"I think you're forgetting I have three wee boys under the age of seven, Fi." Catherine bundled her sweatshirt into a makeshift pillow and rested her head, looking forward to more sleep. "That was the most peace and quiet I've had in a very long time. Jimmy, you're not makin' me stay with the expats in Oakland are ya?"

"No, I figured you'd stay with Fi and me in Sacramento." While Catherine quietly celebrated the fact she wouldn't have to live in a derelict apartment building for the next week, Fiona glared at Jimmy. He could sense his better half wasn't happy with his decision to have his harlot staying with them. "What's your problem?"

Deciding against starting a fight when they had an extra pair of ears in such proximity, Fiona slipped on her sunglasses and leaned her seat back slightly. She followed Catherine's lead, catching up on some much-needed sleep.


By the time they crossed the California state line, the sun long since disappeared behind the horizon. In five hours, Jimmy could count on one hand how many words had been exchanged between him and Fiona. At one point he thought about waking Catherine just so he could have someone to talk to. Plus, he was anxious to hear what Eamonn's been up to since he left Northern Ireland.

Fiona glanced into the backseat, her expression not budging from an apathetic grimace. She stared down at the sleeping Catherine, who twisted herself into a position that looked wholly uncomfortable.

"She still asleep?"

"Aye," sighed Fiona. "Liv told me she doesn't think Dessie is helping much with the boys. The poor girl is being run so ragged I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up sleeping the entire time we're here."

Without taking his eyes off the road, Jimmy reached into the backseat and squeezed Catherine's ankle. He saw her and Eamonn the day before he left for the States. When he noticed the heavy dark circles making it look as though she had two black eyes, Catherine assured Jimmy everything was running smoothly at home. Hearing from Fiona that was far from the truth made his stomach drop. Catherine didn't want any more drama between him and Dessie, so he couldn't blame her for keeping it under wraps. But it left him resentful to the core Dessie was starting to pull the same bullshit he'd done with Eilish.

How much longer until Dessie started fucking around on her too, Jimmy wondered. That's if he wasn't already.

Seeing how upset it made Jimmy to know of Catherine's home woes, Fiona regretted not riding with Luke or Kevin. She'd always heard love and hate were two sides of the same coin. Jimmy and Catherine proved that to be true without the slightest hint of reasonable doubt. To hate someone as profoundly as they hated each other, there needed to be the same intense love.

She figured it was for that very same reason why she couldn't bring herself to file for the long-overdue divorce.

So Fiona guessed she couldn't be bitter over Jimmy and Catherine. For as long as those two were together, deep down Fiona never justified her feelings of being the scorned wife of a man who was having an affair. Even long before Chibs left Belfast, Fiona noticed how every one of Jimmy's relationships failed, because of one certain little girl. Catherine had been and would be the center of his universe until the day he died.

Contrary to the gossip flowing through Northern Ireland, Fiona knew with conviction Catherine was never the other woman. She'd been the mistress along - the one Jimmy chose out of righteousness as to not sour his reputation for bedding the young daughter and niece of his comrades.

"You still love her," Fiona sighed.

"Don't start, Fi. Not with her in the backseat."

Ignoring the callous warning, she pressed for more. "Why did youse end things if you're still in love?"

This was far from the time and place Jimmy wanted to have this conversation.

"Because…I don't fuckin' know," he said defensively, hostility strangling his voice. "She was so in love with me, but I seriously took advantage of her. I hurt her because I could. And every fuckin' time she'd look at me with tears in those blue eyes, I'd hate myself for being so toxic for her. Since she was a wee girl, she trusted me to be the one to protect her from the world, and the cruelest irony is that I became her biggest nightmare…that's why she ended things."

Fiona couldn't help the way her heart genuinely broke for him. There were days where she caught glimpses of the soft, warmhearted man he used to be, but those times were now few and far between. It seemed Eamonn and Kerrianne were the only ones who could bring back those lost virtues. And sometimes Catherine - he tried so hard to be that man with Catherine.

Reaching across the center console, Fiona raked her fingers through the thick, heavily graying hair on the back of his head. For the first time in a long time, she spoke to him as the friend she used to be.

"It's because she confuses you; maybe even scares you a little, too. Your da was far from kind to you, Jimmy. Up until the day he bolted, he'd demean you for having feelings, because God forbid you felt something. Catherine - she makes you feel vulnerable and you don't know how to deal with that so you lash out. It may not mean anything coming from me, but you owe it to yourself to be vulnerable with at least one person in this world. Maybe then you can let go of everything you've been harboring."

Grabbing Fiona's hand, Jimmy kissed it. The small gesture brought a smile to her face. It meant the world to her.

Setting both hands back in her lap, Fiona twiddled her thumbs. "Are you sure about having her stay with us? We could put her up in a nice hotel for the week; she'll want the space."

"Is it her who really wants the space, or is it you?"

Embarrassed by the question, Fiona tried dancing around it. "I just thought we could use the time away from Belfast and Kerri to, ya know, try to reconnect."

"Ya thought wrong," he snickered. "Don't forget why you're really here; to see your husband. Catherine's staying with us and that's the end of it."

Sinking back into the leather seat, Fiona conceded. There was no point in fighting a battle she knew she'd never win.


By ten o'clock, Catherine was in her sweats and curled up in bed with her laptop and a glass of wine. Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, snapping her attention away from the engrossing episode of Gossip Girl. Pressing the space bar to pause it, she grabbed the vibrating device.

It was a text from Dessie. Since it was nearly seven in the morning back in Crossmaglen, she figured he was running into trouble with the boys before heading to work.

Are you still up?

She quickly responded that she was, asking if everything was okay at home.

Less than a minute later, her phone pinged again. Believe it or not, I can take care of our children.

How's Danny? She pried. I miss that precious wee boy so much.

For the next five minutes, there's no talk of Eamonn, Sean, Danny, Fiona, Jimmy, Filip, or especially your da. Got it?

Catherine had a feeling where this conversation was going. Why…?

Because I miss my gorgeous wife and I've just enough time to have a wank before a long day.

Ding, ding, ding. She knew him like the back of her hand.

Catherine more than indulged Dessie's desires. Her texts were so vivid and vulgar they'd make the Devil himself blush. Upon his request, she took it one step further.

Tossing the phone onto the mattress, Catherine jumped up and shed her sweatshirt, t-shirt, and bra. Plopping back down onto her back, she picked up her phone again, snapping the photos Dessie all but begged for.

Lost in her world, she hadn't heard the soft knocking on the door.

When Jimmy didn't get a response even though he could hear her giggling, he assumed it was because she had headphones in. Twisting the doorknob, he barged right in, and then wished he hadn't.

Seeing him standing in the doorway, Catherine shrieked. She fumbled with her phone, dropping it, so she could cover her exposed breasts with her hands.

"Jesus Christ, why didn't you fuckin' knock?" she lowly scolded.

"I bloody did! And why the hell are you half-naked?"

Hands still covering her breasts, Catherine stood. She clenched her teeth and sheepishly glanced at the iPhone lying on the floor. When it pinged twice in a row, the dots connected in Jimmy's head.

"You dirty girl." He smirked. "I hope to God the man receiving those pictures of your magnificent tits is Dessie - or me."

Catherine's face turned three shades of pink and she tried but failed, to play it cool.

"I wasn't sendin' anyone pictures of my tits."

Taking a step further into the room, Jimmy closed the door behind him. He knew she was full of shit. Picking her shirt up off the bed, he tossed it to her. While she let her guard down to make herself decent again, Jimmy seized the opportunity to snatch her phone off the ground.

"Hey!" she yelped. Jimmy turned his back towards Catherine to fend her off as he opened the thread of messages to Dessie. "Seriously, Jimmy, give me the phone."

"Mother'a Christ, this shites filthy." The more he scrolled, the more embarrassed Catherine became. "Oh how romantic…he said, I love when you're face down, arse up, and my balls are slapping against your clit." Now she was ready to crawl under a rock and die. "This – oh, this would make your da proud…When I get home, I'm gonna suck every last drop of cum from you. I'm curious, how come you never talked dirty like this to me?"

Wrapping her arms around him, Catherine pulled them both down onto the bed. It was a mess of flailing arms and slapping hands until she managed to wrestle it from him.

Slipping the phone into her pocket, Catherine sat on the edge of the bed. "What do you want?"

Lying back, Jimmy laced his fingers behind his head and crossed his ankles. "Wanted to see if you're settled in," he lied. He couldn't tell her he was bored and desperate for personal interaction after Fiona locked herself in the master bedroom with a bottle of wine.

After the invasion of her privacy, Catherine was less willing than usual to engage in casual chit-chat.

"Yup, all settled in. I'm gonna take a shower and head to bed so you need to leave."

"Yeah, okay."

Catherine was taken by surprise at the sincerity in his voice. As well as the fact he hopped right up to head for the door. Either he learned what personal boundaries were overnight, or there was something he was avoiding to tell her about. She guessed the latter. Him admitting defeat this easily meant only one thing.

"I know there's something you're not telling me," Catherine called out. Taking his hand off the doorknob, Jimmy turned around. "You and Eamonn have the same tell when youse are tryin' to hide something from me."

Raking a hand through his hair, Jimmy tried to gauge just how much she already knew. While it was very unlike Dessie to keep anything business-related from Catherine, they had agreed to keep her in the dark, thus out of the line of fire.

But she was a smart girl, already putting together the puzzle pieces.

Unbuttoning the first two buttons of his shirt, Jimmy walked to her and took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Has Dessie told you…did he mention anything about takin' meetings in the Republic over the last month?"

"Aye; said he's workin' on recruiting the wee Fianna lads, among others."

While uncovering Dessie's shady business would bring him great pleasure any other day of the year, Jimmy was apprehensive about prematurely letting Catherine in on the recent agenda. He took a breath, unsure of how she would react.

"Well, that's not totally wrong. He and I have been recruiting together an-"

That had to be the most ridiculous thing she's ever heard. That's why the moment those words left Jimmy's mouth, Catherine broke into a shaking fit of laughter. She abruptly stopped upon seeing his brow indignantly furrow.

"I'm not takin' the piss here, Catherine. Dessie and I have an agreement. Together, we'll push the Kings out so I can take full control of the True army. He'll let me set up a couple of crews in south Armagh again so I can bring the guns in through Blackrock. In exchange, I'll let him have a battalion in Belfast and Newry, and he can move his smokes and the counterfeit booze through my pubs."

"Oh, wow. You're serious," she breathed. That was quite a lot of information to take in at once. "In theory, it's a brilliant idea. I do have to ask how in God's name do you bleedin' fools think it's gonna work when you're constantly at each other's goddamn throats?"

Because when it's all said and done, the only unit Dessie'll be commanding is the republican wing of HMP Maghaberry. But Jimmy wouldn't dare divulge that part of the plan.

If Catherine refused to sit by his side when he had full control of the True IRA, then the least he could do was hand her Óglaigh na hÉireann on a silver platter.

"Here's a wee life lesson, sweetheart," he said, caressing her chin with the bent knuckle of his finger. "It's called moving passed differences and being civil for the sake of what's important. As for Dessie and I, constructing strong, coexisting organizations is what's important to us."

As long as Dessie was fully on board and leading ONH in a direction they could all agree on, Catherine would lend her full support. While she could be convinced of the new strategy, there were some whom she worried would put up the mother of all fights to stop ONH from peacefully coexisting with the True IRA for as long as Jimmy's in charge.

"Does my Da know?"

"No. When he finds out your darling husband has agreed to a deal with me, he obviously won't be happy. So, Dessie's gonna set your old man up with a very cushy pension, because Lord knows he's damn-well earned his retirement. You gotta promise me you won't tell Dessie I told you."

Hearing that Dessie planned on pushing Patrick out of his chair on the council didn't sit right with Catherine. In her mind, Patrick deserved to be on the council more than any of them, including Dessie. Catherine never considered her father to be an unreasonable man when it came to making decisions for the Ra. He had never steered her or any of his comrades wrong. If Patrick's resistance to a new federation of Irish Republicans would make Dessie force him into retirement, Catherine sensed there was more than what she was being told.

And as for Dessie not wanting her to know either…

"Blackrock, huh?" Catherine asked, forcing the conversation in a different direction. She'd do her digging later. "Is SAMBEL okay with Donegal no longer bein' where the hardware comes in?"

Jimmy spoke slowly, "I couldn't give a single wee fuck what those SAMBEL cunts are or aren't okay with. All I know is since we started workin' with 'em in '87, the True IRA is nowhere near as profitable as it should be. I'm tired of SAMCRO thinkin' there's some friends and family discount on these AK's when we're tryin' to breathe life back into our dyin' fight, and SAMBEL is gettin' too big of a cut for their so-called help. In the last ten days alone, I've found buyers in three different cities who are willin' to pay almost double what SAMCRO would ever agree to. As for SAMBEL, I think it's time the Ra went back to handling their own business."

Catherine's heart dropped into her stomach as she tried to make sense of what Jimmy was saying, all the while thinking about Brien and Padraic.

"You can't just pull SAMBEL off the protection runs between Belfast and Donegal. The money the True army gives them for it is a large chunk of their monthly income."

He shrugged. "I fail to see how that's my problem. If they want to keep making money off the Ra, they'll have to prove who their loyalty lies with. They can either stay in Norn Iron and join our cause or join their brothers here in America."

Catherine thought she was going to be sick. SAMBEL was comprised of very few men who would join the IRA or leave their homes. Brien and Padraic were among them.

"And if they choose neither?"

"You know how it goes, a chuisle," Jimmy snickered. "A couple of broken fingers'll be the first warning, a thorough beating will be the second, and then if they still haven't made up their mind, the council will issue an execution notice. If I were you, I'd tell that brother and cousin of yours this won't be the time for that infamous Telford stubbornness."

Catherine snapped.

She shoved Jimmy down onto the mattress and pinned him down by straddling his hips. As badly as she wanted to beat his face in, she held it together. Releasing such a fury of anger when she had no one there to protect her was a suicide mission. Instead, she grabbed him by the shirt collar.

"If you hurt Brien or Padraic, I swear to God, I will come after you, Fiona, and Kerrianne."

Jimmy smirked. "You're cross with the wrong person. It wasn't my idea to make 'em choose in the first place; it was Dessie and Kieran."

"I don't believe you. Dessie has no reason to have such a grudge against SAMBEL he'd be willing to exile any of 'em."

Tightly grabbing hold of Catherine's wrists, Jimmy pulled on them until her fingers loosened around his collar. When she finally let go he pushed her over and then climbed on top of her. She put up a small fight but conceded quickly as he pinned her arms above her head.

"You don't know anything about the man you married, do you?" he taunted.

"Jesus-fuckin'-Christ," she mumbled under her breath. "Let me guess, this is where you're gonna try to convince me I've married some master manipulator who managed to hide who he is for the last decade because he was afraid I'd never get with him if I knew. You're pathetic, Jimmy; I see right through you. This is just another one of your fruitless efforts to push me away from Dessie because you can't stand seein' how bloody happy me and Eamonn are with him. Believe me, I know the man I'm married to."

Jimmy wasn't going to try to convince Catherine of anything anymore. He was so tired of having the same fights over and over. If she wasn't going to believe him, maybe she would if she saw it for herself.

"Do me a favor then. When you get back home, petition the Public Records Office in Belfast for Dessie's court records. He got five life-sentences and still went back to the Ra after early release…you're an eejit if you think a man like him wouldn't do whatever it takes to make sure the IRA gained ground again. That includes eliminating SAMBEL, regardless of your familial ties, Catherine."

Catherine knew Dessie was far from innocent; she didn't need to read his court records.

"Only if you tell me why Filip faced a court-martial, and how you got tangled up in it."

Pursing his lips, Jimmy broke eye contact from Catherine. He stared at the blinding diamond ring on her finger, wondering what the harm would be. If he admitted what he did - out loud, that is - for the first time since 1979 then maybe it wouldn't feel so heavy on his conscience anymore.

"We were still stationed in England, finishing up the last few weeks of our technical training before bein' deployed. I and a few lads in my company finished a six-mile run and I headed straight to the barracks so I could shower. Dropped my toilet bag and towel at the sink, undressed, headed into the showers, and there he fuckin' was. The goddamn tout was just goin' about his afternoon as if he hadn't ruined Filip's life. I kept my cool, went about my business. Then he had the fuckin' nerve to try makin' small talk with me. Next thing I remember, I'm smashin' the bloke's face into the floor…over and over and over."

Catherine didn't have the slightest clue what to do with that information. It was far more than she could swallow, not expecting Jimmy to actually indulge her ultimatum.

"And you didn't get caught?"

"Everyone in my battalion, officers included, knew I was guilty as sin. Even the British army has a code of silence - they didn't say a fuckin' word. As far as the Royal Military Police were concerned, I had a seven-mile run that day; I wasn't anywhere the barracks when it happened."

Jimmy watched as Catherine's brow furrowed in confusion. She shook her head.

"That can't be what happened. I - I've read through your records about a dozen and a half times. Nowhere in there did it mention you were part of any RMP investigation."

"When are you gonna learn, a chuisle?"

Muttering in Irish, Catherine wished Jimmy would let go of her wrists so she could slap herself. She should've known getting her hands on those documents was far too good to be true. Of course, he got his hands on them before Kerrianne did. If he took out the pages about that incident, she wondered what else he was trying to hide from her.

"How?" she asked. "You're never home!"

"I guess it was my lucky day. They were delivered like a week before, and then I mixed 'em back in with the mail again. I honestly had no idea it was you who filed the request. For the life of me, I thought it was Kerri, so I was genuinely surprised when you were the one who brought it up."

Finally breaking free from Jimmy's stronghold, Catherine nudged him off of her and sat up. She buried her face in her hands, trying to make sense of both atomic bombs that had been dropped on her in less than an hour.

She had her passport. She wondered if customs and border patrol would still arrest her if she tried leaving the country. At this point, all Catherine wanted to do was go home and pretend none of this even happened.

Learning that Dessie and Jimmy had suddenly become friends without her knowledge was something she could deal with. But after hearing what Jimmy did to protect Chibs while they were in England, Catherine was no longer sure that was a can worms she wanted to voluntarily open.

As much as she hated to admit it, Jimmy was right. This was something she shouldn't be sticking her nose into; she needed to let it die.

On the other hand, now that she was privy to what those two had planned for the Kings, Catherine would be damned if they were going to make her sit on the sidelines. This was just as much her endeavor as it was theirs.

"Whatever you and Dessie have planned for the Kings and SAMBEL," she looked over her shoulder to him, "I want in. But only under the condition, you promise nothin' will happen to Brien and Padraic."

Jimmy knew he was in no position to make the promise Brien and Padraic wouldn't be in the pile once bodies inevitably started stacking up. But if that's what she needed to hear, that's what he'd tell her.

Jumping up onto his knees behind Catherine, Jimmy wrapped her in his arms. He pressed several kisses to her temple. "I promise nothin' will happen to 'em. Get to bed, I'm gonna need your help with somethin' tomorrow."

"Fi and I are goin' to St. Thomas in the morn' to see Filip."

Jimmy assured, "It's just a quick wee errand. I'll even drive ya to the hospital afterward and wait in the carpark until you're done."

Catherine nodded. "Now get out. I'm gonna take a bath and for obvious reasons, I don't bloody trust you being in here after what happened the last time we were here together."

Jimmy gathered her hair in his fist, moving if off the nape of her neck so he could kiss the warm flesh.

"If I promise to behave," he said in-between kisses, "will you let me stay? There may be a neck and back rub in it for you."

His hands darted right for her shoulders, his strong thumbs working the knots out of her twisted muscles. Catherine groaned, hating herself for giving in.

It was too good of a proposition to pass up.

"Fine. But your hands stay where I can see 'em."