Oh, the scream all but peeled the skin off his face, and the curses that followed battered his ears. But Aidan held ground, dodged a fist when he had to, and clamping Shawn in a headlock, held him mercilessly under.

“You’re drowning me, you bastard.”

“Not yet.” In a ruthless move, Aidan used his free hand to yank Shawn’s head back by the hair so the icy spray showered his face. “Just shut your mouth and hold your breath, and you’ll live through it.”

“I’ll kill you dead as Abraham when I’m out of here.”

“You think I’m enjoying this, do you?” Laughter rose into his throat as he yanked Shawn’s head back again. “You’d be right. Head clearing?”

Since Shawn’s answer was a glug, Aidan gave it another minute, then switched off the spray. He was wise enough to move quickly out of range before tossing his brother one of Darcy’s fancy towels. “Well, you’re a sorry picture, but your eyes are clear. Are you going to be sick on me now?”

Though his limbs were weak as a baby’s, Shawn wrapped the towel around his waist and tried for dignity. “Drowning me’s one thing, insulting me’s another. I ought to break your face for it.”

Crisis passed, Aidan decided, then lifted a brow. “It appears someone tried to break yours. Did Brenna put that bruise on your chin?”

“No. Her father did.”

“Mick O’Toole?” Aidan paused in the act of drying his own chest. “Mick O’Toole popped you one?”

“He did. But we’ve come to terms now.” Shawn stepped out of the shower, annoyed that the blissful cushion of whiskey had been washed away, so now he could hurt all over—face, hand, leg. And heart.

“At a guess I’d say you got drunk together.”

“That was part of the process.” He flipped down the lid of the toilet, sat, and as he dressed again he filled Aidan in on the morning.

“You’ve had a busy day.” Aidan laid a hand on his shoulder. “I can ask Kathy Duffy to do the whole of the shift.”

“No, I can work. It’ll keep my hands busy while I figure out what to do next.” He stood up. “I mean to have her, Aidan, however it has to be done.”

“You gave me advice once, on matters of the heart. Now I’ll return the favor. Find the words, the right ones, and give them to her. I imagine there’s different ones for different women, but when it’s all cleared away, it means the same.”

• • •

Before he came down again, Shawn tidied himself up as best he could and did the same for Darcy’s bathroom. Nothing was worth the spitting lecture she’d spew over him if he left it as it was. Since he felt the beginnings of a filthy head coming on, he rooted out the makings of the hangover remedy his family called Gallagher’s Fix and downed a full glass of it.

He couldn’t say he was feeling his best, but he thought he could get through the day now without making a bigger muck of things.