Page 30 of Mob Princess

I spotted her bodyguard the moment he came in. I’m certain she doesn’t know he’s here. He left the office building right after us. I saw him get into a car that pulled up ten feet behind my town car. He came in and got a table with another guy who looks more like an informant than a bouncer. The second one’s the one who’s going to tell Ewan. I’ve kept them both in my peripheral vision. Neither has used a phone.

“Lina, to your four o’clock, there’s a man who followed you out of the building and got into a car a quarter of the block down from us. Now he’s here. He’s your bodyguard. The man sitting with him is likely your brother’s informant. Neither of them has gotten out a phone, but the second guy is the one more likely to tell your brother. That’s if the first guy didn’t do it in the car.”

“What?” She lifts her chin and looks into the framed picture on the wall. The light reflects off it—Finn insists everything be spotless—so she can see the men.

“Do you know them?”

“Yeah. The big guy is Justin, and the rat-looking guy is Haydon. They both work for my brother. Haydon got a job in the city planner’s office about a month ago. He’s supposed to fuck things up for your family’s construction projects. Justin is one of Ewan’s oldest friends. I told my brother I didn’t want a guard. I wanted to blend in. Justin might have come on his own. He’s been protective of me since we were kids.”

“Does he love you?”

Her brow furrows. “No.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never had any reason to think he does.”

“Then why would he volunteer without even telling Ewan?”

“He doesn’t like the way Ewan lets some of the guys talk to me.”

She snaps her mouth shut when she sees my expression darken. I want her to know I’m not okay with that. I want her to know that isn’t happening again.

“Who, Lina?” My voice is deceptively low.

“No. You aren’t putting a hit on them.” She whispers as she leans forward.

“I don’t need to.”

I’ll motherfucking kill them myself. I’ve never felt this anger in defense of someone who isn’t part of my immediate family.

“Sean, please don’t. I don’t want you going to Boston unless it’s to visit me. And I don’t want you to visit me, so you have an excuse to deal with them. Stop. I know you can protect yourself. That isn’t what I’m worried about. And I don’t give a shit about the assholes you’re already angry about. I don’t want more trouble between our families. I’m here to fuck you over.”

She closes her eyes as her head tilts down. I see the color rising in her cheeks. Ewan sent her to the meetings that will screw my family over. She doesn’t have to say it out loud.

“Lina, look at me, please.”

She shakes her head.

“Look at me.”

I infuse the same command into my voice that I did in the car. Her head jerks up. I don’t want to bully her, but I want her to listen not just hear.

“Little one, I won’t do anything you don’t want me to. Not when we’re alone and not about this. But that promise is only absolute for one of these. You will not convince me to compromise or back down if someone is a threat to you or makes you uncomfortable for even a moment. No one is exempt from that.”

Her eyes widen, and tears brim. Fuck. I pushed too hard because she knows I meant Ewan and her grandfather. I haven’t forgotten about him. He leads the fucking Irish in Montreal. I’m supposed to meet with him soon. Wonder-fucking-ful.

“I won’t cry, Sean. It’s not because I’m scared for my family. No one but my mother has been that protective of me.”

“You are mine to pleasure. You are also mine to protect.”

“Until I go home.”

“No. Until you tell me to leave. Boston. Montreal. Here. Wherever. Until you say we’re done, you are mine to take care of.”

“Do you have any idea how hot you are—like—all the time? Do you realize how even hotter you are when you say stuff like that?”

“Thank you for thinking I’m attractive. But I’ve never said that stuff to any woman but you.”

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