Page 44 of Mob Princess

He squeezes my ass in response, and I jerk my hips forward. My instinct is to avoid the pain, but then I press back into his hand.

“You definitely got something out of me.” He waggles his eyebrows and kisses me.

Fuck. This is perfection. The way he kisses makes me melt. The feel of his stubble under my fingers. The scent of his cologne. The sound of our mouths, and the feel of his tongue. The way he looked just before his lips met mine. He definitely deals in narcotics. The drug is him.

“The way what I just said sounded. I didn’t mean I sleep with people to get things out of them.”

“I didn’t think you do.” He brushes hair back from my face and tucks it behind my ear. It’s tender and intimate. I love it.

“I can’t convince you not to do this, can I?”

“No. If Ewan sent you to spy on my family, do you know why we’re not getting along?”

“Not getting along? Ha.” I dash my glance away before looking back at him. “Our families have never gotten along. Your family tolerates mine. And my family swallows its inferiority complex and silently fumes that once upon a time the O’Malleys and O’Rourkes were equals.”

“Well, yes. But do you know why we’re outwardly hostile right now?” He makes it sound so benign. We’re about to discuss how his family killed my father and uncle, doing my brother a favor since he and our dad were at each other’s throats.

“I know it’s complicated just like it always is. My dad and Uncle Riley stole a shipment of yours. The rugs were legal, but it was what was sewn into them that wasn’t. Dad supported some biker guy related to your sister-in-law when the biker went after her dad. I don’t remember exactly. When your family raided the warehouse to get the rugs back, you found a bunch of other shit. Illegally kept animals. For all my brother’s faults, that was the final straw between him and our dad. Ewan may dislike most people, but he loves most animals. Shockingly, they love him back.”

“Did you know how strained things were between your dad and Ewan before you moved down to Boston?”

“Yes. Our dad had his moments when he genuinely wanted to put his family first. But they were only moments. It was his ambition that got him killed. It exceeded his common sense and his skills. He kept pushing Ewan to make a move on your family by setting up a deal with one of your big rivals. I don’t think he cared which one Ewan chose as long as it fucked your family over. He wanted Ewan to prove himself. He wanted to brag that his son—who’s younger than all of you—got one over on you. He wanted to prove our family is still relevant. And he wanted to show his men he still controlled Ewan.”

“But did he?” The sarcasm drips from Sean’s three words.

“No. He hadn’t since that Christmas Ewan stood up to him when we overheard him talking about me. I’ve never respected my dad in any sense other than being a fellow human being. I didn’t respect him as a father. I didn’t respect him as a leader. I didn’t respect him as a businessman. Those feelings started when I was too young to understand what they were. He was just a shit dad most of the time. I stopped trusting the moments when he was great and waited for the hours, days, weeks, and years that he wasn’t. At least I didn’t have to live with him full time like Ewan did.”

“You said the animals were the last straw. Do you know what Ewan was going to do?”

I’m still sitting on Sean’s lap. I lean back farther see his face better. I lift my chin, and I know I shutter my gaze. I’m not shutting him out, and I think he knows that. I’m letting him know I’m fine with what my brother planned. I just won’t say it out loud because what kind of monster does that make me?

“What did Rowan do to you to get you to this point?” He can be vague too.

“I guess you and your family came up for a wake about three and a half years ago. Maybe closer to four now. It was for a man I never met, but he was pretty high up and close to my dad. I wasn’t there because if I had been, I would have met you. And I definitely wouldn’t have forgotten you. He wanted me to come down for it. He wanted me to sleep with Dillan. He knew Finn hooked up with my aunt whenever he was in town. He figured getting info from Finn was good, but getting info from Dillan would be great.”

“He what?!”

I press my hands against Sean’s chest as he explodes.

“He’s already dead. You can’t resurrect him to kill him all over again.” His scowl tells me he didn’t like my attempt at reassurance. “He never said that to me, and he wasn’t that blunt with Ewan. But he made his wishes clear to my brother, who was supposed to convey them to me. Basically, he told Ewan to get me to make friends with Dillan. To get him alone and see what I could learn. Dad knew Dillan wouldn’t look to make friends with me. He wanted pillow talk.”

“He tried to pimp his daughter out.” Sean’s hands are curled into fists, lying on the bed beside his hips. I reach for his wrists and lift his arms. I put his hands back on my ass. His grip is tight without squeezing. It’s possessive, and I love it.

“Ewan and I are close sometimes and distant at others. I suppose we’re like Britain and France. We generally don’t care for each other but can get along. We even play nice in public. But if someone threatens either of us, we’re best friends. Needless to say, Ewan did not try to convince me to come to the wake. He told me the truth, though. I know Ewan manipulates me sometimes since the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, but he didn’t do it this time. I know because I overheard Uncle Riley and Aunt Cady talking about it the next time I was in town. That was when Ewan decided it was time to prepare for a transition. The animals would have pushed him into doing whatever he’d planned.”

I don’t know the details of his plot to commit patricide, and I don’t want to.

“You overhear a lot of things.” It’s an observation, not an accusation.

“Apparently, I’m easy to forget, even when I’m around.”

He fists my hair and holds my head in place as he sits up. He rakes his teeth up my neck before tugging my hair, pulling me back. He lifts my left breast and sucks hard on the nipple before leaving another mark dangerously high. The wrong shirt would reveal it.

“You are the most memorable person I know, cailín.”

His kiss is aggressive. His free hand presses my right wrist behind my back. He holds me immovable with his grip on my arm and my hair. I let him lead. Not just because he practically overwhelms me. Because I love this. I love that he wants me, desires me this much. He can be gentle and cautious with me, so I know this is an element of him he wants me to see. It’s not who he always is. He wants me to know he feels the words he just said. It makes me feel special.

When we come up for air, his hand releases my wrist, but it comes to rest heavily on my throat just above my collar bones. He doesn’t tighten. It’s enough to keep this dynamic going as though I’m at his mercy. That he dares me to disagree with him. That to do so will only make him prove what he says goes.

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