Page 78 of Mob Princess

“You could have gone with Justin. He could have gotten you home safely. Or do you think he would have turned you over to Ewan?”

“He would have gotten me to Montreal, though I wouldn’t put it past him to give me to Ewan if my brother demanded it. But I told Cormac and Seamus to kill him if he tries to take me from you. They know I’m serious.”

“Lina!”

“I am. I’m not leaving here until you’re discharged. Once I’m certain you’re somewhere safe, I’ll go if you tell me to. But no one is taking me from you. I’ll listen to your family’s advice and wishes. But if the command to leave comes from anyone but them, they’ll die before they succeed.”

“As though you didn’t have me hard as a fecking plank earlier. The things you say, little girl. You know how to turn me on.”

She laughs, and I kiss her forehead.

“If I didn’t think we’d be interrupted at any minute, I’d treat you with my kind of medicine.”

“Tell my cousins no one’s coming in here unless they want to die. Including them. Go.”

I’m serious, but she thinks I’m kidding. She laughs and shakes her head against my chest. Blue balls and a splenectomy. Only one is likely to kill me. Since I don’t have a spleen anymore, it’s not that.

“Are you scared to go with Justin?”

“A little. But mostly, I just don’t trust him. I don’t trust him not to drop me off with Ewan. I don’t trust him not to use me to get to you or help Ewan use me to get to you. I don’t trust either of them not to hurt you to hurt me.”

“You’ve mentioned Justin and Ewan. What about Colt?”

“What about Colt?” There’s an edge there that warns me to tread carefully.

“Could he be involved in this?”

“Of course. You said you know him. If you do, then you know he’s a sniper. Who do you think I believe took the shot?”

That gives me a moment’s pause. It’s true. Colt enlisted in the military right out of high school. He was already a sniper by eighteen. He didn’t run away from home. He didn’t even go in to hone his skills. He went in to make connections. Domestically and internationally. I thought that’s what he did to get in better with Rowan. I never imagined he’d do something else—like offer to marry Rowan’s daughter.

“If he did, why? Because Ewan ordered it? Or did he do it on his own like Justin went down to New York on his own?”

“I don’t know.”

“If it’s him, would it be about Baltimore or you?”

Her laugh is brittle. “If it’s about me, it’s only because he wants to make you think his balls are bigger than yours. He doesn’t give a shit about me.” She glances at my groin. “He’ll have to do a hell of a lot more to prove his are.”

“A hell of a lot more might get you killed in the process. He can think his cock, his balls, his brains, his bank account are all bigger than mine. I don’t care. I want him away from you.”

She watches me as she props herself up on her elbow. It’s a peek into the future and how she’ll feel when I give her this look because I won’t say what we both know I’m going to do. This time, it’s what she wants me to do without her having to ask.

“Lina, there is no limit to protecting you. Know that because I won’t get more specific.”

“I’ll peel the skin from his bones and make him eat it if he did this.”

She lies back down beside me and nestles closer as though she didn’t just go all Hannibal Lecter.

“Have you always been this bloodthirsty?”

“No. Not even remotely. I don’t know why I feel the way I do. I’ve been trying to sort it out, and I’m still confused. I don’t understand the cause, but the outcome is I’m as committed to protecting you as you are to protecting me.”

“Do you hate him that much?” Please don’t let that be the reason.

“I don’t hate Colt or Ewan. I trust neither of them. I resent both of them. Hate is more emotion than I want to give them. At least, until today. I don’t think about Colt most of the time. But I am bitter when I do. I’m bitter when I see him because he’s not sorry about what he did.”

I wonder if she’ll tell me one day. She doesn’t seem inclined to do that today. Even if she were, there’s a knock on the door. She jumps off the bed like the sheets scalded her. She straightens her dress, which I realized isn’t the one she wore yesterday. Someone brought her fresh clothes.

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