Page 163 of Forced Vows

I tuck my phone in my bag and go looking for Allessio and Zoey. Unsurprisingly, I don't have to go far. They're waiting outside the door to the classroom where I left them after Allessio cleared the room.

~ ~ ~

There have been no texts from Miceli since yesterday. Looks like he didn't have anything important to say to me. Like, goodnight. Or to ask. Like, how are you?

I wouldn't dream of texting him anything so trivial either.

I put my phone on DND as soon as we reach campus and for the next two days, I only take it out of do not disturb at night before bed.

Not that I get any calls. Or texts.

Chapter 54: MICELI

My already piss poor mood sours even further when I see whose calling me.

Brogan Shaughnessy.

What the hell does he want?

Róise is the only Shaughnessy I want to talk to tonight, but that's not going to happen.

After dinner with the Boston don, I have a conference call with one of our legitimate business partners in Melbourne and our marketing team.

My fiancée will be asleep by the time I'm done and I'm not going to wake her.

According to Allessio, Róise's burning the midnight oil studying. She needs her rest.

I want to fly home tonight, but I have a breakfast meeting with some Massachusetts politicians in the morning. Lombardi set it after agreeing to back Sev's election to godfather.

Tapping to answer, I say, "You have two minutes."

"You need to announce the engagement ASAP."

Why doesn't he know the interview to do exactly that is tomorrow? Giovanna should have told him. Yes, we agreed our PR would handle the engagement, but she should have liaised with the mob's people.

Did she not understand that?

"It's happening tomorrow."

"Good." There's too much relief in Shaughnessy's voice for my liking.

"Why?" Is Róise threatening to back out?

Not going to happen.

Cazzo. I need to be in New York.

"Her grandfather wants Róise to marry one of his lieutenants."

What the fuck? Gabriel Lion's lieutenants are in the same generation as he is. The twelve-year age gap between us is nothing compared to the obscene decades between her and any of her grandfather's top men.

"She's mine." Age differences be damned. That's all that matters.

"Yes," Brogan agrees readily. "But Gabriel has wanted Róise returned to the AOG since her father's death."

"She can't be returned to something she was never a part of to begin with."

"Once the engagement is announced, he'll back off," Brogan assures me. "He respects the sanctity of marriage."

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