Page 179 of Forced Vows

That she allows herself to cry in my presence is both an honor and a gift. I lost my ability to cry before I learned to read, but Róise was taught not to cry in front of others, like my sister Giulia was.

"I can't believe you're still wearing the top half of your suit." Her giggle is a little waterlogged. "Take it off. I want to feel your skin. All of it."

"That's an order I don't mind taking." I sit up and start stripping out of my suit jacket, askew tie and rumpled shirt.

She watches me like I'm putting a show on for her. "I'll remember that."

"Just remember, I expect reciprocity. Reaching out, I tug one of her sweat damp curls.

"Like that's a problem. Keeping my clothes on around you is the bigger challenge."

"We fit."

She nods. "Way more than I thought was possible."

"Just think, you could have ended up married to Jed."

"You know about that?" she asks. "Only my uncle would even consider marrying me off to a man Gabriel picked out."

"You would never let that happen." And I'm not so sure her uncle did consider it.

The way he talks about Gabriel's disgusting plan doesn't indicate a man who sees it as a viable alternative for his niece.

Regardless, a woman as resourceful as Róise would have disappeared before marrying the man closer to her grandfather's age than her father's.

The fact she's here means she sees me as a better alternative, but that's not saying much.

"My dad hated Gabriel. He would never have considered allowing me to marry into that cult."

"Why?"

I wait to see if she'll tell me and I feel like I won an all-in hand of poker when she starts talking.

"Gabriel Lion is a chauvinist, misogynist piece of crap who believed in the whole spare the rod, spoil the child thing. My mom would have married a gorilla to get away from him, but she fell in love with my dad."

"He was a good man." I didn't know him personally, but I knew Derry Shaughnessy's reputation.

"The best." Her face fills with regret. "He promised my mom he would stop doing business with the AOG once he became boss. He never got the chance."

"Your dad was going to cut ties with Gabriel's cult?" This is news to me.

"Yes. Even after mom died, he intended to keep his promise to her. He was honorable like that."

He'd also been a vicious fighter and brilliant strategist. "Did Gabriel know?" I wonder out loud.

Róise shrugs, lost in old melancholy.

But the thoughts shooting through my brain with rapid fire logic energize me. "I haven't been able to find any information, not even a rumor about a hit being taken out on your dad."

Not within the Five Families, or any of the other syndicates in New York.

"You're still investigating?"

"I promised I would."

"But I thought you had mafia stuff you were doing for your brother."

"I do." As well as my many commitments as COO of Oscuro Enterprises.

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