Page 192 of Forced Vows

"I wasn't twenty-one when I got in at Nuovi Inizi either. I have a very good fake ID."

"Which you have now destroyed?" I ask with little hope.

"Well, no." She looks up at me appealingly. "It's a keepsake now. A memento of my 21st birthday and the first night I met you."

I don't have anything to say to that, so I say nothing but neither do I demand that she destroy the fake ID.

"Kara and I aren't stupid, Miceli. We wouldn't do the same thing now, not with the threat level as high as it is. But at that time, neither of us had any reason to believe we were in danger."

She starts counting facts off on her fingers, like that makes them more convincing. "No one saw us leave. No one knew we were going to Drunk Shakespeare. My friends bought the tickets. And they were sworn to secrecy."

"You trust these friends to keep secrets like that?" I'm not judging her.

I am asking if she really believes she can trust the four students she spends most of her time with on campus. Of course, I know who they are. I know everything about my fiancée.

Except that she has a stronger predilection for sneaking out than I believed. The self-defense classes start tomorrow and she's sharpening her gun skills.

Róise looks at me, her expression as serious as I have ever seen it. "Yes, my friends, Aleks, Carrie, Traci, and Goodwin are as trustworthy as any human beings on this earth."

"Okay then. None of my investigations into their background contradict your assessment." Time to get this conversation back to the present plans. "If not drunk Shakespeare, what does your cousin want to do?"

"She's agoraphobic, yeah? So, it's not going to be to go to some crowded bar to watch actors do improv."

Róise has me there. I shouldn't have guessed that particular thing. "What does Fiona want to do?"

"To go bike riding at Caumsett Park."

I wait for her to add something else to this big secret birthday getaway and when she doesn't, I stare at her with incomprehension. "Why does this have to be a secret? "

"The most important element of the bike ride for Fiona is the sneaking away part." Her eyes beg me to understand.

I don't, but that doesn't mean I won't help her. "This is not the first time I haven't understood what is motivating a Shaughnessy woman. Go on."

"If we told Uncle Brogan that Fi wants to go on a bike ride, he wouldn't deny her. He's not a monster. But he would send a bunch of soldiers with us and it wouldn't be the same at all."

"What do you need from me?" Does she want me to help them sneak away from their security?

Because that's definitely not happening, even if I accompanied them. Not with the threat level where it's at right now.

I want you to tell Zoey that it's okay for her to pretend to sneak away with us. And I was really hoping that you would send that awesome security detail that I can never spot when we're out on our dates to protect us, so there's no question of safety."

I shouldn't be surprised by the maturity of this beautiful woman. But her solution to her cousin's desire is both compassionate and intelligent. Róise is not going to put herself or her cousins at risk.

However, she's determined to give Fiona an experience like the one she had for her recent birthday. Which will be giving me nightmares for months.

"Done." I press my finger to the button to get the elevator moving again. "You figure out how to make it seem like it's the great escape. And I will make sure that you have a security detail on you at all times."

Chapter 66: RÓISE

That was so much easier than I expected, but I knew I needed to talk to Miceli about what Fi wants.

Trust goes two ways. He has been giving me proof of his trust all along. Today was my chance to show that I trust him too.

And it paid off.

When we get up to the studio, I'm surprised to see what looks like a super comfy, oversized chair in one corner of the studio. It's pink. Definitely for me.

Of course, the first thing we use it for isn't me watching him paint. But to reenact our first lovemaking session in the boathouse.

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