Page 59 of Forbidden Bond

He brushed his lips across hers, taking his time about easing into the contact only to inhale and withdraw, just a fraction, a whisper, less than a feather’s depth. The intoxicating, faraway sense he bestowed both closed her eyes and opened her lips.

“Mo Grá.”

“Things around here will get tough for a while.” Still close, tone quiet, their intimacy encompassed trust. “Situations might change fast, we’ll have to adapt quickly.”

“Score’s on his way here?”

“Strat told you?” As his fingertips smoothed the hair from her temple, she nodded. “Word is out on the street. That’s good.”

“It would be easier for me to help you, and the family, if I knew what was going on.”

“I’m working from the club tomorrow night.”

“Okay.” That was an important clue. “For a reason or just to get back on the horse? You’re working with Play, right? He’s not taking over.”

“He’s playing a role I need him to play, finetuning as I go.”

“I’m not the superintendent’s daughter anymore.”

That drew him back enough to meet her eye. “You’re not?”

“If my father resigns his position—”

“Your father’s keeping his job.”

She frowned. “He is? But Lach—”

“And I have developed a strategy.”

Really? Her blue-all-the-way-through brother and cutthroat-crime-boss boyfriend were developing strategies in cahoots now? Shit. Up wasn’t up yet.

“I guess… I always wanted you to get along.” So why should she question their alliance? She shouldn’t, so moved on. “What happened with Evander? What happened the night my dad—”

“A lot of questions.”

“And not a lot of answers. You’re stronger now, the McDades, I don’t see you surrendering at all, much less surrendering when you’re at the top of your game.”

He frowned. “Who said anything about surrendering?”

“We’re here, in hiding, and—”

“Not hiding, fortifying.”

“We want the world to wonder?”

“Aye.”

“And with your…” Their eyes stayed matched as her fingertips skimmed over his wound. “You needed time to heal? How bad was it? I was so terrified that you—”

“It’s in the past, Macushla. What’s done is done.”

It couldn’t be as simple as that. She wouldn’t let it be forgotten like it was nothing.

“My father doesn’t get a pass, shouldn’t get a pass. What he’s done is unacceptable. He showed no loyalty to his own father, then disrespected the McDades so horribly—”

“He doesn’t get a pass. Don’t upset yourself, we have this under control.”

Her gusto hid an underlying fear. “How long were you there? In my grandfather’s office? Alone?”

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