Page 88 of Illicit Temptation

Little does he know, I already have both.

I drag in a breath to start throwing logic in his handsome face. “And you think a worthy mob boss would be half the good husband to me as you are to Isabella?”

He thinks about that. “I wasn’t exactly the best husband when I first married my Izzy. She made me the husband I am.” He strokes my cheek. “You’re the same way. You’ve done it,me a stór. You’ve proven you can run a business all on your own. But as my life expands, as my family grows, I need to make sure you’re secure.”

I think about the kind of man who marries a woman solely for an heir, only to find out she can’t give him one. Telling Kieran about my fertility problems sits on my tongue as a flame-thrower to burn down this conversation.

I can’t form the words that I’m unable to have a baby. A family wedding isn’t the place to reveal my disappointing news.

Plus, maybe...gulp...Kieran might marry me off to some powerful geezer who doesn’t need children.

I hold it together and keep challenging him. “What if I don’t want a husband?”

He smiles. “Would you prefer a wife?”

That breaks a ring of laughter from my chest. “If I did, I would tell you. I’m happy, Kieran.” Only, I don’t think my happiness is a factor to him.

“There’s more to life than work,” he says, leaning in to me. “I didn’t think I’d take a wife after Norah died. I masked that grief by being the savage king Da expected me to be.”

Then came an opportunity to strengthen his reign. A plan that included taking Isabella Parisi, the daughter of the Italian mafia don, as his queen.

I consider throwing it in his face that if there’s a deal to be made with another mafia king, shame on him for using the oldest trick in the book and not sending his army, headed by Lachlan with the help of the Bratva, to take what he wants and leave me the hell out of it.

These words scream in my head, as tears well up in my eyes.

“Shea?” Kieran studies me.

I breathe so I don’t pass out, summoning my courage. I’ve stood up to my brother before. “In case you’ve forgotten, dear brother, I have a business to run.”

He holds my shoulders. “Larke is more than capable of running your East Hampton business. Then you can sell it to her. You don’t need the money, Shea-Lynne.”

Balor!Kieran used Balor to spy on me. I turn my head, eyes searching for the groom, or anyone who will be on my side. All of my brothers are powerful, but no one would dare challenge Kieran on this.

Clearing my throat, I say, “I agree, Larke can manage the East Hampton office. WhileIexpand into Manhattan. I’m meeting with Rina Lagerfeld tomorrow. She’s rumored to be selling her multi-million-dollar event-planning empire. And I plan to be on the shortlist.”

“Lagerfeld. In Manhattan?” Kieran’s icy tone is as sharp as a blade.

“You’ve heard of them,” I answer, curious about the fire brewing in his eyes.

He tugs me by the arm, his bruising grip makes the hairon the back of my neck stand up. Trace’s jaw drops as he strides toward us.

Catching Trace rushing this way, Kieran shoves me behind him. “Don’t you ever worry about her with me, do you understand? I’d slit my own throat before hurting my sister.”

“Aye, sir. Just worried there’s been news about your mum and wanted to be there for her.”

Nice save...

“This is not about our mother.” After another glance at me, my brother says to Trace, “She stays the fuck away from Manhattan.”

My mouth drops open. I was stupid for telling him about Lagerfeld.

Trace and Kieran connect silently like there’s more I don’t know, ending with Trace’s nod. “Aye, boss.”

Trace callsmeboss as a joke. Lachlan is his boss, and Kieran rules us all!

My brother pulls me aside, away from Trace. My heart drops into my stomach. Whatever he’ll say next is something he doesn’t want my bodyguard to hear. “I didn’t want to embarrass you like this, but I know about you and Archer Crest. I don’t know why I wasn’t given the intel sooner, but I’m disappointed you didn’t do me the courtesy of telling me you were involved with a man who’s got a different kind of blood on his hands. The blood ofinnocents, Shea.”

My throat goes tight. I wrongly justified my relationship with Archer, thinking his power rivaled my brothers. I was so wrong.

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