“Don’t sass me, Catlin,” he snips.
“Then stop treating me like a child.” I cross my arms and stare back at him.
“Then stop acting like one.” He scoffs. “You are an employee of this church—and my niece—how you live your life is a representation of our beliefs and teachings. I will not allow you to associate with those…sinners. The lot of them are nothing but murderers, thieves, and seductresses.”
Seductresses? He can’t be serious. My new friends from lunch might be—or have been—a little adventurous with their sex lives, but so were at least half the girls I went to boarding school with.
But murderers?
Clearly, he’s not referring to the three wonderful people I spent my afternoon with. There’s just no way. Of the rest of them, I’ve only met Finn. Sure, he’s a total flirt… But a killer? He seems so… sweet.
“Are you listening to me, Catlin?” Uncle Sean snarls, noticing my lack of attention to his rambling. “You aren’t to spend time with them.”
“You’re serious?”
“Deadly,” he confirms. “I expect you to be pleasant and cordial with them inside the confines of this church—where it’s safe—but I don’t want you seeing them beyond these walls.”
Arching an inquisitive brow, I ask, “Where it’s safe?”
“They don’t bring their troubles in here. I don’t worry about anything happening to you in here, but I can’t say the same out there.” Uncle Sean’s demeanor softens, and there’s a bit of softness in his previously anger-filled gaze. His pained words catch in his throat, “You don’t know what kind of danger you’re putting yourself in being seen with them in public, and I can’t risk losing you. My brother would never forgive me.”
“Uncle Sean…” I softly exhale as he closes the distance between us and pulls me into an embrace; it’s so tight that it feels like he’s trying to never let me go. “You aren’t going to lose me.”
“I know you aren’t a little girl anymore”—his words vibrate against the top of my head—“but I’m begging you to listen to me on this. Stay away from the Evans family.”
As he continues to squeeze me tightly, I know he’s waiting for me to acknowledge his request. But it’s a promise I can’t quite bring myself to give him. These are the first people I’ve met since getting here who actually welcomed me into their tight-knit group.
The first people ever actually.
I’m not quite ready to let that go.
Releasing me from his suffocating embrace, he urges, “Can you promise me that?”
No… I can’t.
“Catlin?” he presses.
Not wanting to lie—or upset him—I give the only answer I can muster. “Uh-huh.”
“You always were such a good girl.” He smiles down at me with pride. “Your parents would both be so proud of the woman you’re becoming. I know I am.”
That’s me…
Always the good girl; following the rules and doing exactly what is asked and expected of me. What I want is always to be an afterthought so that I don’t upset Uncle Sean,Máthair Chríonna, or even the sisters who ran the boarding school.
Leisurely walking through the courtyard to the convent, I can’t help but think about it more. Pushing to move to New York is the first time I’ve ever actually made a decision for me. It’s theonlyselfish choice I’ve ever made. My phone dinging in my purse drags me from thoughts. I pull it out to find a few text messages.
QUINN
I made reservations for the four of us. Tuesday at six.
LAYLA
Sounds good!
JORGE
And if you change your mind…