Page 175 of Filthy Savage

But she doesn’t know.

Then again, maybe she does. She’s married to Tynan. She has to know what they do.

I need someone to talk to, and maybe she can be that person. I’ll tread lightly and feel things out before I tell her more.

Letting out a sigh, I tug on Max’s leash as we continue down the acres of open green grass. “I’m having a hard time with this life, you know?”

Glancing at her from my periphery, I find her nodding.

“Oh, yeah. Believe me, I get it. We’ve been married for so long that sometimes I forget, or maybe make myself forget, but I understand the fear you’re experiencing. It’s perfectly normal.”

“Yeah, exactly. And I just don’t know how to deal with the stuff he does. Especially when he says he’s doing it for me. But when it comes to hurting others, I don’t want him to do that to protect me. It’s not right.”

She pauses, narrowing a curious gaze, and my pulse flutters.

Did I just put a foot in my mouth? Crap. Crap!

“Are you talking about something specific?”

Oh, Amara, you’re an idiot. Tynan is gonna kill you for talking to his wife.

“Never mind.” I clear my throat. “I was just being stupid. I’m okay.”

I start to stride past her, but she rushes after me, grabbing my wrist.

“Amara, hey!” She pivots to stand in front of me. “You can talk to me. I know everything, okay? Everything they do. So you wouldn’t be telling me anything new.”

Running a hand over my face, I breathe a sigh of relief. “He killed my professor.”

“Oh.” Her brows shoot up. “I think this conversation at least deserves some margaritas.”

I let out a laugh before a groan comes through. “I’m pregnant, remember?”

“Oh, for me, girlfriend. Not for you.”

Once we make it back to her place, we settle in the den, her with a margarita, me with a virgin daiquiri,and I tell her everything. All about my past, my fears for the future, what he did and why.

“I get it.” She takes a sip of her drink. “It’s not easy being a Mob wife.” As soon as she says that, she grimaces. “When I say it out loud, I still can’t believe it’s my life. But I love him like I’ve never loved anyone, and that’s enough for me.”

My heart tugs, afraid that I may be in love with Fionn too. That it’s either accept my place beside him as the man he is or tell him to let me go.

Yet the thought of never being with him again, imagining him with someone else, looking at her the way he looks at me… It’s like a knife to my chest.

“I think you have to decide what you can live with,” she tells me. “This life of theirs, or a life without him.” Her eyes brim with compassion. “And it doesn’t have to be today or tomorrow, but you will have to choose.” She leans back into the sofa. “Though if you choose to walk away, you need to know one thing.”

“What’s that?”

She angles in closer. “These Quinn men, they don’t just let things go without a fight.”

A shiver runs down my spine. “Is that how Tynan was?”

She laughs. “Oh, yeah. My husband has a knack for getting what he wants. Especially when it was in the middle of the night while I had my suitcase packed to run from him.”

“Oh, wow.” I stare at her with shock. “So, what happened?”

“Well…” She folds her arms over her chest. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

Then she’s telling their whole story, not holding back, and even through it all, I can tell just how much she loves him.

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