Page 74 of Vengeful Union

“So, what’s it like being married to Rory?”

I glance over at Raquel. I can’t tell her how I really feel. Hell, I’m not sure of it myself.

“It’s not like I had a choice.”

“Sorry,” she mumbles. “I’m just curious. I haven’t seen Rory since he was a kid. I was wondering what he’s like now.”

Slowly, horror sweeps over me. Surely, she and Rory hadn’t?—

“Don’t worry,” she says quickly, reading my face. “Rory and I have never had a thing. I’m married.” She holds up her right hand, which has a small, white-gold band on it.

“Oh,” I breathe.

“Happily married.” She chuckles. “My wife would be mad I’m even swimming with you. She’s the jealous type.”

“Oh.”

“The pantsuits didn’t give it away?” she teases, and I can’t help but laugh.

We step into the pool house to change when we arrive, and I wear a simple white one-piece with cutouts around the hips. Raquel wears a modest bikini, just a simple black one.

She jumps into the pool, splashing me, and I squeal.

I step in at the shallow end, getting used to the cool water, instead of cannonballing like last time. The saltwater feels good on my skin, and I make a note to myself to tell Da to upgrade ours.

“So... are you going to tell me what Rory’s like now that you know I don’t want to jump his bones?” Raquel says, and I chuckle, floating on my back.

All that’s missing now is Paige’s famous mimosas.

My heart clenches. I miss her terribly. I miss all of them. All I can hope is that everyone’s doing okay in my absence.

“He’s... good,” I say awkwardly. “I mean, he’s a good person.”

I don’t feel the need to lie to Raquel, not exactly. She’s security, not Niall’s right hand. Of course, I can’t talk about our real plan,but I can at least talk to her like a friend about what I feel for Rory.

“Kind of weird for a Murphy.”

My eyes snap to hers in surprise. “But you work for Murphy.”

She shrugs. “I work for anyone who pays me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m loyal to Niall. He’s helped me out a lot, gotten me through some rough times. But I know what kind of man he is. And what kind of man he isn’t. And ‘good’ isn’t something I’d use to describe him.”

“Rory’s different,” I insist. “He’s nothing like his father.”

“He never was.”

I sit up, starting to tread water before swimming over to where Raquel is sitting on the steps at the shallow end, half-submerged.

“What was Rory like as a kid?”

“You’re awfully interested for someone who was forced into this,” she says in a low, teasing tone.

I sigh. “Fine. I like him. He’s hard not to like.”

She smiles. “You’re right about him, you know. He is a good person. He always had the biggest heart, even when he was a teenager. He cared so much about his sister, his mother, his father. He was devastated when his Ma abandoned them.”

I frown. I lost my mother young, but I don’t know how I’d feel if she abandoned me instead of passed away.

“How old was he?” I ask quietly.

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