Page 60 of Vengeful Union

Bitter disappointment washes over me.

Rory is a person with thoughts and feelings, too, and it’s strange to me that I wrote him off so easily in the beginning.

I guess anyone having to do with Niall Murphy makes me nervous. I’d even been a tiny bit suspicious of Bree when everything first happened.

But the Burke children aren’t bad people. It isn’t their fault they were born into this life.

And Rory... Rory’s helped me. He’s been great, really, and when this is all over…

My heart drops at the idea of this being over, and I groan inwardly.

Am I already catching feelings? We’ve only hooked up twice.

It reminds me of something Paige told me once when I’d talked about trying to get a friend with benefits.

“You know you can’t separate sex and love, Lara.”

“Like hell I can’t,” I muttered, but she was right in the end. I’d caught feelings, and he hadn’t, and it had ended in disappointment.

I won’t allow myself to go through that again.

Rory doesn’t want me. We’re both just pawns in our fathers’ war.

It doesn’t mean anything, even if he makes my heart skip sometimes.

Chapter Eighteen

18

RORY

“This steak is incredible,”Lara gushes. “What did you season it with?”

I give her a slow smile. “Salt and pepper, a little butter.”

“Well, it’s unbelievable,” She takes another big bite.

I chuckle. “Don’t hurt yourself, honey.”

She tilts her head, looking over at me.

I’ve already finished my plate, but watching her is fun. She’s cute, eating bloody steak like a grown man.

“Why do you call me that?”

“Call you what?”

“Honey.”

“If you don’t like it?—”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it,” she says quickly, and I grin.

“I dunno. Ma used to call me and Bree that when we were little. I guess it just stuck.”

“You call all girls that?”

I raise an eyebrow. “All girls?”

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