Page 39 of My Irish Mafia King

“I don’t have girlfriends,” he says.

“Not even women who are already involved in the mob? That’s why you don’t want me, becau?—”

“I never said I didn’twantyou,” he says sternly. “Whenever I reference this having an expiration date, don’t think, even for a goddamn second, it’s what I want. But it’s what has to happen.”

“Are you dodging the question?” I say. “Surely, you date.”

“Do you?”

“I’m busy with the bakery… and I’ve never found the right person. Now, your turn.”

“I’ve been on dates,” he says. “But I don’t date per se. The women from that life… they all have something to prove. They look at me, they see the Callahan prince. They see a man with power, even if I’ve chosen not to wield it. That was why I enjoyed our morning ritual so much. To you, I was just another man.”

“You were neverjustanything,” I murmur. Then quickly add, “They do sharing boards for two. Boxty bites, Dublin coddle skewers, all with an Irish theme. What’d you think?”

“Delicious,” he says, setting a skewer down, then looking at me like he thinks I’d be even tastier. “When this is over, what are you going to do?”

“Run the bakery.”

“But in the future. A woman as determined as you, you must have big plans. Where do you see yourself in five years?”

I laugh. “Why has this suddenly turned into a job interview?”

“I can’t help being interested.”

“I’d like to open more bakeries, franchise the Crust, or maybe work some more on my designs. I currently sell the clovers and the leprechauns, but I’ve been playing with trying to make a rainbow which isn’t absolutely loaded with sugar and which, you know,lookslike a rainbow.”

He smiles, gazing at me, seeming genuinely interested. “And what about a family?”

I look down at the table. “Now you sound like my mom.”

“She asked if you were going to have kids?”

“It was her main concern before she passed. She didn’t want my childhood to scar me, to force me to be alone.”

“What did you tell her?”

“Killian…”

“What?”

I lay my fork down with a clatter. "Why are you asking me about the future when you seem determined you can't be in it?"

"I want you to be okay. I want to know if you have plans. I just want..."

Maybe that's what this comes down to. We both just want... but he's trying to be the mature one, trying to make me see sense, without even asking if I think I can tolerate life in his mafia world.

"Mom didn't need to work so hard to persuade me," I tell him. "I've always wanted kids. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted a family. When Dad was hurting Mom, when I was really little, I remember thinking that when I had kids, their dad would never act like that."

"How many do you want?"

I laugh, but it sounds more like a sob. Does he know what he's doing? Whenever I've thought about this future for the past six months, it's been with Killian. Sure, they were crazy daydreams, but that was before we kissed, before we touched and bonded.

"I've always wanted a big family," I tell him. "What about you?"

"The same," he replies. "Though I've always assumed it'll never happen. If I have kids, they'll be born intotheFamily, with a capital F."

"Maybe if there was a king who could make that a not-so-bad thing..."

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