Page 114 of Demanding Mob Boss

"This is Connor's kid?" Eoin asks.

Elliott shoots a panicked glance to me, and I shrug. "I had to tell them to get them to agree to you coming here. The building is on lockdown."

A firm knock sounds on the door. It opens a second later, revealing Arlo, Ini and Mrs. Hart.

He nods to me. "Since they'll be here with you, I'll just make myself useful to the boss."

I know what he means. He's going to go into battle with the rest of his mob. After a few words with Tommy and Eoin, Arlo leaves.

"What is going on?" Ini demands as she and Mrs. Hart come inside.

"Let's get dinner going and we can talk after." Though I'm not sure what I can or should say.

Thankfully, my best friend doesn't push for answers while we work to get everyone fed.

But as soon as we're all sitting at the table, Dot in Elliott's lap, Ini looks at me with a frown. "Why are we here?"

I open my mouth, and nothing comes out. I can't tell Ini that Cian and his mob are waging war on the streets of Chicago tonight. I'm not supposed to know that.

"I'm here because my parents are all kinds of extra," Elliott says, like he's trying to buy me time to come up with an answer. "They threatened to take Dot and I'm not letting that happen."

"If Connor trusts you with his kid, we aren't letting anyone take her away from you," Tommy says, his eyes flat, his tone adamant.

Elliott grimaces. He doesn't like that Connor's friends don't know he's Dot's dad too, but he doesn't correct them.

"Okay," Ini says, drawing out the word. "But that doesn't explain why I'm here. Or Mrs. Hart."

"Don't mind me," Mrs. Hart says. "Spending the evening with three hunky men isn't my idea of an imposition."

Ini rolls her eyes. "Enjoy your eye candy." Then she looks at me with the expression that tells me she's done waiting for answers.

So, I tell her about what happened with Detectives Grieves and Samuels. How I was picked up by dirty cops and that one of them groped me. That Cian thinks I might be a target for his enemies.

"You are in danger because you're involved with a mobster." Ini glares at Tommy and Eoin. "Working for Doyle Construction would have been bad enough, but I told you working at Doyle & Byrne wasn't a good idea."

Ini knows I don't just work for Cian, but that I've moved in here. Maybe that's the problem.

"He's my person, Ini." I need her to understand.

She's my dearest friend. I don't want her to be angry with me, but I am not giving Cian up.

"He's your stalker, girl. How do you not see that?"

I never told her about the cameras or the spy cam app on my phone.

She glares at me. "I found a camera on the crates at the head of your bed after you moved out. He watched you sleep. That's creepy."

I forgot about that camera. Ooops. "It made me feel safe." Seen.

Ini, who never cries, looks like she's about to. Her eyes are wet, and her expression is grief stricken. "You're not safe with him though. Are you?"

Is Cian's world dangerous? Yes. But I'm staying, because my heart feels like it's in a vice when I even consider living in a world without him in it.

"My dad is a plumber. My mom works as a secretary at their church. We lived in a regular, middle-class neighborhood in New Jersey." Elliott shakes his head, his eyes haunted. "I was attacked and nearly killed on my way home from school when I was sixteen. Some kids didn't like the way I dressed, that I wanted to usetheyfor my pronoun instead ofshe."

The table goes still.

"My parents said it was my fault. That if I had hung around with thenormalkids and acted like the girl they thought I was, it wouldn't have happened." Elliott stops, gathering himself. "Those so-called normal teenagers were the ones that hurt me."

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