Page 32 of Demanding Mob Boss

"Are you kidding me? The way you two are with each other, it's the talk of the office and the family."

"Oh." I don't know if I like that. I go hot at the idea of people I don't know talking about me.

"I think you and Cian are great together."

"But other people don't?" I torture myself by asking.

"Well, you can't blame them. He is a mob boss and you are pretty shy."

Feeling sad for no accountable reason, I can only nod. They're all correct. I'm not in Cian's league. I'm pretty sure my friends would be really upset if I started dating a mobster too.

"Cheer up, Romeo and Juliet's families didn't think they were good together either, but they were deeply in love."

"And they both ended up dead."

"Don't be so morbid."

I'm not being morbid. They did end up dead. I sigh, feeling for the first time like I don't fit here and I’m really glad when it's five o'clock and I can go home.

I have a trip to the bookstore to look forward to. Only, the warmth of happiness that thought brought me earlier has been snuffed out.

~ ~ ~

I can hear furniture smashing in Cian's office when I come in to work the next morning. Connor and Lachlan are standing outside his door, but neither are making a move to go in.

"What's wrong?" I ask. "Is Cian all right?"

Lachlan and Connor both turn quickly to face me. Connor looks worried. Lachlan has a speculative gleam in his eye. It would make me nervous, but I'm too concerned about Cian to let it bother me right now.

"He's upset," Lachlan says.

That surprises me. I've seen Cian angry, but never upset. Maybe that's what Lachlan means. Even so, Cian's voice goes all harsh and deadly sometimes, but he doesn't yell. He doesn't stomp. Not even when people make really big mistakes.

"Can I do anything to help?" I ask.

Connor shakes his head vehemently.

"Are you sure you want to?" Lachlan asks.

I nod without hesitation. Even if he can never return my feelings, Cian is special. And he's been really kind to me. If I can help him, I want to.

"No." Connor glares at Lachlan. "She's just a girl."

Indignant, I assure him, "I'm not a child."

Connor shakes his head again, but he's looking at Lachlan. "You cannot do it."

"Last time he took out an entire gang almost single handedly. What do you think he'll do to that fraternity, to find the ones who hurt Shea? No matter how many cops we have in our pocket, he'll go down for it and it will give the FEDs an in to our organization."

I ignore the reference to crooked cops. Everyone knows the construction business in Chicago runs on wheels oiled by paid off politicians. Why not cops too?

His other words make my heart pound though. "Someone hurt Shea?"

Lachlan jerks his head in a nod, banked fury making his gaze hard.

"Last night?" I ask. "At the party?"

"How did you know about the party?" Lachlan demands menacingly.