Page 51 of Demanding Mob Boss

It's my job to help her not feel too much.

"Was your mom a mute button too?"

"She made me feel safe, but I was a lot. She needed breaks. From me. She'd beg my dad to watch me so she could get out of the house. I would cry the whole time she was gone. Dad hated it, but he didn't hate me. They both loved me, but I was too much."

"My ma and da loved me, but even my dad was afraid of me sometimes."

"He was the boss before you?" she asks.

"Yes." And he'd struck fear in the hearts of criminals and law enforcement alike.

Still, I'd scared my da because he knew that while he regretted some things he had to do as the boss, I regret nothing.

"He didn't understand you."

"Maybe." Maybe my da saw the beast inside me, the part of me that craved killing and felt no remorse for it.

Da knew that even he wouldn't be safe if he brought the beast to the surface.

"I hated going to school and I cried every day, fighting getting on the bus," Anna says, sounding sad. "I tried not to. I knew Mom needed time to herself, but I couldn't give it to her. She hated summer because I didn't have school."

"How do you know that?"

"I heard her tell my dad. I heard everything she said because I was always there."

"What happened when she died?"

"Nothing was the same. It didn't matter if I went to school or stayed at my aunt and uncle's house. Nowhere felt safe."

"Do you feel safe here?" I ask, not sure how I'm going to handle it if she needs to stay in this dinky ass apartment.

"More than there, less than when I'm with you." She lets out a half sob-half laugh. "You might as well know just how pathetic I am, but I'm jealous of the tracker you have on Shea's phone. I wish I could have your eyes on me all the time."

Chapter 17

ANNA

I admit my secret, knowing it will be the end. He'll finally understand. I'm too much.

Cian shifts and I think he's going to move me off of his lap, but all he does is pull his phone out of his inner jacket pocket. He unlocks it and taps on a button. "Look."

I do, but I don't know what I'm supposed to be seeing. It's Connor's office, but no one is there.

"That's your desk," he says.

I suck in a breath. He has my desk under surveillance?

He taps the screen again and an image of my apartment living room comes up. It's a live feed, but no one is in there. Because we are in here. He goes through three more screens. Mrs. Hart's apartment. The store where Ini and I buy our groceries. The bookstore I go to once a week, but only buy from when I can afford it. Which isn't often.

Sitting up, I look into his face. He's staring back, his blue eyes void of emotion, but I know it's there.

"You watch me," I breathe.

"I have to know you are okay."

Something unfurls inside me. Something that has been dormant, hidden away since I was a tiny child and heard my mom tell my dad the first time that she just needed a break. That she couldn't take it anymore. Couldn't takemeanymore.

It feels like springtime in my chest, and I smile. "You watch me, even when I’m not there, you want to see me."

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