Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
“Hello, Valentina,” he says. “I was wondering when I’d see you.”
“God damn it, Val,” Ronan grunts at me. “What are you doing?”
“Niall, you’re loyal to Ronan, right? He can trust you?”
Niall’s eyebrows raise. “I hope so.”
“It’s yes or no. None of that deflection bullshit.”
“All right then.” Niall nods at me, face serious. “Yes, he can trust me.”
“Good. I’m living here.” I wave away Ronan’s curse and protest. “Stop complaining, it’s better this way.”
Niall looks genuinely surprised. He stares between me and Ronan. “Living together?”
“Temporarily,” Ronan says, rubbing his face with a palm. “She’s having some problems with Julien, and I thought it was best if she stayed here for a while until that blew over.”
Niall nods to himself and strokes a hand down his chin. “Yeah, I can see that. Julien blames her for what happened with Adam, right?”
“That’s the implication.”
“You’re right, she’s definitely safer here than she would be at home.” Niall’s jaw works as he turns to the door. “You should’ve told me.”
“You know why I didn’t.”
“Yeah, cousin, I know.” Niall steps outside and heads to his car. Ronan moves to follow, but I put a hand on his arm.
“Talk to him tomorrow after you’ve both calmed down.”
Ronan’s jaw works, but he pulls the door shut instead and turns on me. “You had no right.”
“You were going to get in a fight over nothing. Now at least you don’t have to worry about lying to your cousin.”
“I never lied.”
“By omission. Whatever. You know what I mean. It’s better this way.”
He grunts and walks past me. “Guess you’re right. Not that I can do anything about it now.”
I watch him go. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that, but I don’t want to see him fall out with Niall over me. He’s already risking so much with his family to help me out, and it’s painful enough, but he and Niall are actual friends. I just can’t handle watching him push anyone else away.
I’ve lost too much, and I won’t let him go through the same thing, not if I can avoid it.
Chapter 26
Ronan
Iam extremely unhappy with the way the previous night went down. For the first night since Valentina moved in, we slept in separate bedrooms, and I missed her so fucking much it was like an ache in my body.
But she decided for me. She took away my choice, and that bothers me too much to ignore. If I tell anyone in my family about my arrangement with her, that should be entirely up to me—it’s not her place to insert herself into my affairs. Even if she has good reason.
I try to focus on work. My office is quiet, though I can hear my mother whistling in the kitchen as she cleans up from a small, more intimate breakfast, not our weekend monstrosity. I have paperwork for the legitimate business, plus calls and messages to send about the illegitimate business, and I can’t fucking focus on any of it.
Valentina’s swimming around in my brain.
That girl pisses me off. She’s got the balls to get pissed when I mention the other Capos, as if that’s not part of our ultimate goals, and then she pulls that shit with Niall. I’m frustrated, and the worst part is, all I want to do is to go home, pull her into bed, kiss her, and make everything right again.
There’s a knock. Niall enters and takes a seat in a chair across from me. He watches me for a few moments, and I watch him back, not sure where this is going to go.
“You should’ve trusted me,” he says.
I take a deep breath and blow it out. Maybe he’s right. If there’s anyone in the Group I can trust without hesitation, it’s him.
But this situation with Valentina is different. It’s not my own ass on the line—she’s very much mixed up in all this, and I want to protect her at all costs.
The calmer I can keep my family, the better everyone’s life will be.
And if they start revolting because I’m living with a former Italian mafia princess? That’s basically the worst-case scenario.
“You know why I didn’t tell you.”
He tilts his head and nods to himself, looking away. “Yeah, I get it. With everything going on, you didn’t want to take the risk. Too much at stake, and it’s easier to keep it to yourself, right? But you still should’ve trusted me.”
Something in my chest softens. “Yeah, all right, I should have.”
“I like Valentina.” Niall leans back in his chair, hands behind his head. He’s got a little smile on his face again. “She’s smart and strong. I bet she can keep your ass in check.”
“Most of the time.” I grin back at him. “She tries, anyway.”
“Despite everything going down with the cousins and such, you’ve been making good decisions lately. The chop shop job went great, and now this business with the Rocco guy seems to be headed in the right direction. More product on the street means more money in all our pockets. The cousins might not be able to separate the whole Italian thing away from pure business, but there are plenty of people in the family that can see what you’ve been doing, and they appreciate it.”