Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Right now, she was just one big mess.
Charlie hadn’t had the foresight to bring in a change of clothes, so she walked out of the bathroom as naked as she walked in. It’s not like Aiden hasn’t seen every inch of me.
He held up a shirt and then tossed it to her. “Wear this. I can’t focus with you sitting there looking so downright fuckable.”
“Sounds like a personal problem.” But she pulled on the shirt, belatedly realizing it was far too big to belong to her, so long it hit the tops of her thighs. She frowned down at it. “I’m wearing your shirt.” It didn’t look like anything she’d seen Aiden in to date. It was a normal T-shirt with faded writing across the chest. “Boston University?”
“Even mob families go to college, Charlie.” He gave a mirthless smile. “Business major.”
It made sense. If the O’Malleys were anything like the Romanovs, they had a carefully balanced array of businesses—a good portion of which were on the up-and-up. It was possible to delegate some of that, but the more the boss handed off, the higher the chance of someone sneaking in and undercutting him because he didn’t understand the business side of things. She looked at Aiden with new eyes, feeling a little like a layer had been peeled back. “Nice.”
“It was a huge pain in the ass, but necessary. Most of us have college degrees of one sort or another.” He sighed. “Not Keira, though. She dropped out of art school two years ago, and she doesn’t seem interested in going back.”
“You’re…really worried about her.” She moved to sit on the edge of the bed, taking in the tray with sandwiches sitting beside him. “She’s a good kid.”
“You were right before. She’s lost and hurting.” He pushed one of the sandwiches toward her. “And I’m partly to blame for that, for a number of reasons. It’s been a rough couple of years for our family, and I was so focused on getting us through it without more losses that I didn’t realize she was slipping away until it was almost too late. Now she won’t talk to me even when I try to reach out.”
“And your other sisters?” The ones who had left the family behind in pursuit of…Well, Charlie couldn’t say for sure what they were in pursuit of. She still didn’t know the full story behind Sloan, and Carrigan seemed to fit in just fine with the mob life, even if she’d chosen a rival family over her own.
Aiden stared at something she couldn’t see. “I’ve kept things under control, and kept our business prospects from suffering too much during this time of uncertainty.”
It sounded a whole lot like a rehearsed speech—or someone else’s words coming out of his mouth.
He seemed to realize the same thing. He shook his head. “But, yeah, I’ve mishandled all three of my sisters. Repeatedly. The problem with putting the family first is that the individuals sometimes get lost in the shuffle.”
“I’m new to the scene, so I might not be reading things right, but it sure looks like you have a powerhouse of alliances going on in Boston.” Carrigan linked them to the Hallorans, even if there was tension there. Teague had married Callista Sheridan, which finished off the trifecta. Charlie might not support the illegal aspects of their lives, but she didn’t see how any of that was a bad thing.
“Yes and no. If Romanov wasn’t a threat, it would be true that the family is as powerful as it’s ever been, and a good portion of that is because of the events of the last few years.” He didn’t look particularly happy about it.
“I sense a ‘but’ coming.”
Aiden gave a tight smile. “But even if business is flourishing, the personal relationships have suffered. I’m sure you noticed the tension.”
“I did. I also noticed that all of your siblings jumped to your defense when they thought you were marrying a gold digger.” She shrugged, even though she still hated that aspect of their lie.
“Yes, I suppose they did.” His smile softened a little. “Families are complicated. We all grew up knowing what was expected of us, but some of us were more at peace with it than others.”
Strangely enough, she understood. Being raised in a family full of cops meant that everyone expected her to follow in their footsteps. But that was where the similarities ended. She’d wanted to be a cop, wanted it more than anything else in the world. She’d run cross-country and lifted weights in high school almost religiously because she wanted to be at the top of her game when she went into the police academy. All with her dad’s approval. There had never been another path available, because that was the only one she wanted.
She wasn’t sure what her dad would have done if she’d dreamed of running off and joining the ballet or becoming a doctor, but she couldn’t really picture him taking any other field of work as seriously as he took law enforcement.