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My knees weakenwhen her fiery gaze lands on me and my heart jumps into my throat, making it hard to breathe, so fucking hard.

Lucie’s hair’s a mess, piled up on top of her head and damp. She’s wearing old sweatpants that need to be burned even though I suspect they’re mine and Mam gave them to her. And the t-shirt needs to meet the same fate.

Still, Lucie is utterly gorgeous.

And fuck, she must hate me.

I could tell her I’ve spent the past three and a half weeks working with my brothers, her mom, and Mikey on making sure all issues are resolved and that everything is set up for the future.

Our future.

The official story being told is that Vincent had a heart attack.

I should’ve probably known her mother was the original de Rosa, but I didn’t. Or maybe I didn’t pay attention to that detail. Things like that, the made man rising to take the position of Don, isn’t unheard of, and in that structure, she wasn’tmore than a mafia wife, one with a built-in armor. If he killed her, then he’d lose everything to his son and daughter.

Toherdaughter.

I killed a piece of shit who’d have killed Lucie, and I don’t regret it at all.

That makes me the worst of all the monsters, and I don’t even wish I could change it.

No, that’s a lie. I do.

I wish I’d killed him long before I did. And that Lucie wasn’t in the room, wasn’t in immediate danger.

“Callahan.” Her voice is cold and chills the deepest parts of me. Then she looks at my mam. “Thanks for your hospitality, but I think I’m going to head to London.”

And with that she goes up the stairs.

I don’t move.

“Well.”

Mam suddenly slaps me, hard, and dammit, my face stings.

“Ow, Mam?—”

“You be quiet.” Behind us comes a roll of laughter and I snarl at Declan as Mam whips around to him. “You, too. Or I’ll paddle your ass. Out, Declan. Now.”

“For fuck’s sake… C’mon, Arnold.”

My dog runs up to me and licks my hand, then barks and turns to follow Declan out to the back of the house.

I haven’t been here before, not since she moved. But Mam isn’t looking for a discussion on property and her new house. She wants to finish what we started.

What she started, a talk about Lucie.

“Well, what, Callahan?” she snaps. “Is that it? You come all the way here and say ‘well’ when your woman tells you she’s leaving?”

“She doesn’t want me.”

“Because you killed a man who’d have killed her?”

“Not just any man. Her da, Mam.”

But Mam shakes her head and crosses her arms, staring up at me. “I didn’t raise you to be stupid, Callahan. Why did you come here if it wasn’t for her? And don’t tell me you haven’t been chomping at the bit to get yourself over here since the moment you worked out where Declan took her.”

“She left me.”