Page 70 of Irish Vice

I want to close my eyes again, but I won’t give him the satisfaction.

I was raised in the lap of the Mafia, side by side with my cousin Eliza. Antonio Russo raped her with his gun, then tore her apart with a single bullet just because he could. Braiden saved me from that madman’s grasp; bringing me to Thornfield and telling the world I was his bride.

But in the end, violent men use violent means. I pushed Braiden over the edge at breakfast this morning, and now he’s proving who he really is.

I’ll never let him see my fear. “So this is my punishment for driving around in my car? At least Eliza got to fuck her boyfriend before Russo shot her.”

His fingers tighten around my neck. He’s leaving bruises my collar would cover, if I ever agreed to wear his fucking emerald again. “This is what you get for breaking the rules.”

“You never said I couldn’t take my car.”

“I gave you a goddamn driver.”

“To go to the freeport. I didn’t drive to Dover.”

“No. You drove to Boston. To Kieran Ingram. To my fucking general.”

“Youtrackedme?” My voice cracks with indignation.

“I wish I had. Then I could have sent a man to intercept you.”

“News flash, Braiden. It’s a free world. I’m allowed to drive my own car. I can go where I want. Talk to who I want. Heading up the Fishtown Boys doesn’t give you the right to change that.”

“Heading up the Fishtown Boys—” His voice drips with venom as he repeats my words. “Gives me the need to kill you.”

Need. Notright.

He’s already made up his mind. I’ve been tried, convicted, and sentenced, without a chance to say a single word in my own defense. That’s why he’s brought a gun to our game.

Braiden has done things to my body before, things I never believed I’d let a man do. Things I never imagined wanting. He’s left me bruised, left me battered, left me broken and spent.

But always,always, that’s been with my consent.Sayredand I’ll stop. That’s been our rule.

“Let me go,” I whisper.

“I can’t do that.”

“Braiden, you’re scaring me.”

“If only you’d been scared before… Just a little. Just enough to follow my rules.”

“I followed your goddamn rules!” But getting angry won’t help here. No amount of shouting will make me big enough, strong enough to escape. So I try the opposite. I make myself very, very small. “I don’t understand,” I whisper.

“You went to Boston, right?”

“Yes.” My answer is barely audible.

“You spoke to Ingram, right?”

“Yes.” My answer is so soft, I wonder if he can hear it.

“You threatened him with the fucking FBI, right?”

I threatenedFiona. Not Ingram. His daughter. But I know Ihave to sayyes.My mouth shapes the word, but I can’t say it out loud.

“He’s the general of the Grand Irish Union, Samantha. In charge of us all. He got there by facing down every threat that’s ever stood in his way, every challenge to his authority. What did you think would happen? What did you think Kieran Ingram would do when you said you’d call the feds on him?”

“That’s not what I said.”