Page 13 of Sins of Arrogance (Syndicate Sins #1)

MICK

A soft knock sounds on my office door and anticipation thrums through me.

My crew texts they're on their way before they get here. The other men knock like the soldiers they are. Three, quick, firm raps.

Kara?

Before I call to enter, the door opens.

Not Kara. My wife would never walk into either my or her da's office uninvited.

The sleek black hair framing a familiar face peeking around the door comes as no surprise.

Spoiled by her parents and raised to see herself as mob royalty, Dierdre has a flexible relationship with other people's boundaries.

This is not her first visit to my office in the last four days. It's not even the first time she's entered without being given leave to.

She pauses in the doorway, framed in the afternoon light like she thinks she’s walking onto a stage. Shoulders drawn in just enough to suggest fragility. Lips glossed pink instead of her usual red.

Eyes glistening with moisture, but not red. Because no matter what she wants me to believe, she hasn't cried.

"Micky…" Her voice trembles.

I lean back in my chair and say nothing.

"I’m sorry," she breathes. "I shouldn’t have gone looking for Kara, but I’m lonely here and I didn't want to interrupt your work."

"That's never stopped you before," I say dryly.

"Don't tease." She sniffles. "I just. I didn’t think she’d be so…" She trails off, like it hurts her too much to say the word.

I don't jump in to fill the silence. Dierdre has something she wants to say and she'll say it. If I show any sympathy at this point, it'll only encourage the dramatics.

She likes performing a damn sight too much.

Dierdre bites her lip and blinks at me. "Your wife. She's just so jealous ."

She says the word like it should trigger something in me and my first thought is, who in the hell leaked information to my former mob about my wife's hormone driven jealousy after she gave birth to our son?

Or did they do a deep dive and discover her stay at The Marlowe Center? Like I told Kara, HIPAA be damned. If somebody paid someone enough, or had hackers on level with ours, they could learn she'd been a patient and gain access to her file.

The question is, why would the Northies go to all that trouble? Or have they been spying at that level since I left Ireland? And if they have, how in the bleedin' hell did I miss it?

When I don't react, Dierdre comes around my desk to stand beside me and settles her hip on the edge. Curious where this is going, I don't move.

"I suppose I can’t blame her." Dierdre trails her hand down my arm. "You are something special. Someone like her, naturally she'd be insecure about a man with your appetites."

As if Dierdre knows anything real about my sexual proclivities. Did I fuck her with less care than I give Kara? Aye. Dierdre likes rough sex.

But I was never tempted to fuck her until she couldn't walk. Or lock her away so I didn't have to share her.

The only woman who triggers that kind of possessiveness in me is my wife. And the only woman I would temper what I crave with what is good for her is Kara as well.

Dierdre folds her arms around her waist and bites her lip.

I stand, dislodging Dierdre's hand from my arm and take a step away from her. "My wife has no reason to be insecure."

"Of course not. But that won't stop her worrying, will it? She doesn't know you like I do. "

"Did Kara say something to you?" As soon as I utter the words I want to knock myself upside the head.

Of course my wife wouldn't say anything to Dierdre. And asking that question implies I'm worried. I'm not.

I'm just…curious.

"She doesn't want me here. The way she looks at me? She's jealous. Trust me, one woman recognizes that emotion in another."

I don't think so. Kara and Dierdre are so different from each other, they might as well be different species.

Dierdre slides closer to me her perfume a cloying cloud between us. "And you know I'm used to getting more than my fair share directed at me."

"Kara is fine." Where is this going?

"I didn’t come here to cause trouble." Dierdre turns her head, rubbing her finger delicately under her dry eye as if disposing of a tear. "But if Kara doesn’t want me here, I can go. I understand. I can’t stay somewhere I’m not welcome."

She waits.

There it is.

She wants me to ask her to stay. To what end? She's already our guest. She and I both know that's not going to change anytime soon.

We may suspect her of spying for the Northies, but that's all it is: suspicion. They're our allies. Refusing her sanctuary would put that at risk.

She knows it.

I know it.

So, what's her endgame here?

Dierdre shifts so her skirt rides up her thigh, then drops her gaze. "It’s just...it’s hard. Being here. Not knowing who to trust. Feeling like a burden."

"You’re not a burden," I say, voice even.

She's an informational resource.

Her head snaps up. The relief in her expression there and gone so quick, I would have missed it if I wasn't observing her so closely.

"Micky…" She sighs and blinks away moisture that never had a risk of spilling over. "I'm so glad you feel that way. But you're the only one. And I can't…"

Again she lets her voice trail off.

"Can't what?" I need this interview over so I can get back to work.

"You must realize how isolated I feel. How uncomfortable I would be dining with the Shaughnessy family with Kara looking at me like I'm filth."

"Kara is too well mannered to look at you like anything other than a guest at her father's table."

"You think so? I know she's young and so sweet , but she can get her point across. Believe me. She did this afternoon."

Good for Kara.

"Maybe I should return to Ireland. I don't think I can spend any more days, much less weeks being treated like a pariah."

She's gone from being looked at like she's filth to being treated like a pariah in two sentences. What's next, claiming someone in the family wants to kill her?

I bite back a sigh. I have better things to be doing, but for now, Brogan and I want Dierdre here. That means bridging the divide between her and my wife.

"I'll speak to Kara." She's the perfect mob daughter and wife.

She does what she has to do for the good of the family. I'll ask her to reassure Dierdre that she's welcome here.

"Only if you think it's best. I don’t want to make her uncomfortable. And it's obvious that my being here does that. I respect your marriage."

I raise a brow. "Do you?"

A flash of hurt. "You used to trust me."

I don’t answer.

Because I trust her to be exactly what she’s always been: ambitious, slippery, and useful.

And if she thinks I’m defending her out of sentimentality?

That’s fine.

If she thinks Kara’s jealousy gives her leverage?

Let her think it.

Because eventually, Dierdre will reveal what the hell brought her to New York. When she does, I’ll know if my family are still allies.

Or if they've become my enemy.