Page 103 of The Mafia Enforcer's Temptation

But it’s safer to believe that they are.

I gulp in air.

Seamus looks up. “Did you see, Dec?”

“No, I’d just gone inside when I heard the engine rev and tires squeal,” he says to Seamus.

Seamus, cradling the puppy in one hand, carefully takes the kitten and stands up.

“The rest are dead.” My voice comes out dull, like everything going on in my life has suddenly retreated, and this is the only moment that matters. “We have to… I…”

“Get up, Ava.” Seamus meets my gaze, eyes hard.

A car pulls up and Declan helps me up while holding Clawzilla.

“Come on,” he says to me. “Cal and Seamus’ll take them to the vet… we know one who’ll open for us.”

Now I rise.

“I’m going, too.” I’m gripping the bag. “We need to do something, bury these poor little things.”

But Dec eases the bag from me with his free hand. “We’ll make sure they’re buried. Plant a tree for them.”

To anyone else, it might sound flippant, but I believe him. I get in the car and Seamus passes me the live animals and takes over the driver’s seat.

There’s silence as we head to this special vet friend they have. I can’t think of a thing to say, and for some reason, this man I hate, this man I pretty much want to kill half the time, calms me just by being there. I don’t know why.

It’s not far to the vet, and she’s waiting when we get there. A light on the porch flares bright.

The little animals are breathing shallow and fast and seem so weak that I fear for their lives.

There’s really only one person I’ve ever feared for before and that’s Tatiana.

The vet takes one look at them once we’re inside. There’s a man with her, and based on the matching rings on their fingers, I assume he’s her husband. He takes the kitten and she takes the puppy. “Probably rejects from a puppy and kitten mill,” she says with a hard edge to her voice. “Do you want to stay in the waiting room, Seamus?”

“Of course, Dr. Tan.”

And as the doctor and her husband take the animals into another room, we sit.

After a while, he breaks the silence. “You don’t seem the type to be bothered by this.”

“Fuck you, Seamus.”

“And there she is.” He pauses. “I guess it’s easier to show emotion over animals than it is over people.”

“I’m not that much of a monster. I just don’t have anyone in my life.”

“There’s me.”

I just look at him, my heart suddenly throbbing. “You?”

“You’re stuck with me for a year, unless you’re planning to kill me now?”

I wince and let out a shuddering breath. “I am greedy, I guess, if you think it’s greedy to want what’s mine.”

“That’s fair.” He stretches out his legs but doesn’t touch me. And there’s that strange part of me that wants him to both touch me and keep his hands where they are. “But if you’re honest with me, then maybe we can work this out. Because right now I’m at a fucking loss. So maybe you are ready to fess up and tell me what you were doing with those jewels.”

I sigh, slumping against the back of the chair. Does it matter anymore? We don’t have to like each other to work together, and I need him if I’m going to get my bratva back.