Page 14 of Thorns of Deceit

“Enjoy the show,mo cuishle?”

My brows knitted. Did the fucker forget my name already?

“It’s Raven,” I gritted, fury rising within me.

He chuckled, flipping the wet hair off his forehead in a gesture so masculine I almost drooled a little. “I know your name.Mo cuishlemeans my darling. Or ‘my pulse,’ if you want the literal translation.”

“Oh.”

He turned off the shower, then turned to face me. I forced my gaze to remain above his neckline as he reached for a towel, wrapping it around his waist. “So, you didn’t answer my question.”

“Which was?” I asked, finally letting my eyes dip to the deep lines at his waist, the trail of hair below his abdomen. I’d clearly misplaced all my shame tonight.

“Did you enjoy the show?” My cheeks heated in answer. “Good, maybe there’s hope for us yet.”

I rolled my eyes. “Not sure what you mean.”

“Sure you do.” He stalked toward me, leaving a trail of water droplets behind him. “So tell me, what are you doing here?”

I sighed. I wanted nothing more than to tell him the truth—that I didn’t want to sleep alone—but I’d already relinquished so much power tonight. So instead, I blurted, “I wanted a glass of water. Got lost on my way back to my bedroom.”

Amusement flashed in Aiden’s eyes and I knew he saw right through me.

Needless to say, I slept alone that night.

EIGHT

RAVEN

The following morning, I wandered through the house with my cell phone in my hand. It was the only thing that was mine in this place, and a silly part of me clung to it like a life raft. Or maybe I wanted to be ready to dial 9-1-1 if shit went south.

I did my best to push last night’s voyeurism out of my mind. It was simply a result of a long, stressful day. There was no other explanation.

A sparkle caught my eye and my steps faltered as I stared at the eternity diamond band on my finger.

My heartbeat tripped ominously.Eternitywasn’t the word I preferred in this scenario. I’d very much like to forget the vows I made and move past this disaster of an arrangement.

No girl dreamed of this. I would have been perfectly fine never to love or marry after witnessing firsthand the impact “love” had had on my mom.

Yet here I was, married to an Irish mobster.

I gulped, the realization slowly sinking into my bones.Holy crap, I’m married to a mobster.

I was now no longer Raven Croft, but RavenCallahan.

At least my initials won’t change, I thought for no good reason, and maybe that was proof that I hadn’t come to grips with my predicament. Maybe I could figure out a way out before Mom or my friends learned of this.

My phone chimed, signaling a message, and I unlocked it. I stared at the messages in our group chat. My best friends and I had kept it going all through our boarding school years, and I didn’t think I was being dramatic when I said it had saved me countless times.

The most recent message had come from Athena, who was currently babysitting her own mother.

Athena: Is this summer over already? I’m so ready for Paris.

I chewed on my bottom lip. I was beyond ready for Paris too, nothing had changed on that front, but there were now even more obstacles in my way. On top of being unemployed and newlymarried, I was entangled with criminals.

Rather than type out a novel and admit to the girls how much my life had gone off the rails, I settled for a vague response. My ego couldn’t take another hit.

Me: Yeah, me too.