Page 27 of Thorns of Deceit

“Where did all the honest politicians go?” I grumbled, damning that mayor and his greed.

Aiden chuckled. “An honest politician? Now there’s an oxymoron if I ever heard one.”

I shot him a look. “Then what about an honest criminal? An honest mobster?”

“What do you think?” he retorted dryly, picking up his glass and swirling it before bringing it to his lips.

“I think that mayor is the reason we’re both in this pickle,” I muttered.

He lowered his drink as he said, “You saw something you weren’t supposed to, Raven. I really didn’t want to kill you, as my uncle had suggested, so I married you. Besides, at the end of the day, hurting you wasn’t an option. So here we are, dating after we’ve already said our vows.”

“I’ll be sure to engrave that on your tombstone.”

He watched me for a heartbeat, then threw his head back and laughed. “My tombstone?”

“Yes, you’re much older, so it makes sense you go first,” I said, smiling. “Don’t worry, I’ll mourn you for the appropriate amount of time.”

“What’s that?” he remarked wryly. “A week?”

I fluttered my eyelashes innocently. “I was thinking a month, but I like the way you’re thinking better. So a week it is.”

“Geez, don’t mind my dead ass.”

“Oh, I won’t. Besides, you know what a bitch it is to find the perfect black dress.”

“I’ll haunt you in the afterlife,” he said dryly. “You and your younger boyfriend.”

I shrugged. “You might want to reconsider your threats, because I’ll find you the shittiest nursing home before your afterlife.”

“Jesus Christ, woman,” he said with a wry smile. “You don’t pull your punches, do you?”

I smiled sweetly. “Would you rather I lie to you?”

“Touché.”

For the next several minutes, we ate in silence while the city noise hummed in the distance and I pondered his words. The bottom line was that in one way or another, we’d both beenforced into this union. The fact that he chose marriage over killing me told me more than anything else could.

He wasn’t as ruthless or heartless as the rumors circling the club had made him out to be.

“I don’t know anything about you,” I said pensively. “Are your parents alive? I know you have brothers, but anyone else? I imagine being Irish, you probably have a huge family. Have you always lived in New York?”

He chuckled. “So many questions.”

“It’s only fair since you’ve been interrogating me.”

“Hardly.” He scoffed. “But since it’s our first date”—we rolled our eyes at the same time—“I’ll answer a few.”

“How kind of you.”

“Okay, I was raised in New York City, although I did spend a lot of summers in Ireland growing up. My father is dead.” Pain flashed across his expression, but it was gone in the next blink. “My mother is still around, but she’s not good to any of us. I have two brothers—the twins, whom you’ve met. I also have a sister who’s older than you. My siblings and I are very close, although sometimes I entertain the idea of killing Kyran and Tyran.”

I chuckled. “I bet more often than not they entertain the same idea.”

“Probably,” he stated wryly.

“Your sister… What’s her name?”

“Margaret.”