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Doubt and something I couldn’t decipher cast a shadow over Willa’s fairy-like features. She reminded me of the creatures in the bedtime stories read to me as a child. Irish folklore—my mother’s favorite.
As her light dimmed before my eyes, I fortified my commitment to never let Willa down. No matter the cost.
“You have my word,” I told her. “But you need to be vigilant. There are things in play that I cannot discuss with you. Not yet.” I leaned in and deepened my gaze. “I know you understand why.”
Willa remained a Brennan.
She swallowed hard and nodded.
The old guard was aware that Willa Brennan was Jack’s daughter. What they didn’t know was where the hell her mother had gone and how Willa had ended up with the Brennans. Their working theory—which I was still wrapping my head around—was that Valentina had ended up with a connected man from another syndicate. The Brennans had dealings with smaller Irish crime families outside our region, so it wasn’t a reach to believe that Tiernan happened upon Willa at some point.
Another possible scenario? Tiernan had moved heaven and hell to find Willa to seek his retribution against Jack for his affair with Kayleigh.
Regardless, Willa remained Brennan property until—one way or another—she wasn’t.
If the Brennans were willing to make a slight revision of their original proposal—say, swap one first name for another—Willa and I would be married.
Both sides would end up with everything they’d wished to gain through the original alliance. There’d be no need for spilled blood. The people I called family would be safe.
It was the option I’d choose if it were up to me. Even if that meant working with the Brennans.
But it wasn’t my choice to make. Willa would decide.
And if she didn’t want to be my wife?
My men were willing to go to war for Jack’s daughter, and I would give my last breath if it guaranteed her safety and happiness—even if the latter did not include me.
I brushed her cheek with my thumb, and a soft sigh came from her lips. I wanted to tell her everything, but I could only give her a fraction. “For now, avoid confrontation with Raphael.” I paused to set aside my personal feelings for the one hundredth time. “Be the dutiful fiancée that he expects you to be.”
Willa pulled away with a burning glare that read, You’re a real dick.
The guilt was instantaneous. I couldn’t escape its crushing grip on my lungs.
I’d spent the drive home contemplating not telling her anything at all. But Willa wasn’t like most Mob women. A lack of curiosity and the gift of ignorance hadn’t been bred into her. I’d considered that she may have been offended by the limited information I could give her, but I’d done worse than insult her—I’d hurt her feelings. I’d made her come all over my fingers, and then demanded she go back to my brother and not ask questions.
I struggled to balance honoring my oath with my growing devotion to Willa.
If my father were lucid, I’d consider asking his advice. He always seemed to know what to do when it came to my mother.
“It won’t be long,” I said. “Days. A week at most. And then—you and me—we’ll have that long talk I think we both need. Aye?”
Her eyes narrowed to slits at my paper-thin assurances.
“Are you afraid of Raphael?” I asked.
She clenched her jaw and somehow narrowed her eyes further.
I considered pointing out that it was still my job to protect her but remembered how well that had gone over the last time and changed course. “Between Finn, Keegan, and me—one of us will always have eyes on him. If not in person, then through surveillance.” I slipped a hand under her hair and cradled the back of her head. “I asked for your trust, and you gave it to me. I’m sure your da taught you that to ask for someone’s trust carries a great level of responsibility, and to give one’s trust requires faith.”
Willa’s eyes softened and the tightness in my chest eased.
She drew in a breath and lifted her chin. She did this whenever she channeled strength from somewhere deep. A gesture she’d picked up from Jack. I’d recognized it in her when she was seven years old.
“You have my trust—and my faith,” she vowed.
My heart ached with a feeling so profound I was certain it transcended an emotion as common as love.
Willa
