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Boston Commons isn’t too crowded. It’s a nice afternoon and there are people out lying on blankets, sitting on benches, talking in groups, jogging the paths, and all I want to do is get lost among them.
I keep thinking about Finn, about what he said back at his place, and trying to decide what in the world I’m going to do about him.
I was born with nothing. My dad worked in an automotive factory in our small Iowa town, and when they move it to Mexico, he got into roofing. Mom was a daycare teacher, which meant she brought home every single disease imaginable, and barely made eleven dollars an hour.
The life Finn leads, the world he’s from, the purewealththat man’s involved in, that’s something I could only ever dream about.
And I want it for my child.
It seems crazy not to do this. Finn’s offering me a life of comfort in exchange for almost nothing. All I’d have to do is smile, play wife, and raise our child—which is what I planned on doing anyway, minus the wife and smiling bit.
Except I know what happens to people that don’t love each other, but insist on staying married anyway. I’ve watched it for years now, as fight after fight slowly eats at them, slowly cows them.
“Let me ask you something, Shane.” I glance at my young companion. He looks supremely uncomfortable. Good. “What do you think about your boss?”
“Finn?” His eyes widen. “He’s one of the best in the city.”
“One of the bestwhatexactly?”
“Crew chiefs.” He cocks his head, squinting at me. “How much do you know about him?”
“I know he’s a Crowley and he runs crews. And apparently you’re part of their organization.”
“Finn’s the youngest crew chief in the city, and in the Crowley family, that’s a huge deal.”
“But what’s he like?” I press. “Is he fair? Good to work for?”
“Demanding,” he says, looking out across the trees. “But, yeah, I’d say he’s fair. He asks more of himself than he does of anyone else. I’m lucky he took me under his wing.”
“Lucky,” I say softly, marveling at this young kid thinking he’sluckyfor getting to work with a gangster. “Come on, Shane. Paint me a picture here.”
His face contorts like he’s trying to think in the middle of a hailstorm. But finally, he says, “Finn’s a good leader. He’s the first one in and the last one out, and he makes sure everyone gets a fair cut. He sometimes has a short temper, but the guys he beats down always deserve it. Anyway, I’m happy I work for him. I’m pretty sure that if he hadn’t taken an interest in me then I’d be either dead or in jail.” He stops walking and faces me with an intense expression. “I’m only telling you this because in all the time I’ve worked for him, Finn’s never shown any interest in a woman before, much less assigned me to one for guard duty.”
“Could’ve assigned someone else,” I say, head cocked.
“Maybe. But I doubt it. What are you to him, anyway?”
“I’m not sure yet.” I turn away, walking on. Shane shadows me before reaching my side again.
I keep thinking about what he said as we go on in silence. How Finn’s fair. First in, last out. But also, those wordsbeats downfloat through it all, and the violence it implies.
That’s not the sort of life I’m used to.
My parents might despise each other, but there’s never been any violence.
Still, he’s never assigned a guard to a woman before—which probably means I’m the only girl he’s gotten pregnant.
God, I don’t know what to think.
Shane interrupts my thoughts as we pause near a fountain. “Sorry, Dara, but I should get going.”
I blink at him in surprise. “Why? Did he call?”
“Actually, he’s right over there.” Shane nods over to a bench on the other side of the fountain. “He’s been waiting.”
“You steered me here.” I gape at him in surprise. “You devious little bastard.”
He grins, shrugging. “What can I say? I’m not as helpless as I appear. Anyway, good luck with whatever you two are doing.” He turns and walks off, moving with big, loping strides.
