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I reached down and felt his cock, hard and pulsing with need already. Again. “Am I? Your woman, I mean?”
Colm nodded; his black brows dipped into a frown. “You’ve been my woman since that first night at The Oak Barrel, Sadie Rose.”
Yeah, I was in love with this man who was a real man. He had a lot of money, a big dick that he knew how to use, and best of all, he treated me like a queen.
Even though he had enough confidence and swagger for ten men, I found his mile-wide protective streak even more appealing. He cared about me. “I love you, Colm.”
He grinned at my words and pressed a soft kiss to my collarbone. “Love you too, Sadie Rose.”
My eyes fluttered shut at his words, and I let my fingers tangle in his hair as I arched up into his touch. He fucked me slowly and tenderly, but so deep it was like he fucked my soul.
That changed everything. I left for school that morning as usual, but when Mom left to do the day’s grocery shopping, Colm and I returned to get my things. The plan was that I’d never go back to school.
“What’s this?” He held up the bloody bag I kept in the back of my closet, and I felt my heart drop.
“Um, just some clothes I need to get rid of.” I just told this man that I loved him, but I wasn’t sure that I could tell him all of my secrets.
Colm looked at the bag and then back at me. “Wanna try that again, Sadie Rose?”
I sucked in a deep breath, slammed my eyes shut, knowing that this moment was inevitable. “There was this guy, Owen.” Once I started talking, I couldn’t stop. I shared every detail, from the rape to the shame to the need for revenge. “Those are the clothes I wore that night. And the knife.”
Colm was quiet for so long that I started to plan what I would do without him. How would I explain today’s absence from school to my mom to avoid trouble? How would I go back to life without Colm?
“That’s all?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“This,” he held up the bag and grinned. “This is no big deal. We’ll make a quick stop and burn it.”
“Really?”
“Really. You’re my woman, Sadie Rose. I’ll make sure no one ever finds out what happened to that motherfucker. I promise.”
It was a promise Colm kept until the day he died. Even when I found out I was pregnant with Owen’s baby, he took me to the abortion clinic, held my hand and smiled. “That fucker’s seed doesn’t deserve the life we’re gonna have together.”
After that day, my parents disowned me and I never went back. There was no evidence that Owen and I had ever been together after the rape.
And over the years, I made sure everyone who was there that day paid the price for their cowardice. Thanks to Colm and Cillian, I learned the ins and outs of the tri-city underworld, and most of all, I learned how to cover my tracks.
“Did you hear me, Ma?”
Kat’s voice pulled me from the past, and I looked at her with a bland smile. “What?”
“I said I’m not sure just alterations will cut it with this dress.” She was annoyed with me again, which seemed to be her permanent state these days.
“Don’t be silly, Katherine. We can find more fabric and alter it to fit you perfectly.” This dress was the closest thing I had to a family heirloom to pass on to my only daughter, and she would damn well take it.
Kat rolled her eyes, hung the dress up with the gentle care it deserved and walked out of my expansive walk-in closet without a word.
CHAPTERTWO
Sadie
“They’ve already been investigating these murders for months. If they haven’t found any evidence yet, chances are they won’t.”
I’d admit that a tiny sliver of fear went through me when I heard the FBI had created a joint task force to investigate the shooting deaths of Bishop Mueller and Bonnie. Still, they’d been at it too long to have found anything, and I felt myself starting to relax.
Thomas listened carefully, the way he always did. His hazel eyes were bright and intelligent, and I knew without a doubt he always had my best interests at heart. Not the family, not the Organization but me. Just me. “Do you plan to intervene?”
