AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“My name has no known connections to the mob, and by remaining here and married to me, you won’t be implicated as a teacher. You can have your life when all this is over, but you aren’t going to do it away from me. You aren’t going to take our son again,” I told her. She had no idea how serious I was. “I’m not living another decade wondering where you are and if you’re safe. I have you now, and I’m not letting you go.”
How had I not made the connection when they’d first arrived? I felt so fucking stupid.
“That’s not possible. You have to have connections to crime.”
“My name is clean, and when you take my last name, yours will be, too.”
She gaped, but she didn’t comment on the last name I offered her. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“But I don’t want him exposed to all of this.”
“I won’t let him see anything heinous under my watch. You have my word on that, Ciara. He can be my son and live here, and he’ll never even know what I do for a living. He won’t need to.”
I could tell she believed every word I spoke, and I mentally considered the things that would have to be changed in this house. I’d need to rent out an office building and hold meetings there, and I’d eradicate the weapon’s room altogether He would inherit everything I had, but he’d never know the darkness that filled me. He’d never need to.
“Okay,” she said nodding. “I’ll think about it.”
Chapter Ten
Ciara Gilroy
I handed Sean a printed sheet of multiplication facts to work through, and he groaned. “Mom, you know I hate math.”
“Everyone hates math, but we all had to sit through it until we were old enough to graduate school.”
He slammed the paper down on the table in front of us. “I only agreed to do homeschooling because I thought you’d be cool about the classes you picked.”
I snorted. “You didn’t have to agree. We’re homeschooling for your safety, and I’m following the curriculum that you had in your regular classes. I talked to your teachers, and we’re doing the same things so you don’t fall behind.”
“I don’t mind falling behind in math.”
A presence filled the doorway, and I smiled at him. Damien hadn’t been around much, and we hadn’t had a chance to speak one-on-one since I came, so I gestured him forward. “Sean, go to the table and do those problems. Your teacher said that she already taught you how to do it. Come back when you’re finished.”
“I don’t remember,” he remarked stubbornly.
“Yes, you do. Go.”
He stomped past Damien resentfully and crumpled half the paper in his hand. I would never do homeschooling again—not when Sean was well-behaved and sociable in school and a menace when alone at home with me. The kid ran on social interaction and wasn’t getting nearly enough here.
I glanced up at Damien. “He really isn’t a bad kid. He just hates being cooped up and away from his friends,” I told him, giving a chipper smile despite the frustration that slowly faded from my chest. “But it’s great to meet you one-on-one finally.”
He didn’t nod or acknowledge my pleasantries as he took a step further into the room. “I think it would be best if you left,” he finally said, and I barked a laugh. It took me a moment to realize that he wasn’t smiling as I’d anticipated. He wasn’t joking. “You don’t belong here, and you’re using Viktor to get yourself out of a situation that has nothing to do with him.”
I shook my head, furrowing my brows. Confrontation didn’t bother me when I anticipated it, but this came out of left field, especially since I hadn’t even been aware that Damien had a problem with me. “I’m sorry, can you elaborate?” I asked.
“You heard me.”
“I did hear you, but I was hoping you’d give me an explanation. You don’t know me.”
Damien crossed his arms and leaned into the doorframe. “I don’t need to.”
I wondered if he’d give me any kind of information. Moreover, I wondered why he’d chosen to confront me now of all times. Did he think he could come into this room and convince me to leave based on his preferences?
“Okay,” I said, not giving him anything more. “What did you think you’d accomplish by coming here?”
Damien gave me frat-boy energy. I knew he was dangerous. The gun at his hip that I tried to ignore reminded me of that, but he was the kind of man who could be taken down by a minor inconvenience. I didn’t know him, and my impression may have been off by a long shot, but the black curls that topped his head and the handsome, chiseled features told me that he’d never had a difficult time with ladies, and I imagined he didn’t often have one challenging him.
