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“I thought bacon is fried,” I say before I can stop myself.
“Only if you want to do it wrong.” Caine adds some to my plate. “Go on, try it,” he coaxes.
Hesitantly, I take a bite. It’s juicy and salty, just plain incredible. I stifle a moan as the realization it’s the best bacon I’ve ever tasted washes over me.
“It’s alright,” I lie.
“What are your plans for the day?”
“Oh, am I allowed to have those?”
“Yes.”
How long is this ‘nice guy’ act going to last? I prefer to deal with the crime lord’s real persona. Not this contrived version of him he wants me to see.
“So, if I want to go to the library and study with Lauren, you don’t care?”
“Not as long as you bring my men. Or better yet, bring me,” Caine says lightly. His tone is just this side of playful.
“I’m not bringing a guard dog.”
“If you leave this house unprotected, the Dullahans will snatch you up. Do you have any idea how that would look? You spend one night here and I, the son of Jacob O’Connor, am so enamored with your ‘charm’,” he says, making it clear what he’s really referring to. “That you’re gallivanting around town the next day? I’m not a fucking fool, Aurora. And you will not play me for one.”
There he is. The real Caine. The crime lord I have been waiting for.
I slam my hand on the counter. “My dad isn’t that stupid. He’s not going to go against the O’Connors when you’ve made it perfectly clear it’s a losing battle.”
“No, I don’t doubt he’s on his best behavior. He won’t do anything that risks your life. But his men? They don’t strike me as great thinkers. They may very well do something stupid like steal their princess back and take control of the gang.”
There are only two ways out of a gang. Death and exile. Exile is worse than death. It’s the most extreme kind of punishment and it’s only bestowed upon rats and the weak. Dad’s men might try to take me back to prove dad and Liam aren’t fit leaders since losing ground to the O’Connor family.
“Well, I’m not going if I have to bring a babysitter.”
Caine shrugs “So invite Lauren over.”
“Here?” I gape at him.
“Why not?”
“Lauren knows where I live. How the hell am I supposed to explain that I’m livinghere?”
“Tell her the truth.”
“The truth?”
Caine sighs. “Well, a version of the truth, maybe. I’m not suggesting you tell her I kidnapped you in the middle of the night because our families belong to rival gangs fighting for control of Boston’s drug trade. Just tell her we’re dating.”
When he says it, it sounds so logical and I feel like an idiot for not seeing it sooner. So simple and easy to explain, yet so infinitely complicated. Lauren will have a million questions. Pushing aside the obvious question of why I haven’t told her, it won’t take long before she works out Caine and I don’t know each other.
“I’m not telling her that.”
“Suit yourself.”
Caine sits down with a plate of his own. He eats. I don’t look at him, but I can feel his eyes on me. Studying me. I can’t tell what he’s thinking and I’m not sure I want to know.
“What?” I growl.
I push the plate aside. It’s so delicious it makes me furious.
