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“Extremely,” I say. “She comes from a good family. It’s a worthwhile match.”
Carson looks at me like my skull’s on fire. “I don’t give a shit about her family, Liam. Was she really about to marry Rustik Aslan? What the hell is that all about?”
“Yes, she was.” I glance at her and her face is a stone mask. Only a hint of tension remains around her eyes and mouth. “I met her at their wedding, but she decided to run away. I decided to help her, and in the course of escaping, realized we had a lot in common. We fell madly in love.”
Carson nearly gags. “Are you joking?”
“Yes,” I say, straight-faced. He can’t tell whether I’m serious or not. They never can. “This is real, Carson. Our marriage is serious, even if it’s based on business.”
“Mother’s going to have a heart attack,” he says, leaning forward on his elbows. “Seriously, Liam, I honestly wondered if you were even, you know—” He gestures at me.
“Capable of human emotion?”
“Interested in getting married,” he says, exasperated. “But fine, you married this girl, and now I’m guessing the Aslan Bratva wants to kill you? Considering you stole her out from under their leader.”
“More or less, that’s correct.”
“Which means you just came in here with a wife I’ve never heard of before and dumped an enormous pile of shit on my desk. Is that about everything?”
“That’s accurate, yes.”
He groans, leaning back in his chair. “Welcome home. You fucking asshole.”
“Thank you.” I stand up and hold out a hand for Alisa. No reason to drag this out. Carson knows, and that’s all I wanted. We’ll discuss strategy and next steps later, but for now, he needs to process and make some calls. I’m sure he’ll want to check up on my story. “Come on, let’s go speak with my mother.”
“It was, uh, nice to meet you?” She looks bewildered as I lead her from the room.
“Don’t let him drag you into his bullshit,” Carson calls out as I close the door behind us.
“That went well,” I say, smiling to myself as I walk toward my mother’s wing of the house.
“That went well?” She stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. That’s possible. Though I’m not sure I ever had it to begin with. “He’s livid. And we were in there for like ten seconds.”
“Is he?” I tilt my head. “Hadn’t noticed.”
“Are you sure he’s going to commit resources to this fight? Honestly, based on how annoyed he looked, I’m not going to be surprised if he lets Rustik kill you.”
“Carson may be angry now, but he has too much pride and he cares too much about this family to back away from a challenge.” I pick up my pace, enjoying myself. It’s not every day I get to come home and toss a live grenade into the middle of this stuffy place. “Don’t worry about him for now.”
“Right, sure, I should worry more about your mother.” She chews on her lip. Nervous, which is adorable. “What’s she like?”
“Smart. Strong. Difficult. She’s going to love you.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she’s convinced I’m never going to settle down. You’re here to prove her wrong.”
“Good for me.” She stops mid-stride. “Liam. How much trouble are we in? Seriously.”
I look back her, trying not to smile. But it’s so damn hard. “A lot. But don’t worry. We’ll have some fun too.”
She groans, but once I start walking again, she follows.
Chapter 11
Liam
The meeting with my mother goes surprisingly well. Alisa’s intimidated and quiet at first, but Mother draws her out, and they end up chatting for a couple of hours. When it’s over, as a condition of her acceptance and blessing, Mother makes me promise to do one horrible thing: have dinner with my brothers and their wives.
Which is how I end up sitting at the bar of a Crowley-owned restaurant in the center of Boston’s historic Beacon Hill, flanked by Finn and Nolan.
“Going to be honest with you, Liam. I never imagined you’d get married.” Finn salutes me with his glass of whiskey. “Out of the four of us, I assumed you’d be a bachelor for life.”
“He’s right about that,” Nolan agrees.
It’s only the three of us. Carson claimed he was too busy, which I assume really means he’s pissed at me for getting the family involved in a war on the other side of the continent. Oh, well.
“My relationship with Alisa is only a business expedience,” I say, not ashamed of that fact.
Finn and Nolan exchange a look. “Yeah, right, sure bro,” Nolan says, trying not to smile. “Just business.”
“That’s what we all say at first.” Finn sighs, glancing back at the table behind us. His wife, Dara’s sitting with Nolan’s wife, Keely, and Alisa, all three women dressed in designer clothes and sipping expensive wine. I’m impressed how quickly Alisa acclimated to having unlimited money, though she was never exactly poor.
