“He’s good to me. There might be some…questionable things in his life, but I trust him.”
Michelle nodded, as if she understood. “As long as he treats you right, that’s all that matters. Much better than that asshole ex of yours.”
Ruby laughed. She was definitely right about that.
* * *
Ruby’s body was sore in the best ways. She was laying in Owen’s bed, trying to catch her breath after a rough session with Owen. He was in the bathroom, getting rid of the condom, and he returned to her just as she was getting comfortable under the sheets. With a sleepy smile, she lifted the blankets up for him to join her. It was dark in the room, but she could see his outline as he climbed into the bed beside her.
She was pulled into his arms, and he kissed the top of her head. Ruby relaxed, her head resting on his shoulder while her fingers traced circles on his broad chest.
“It’s so peaceful here,” she murmured.
“I like that you feel that way with me,” Owen replied, stroking her hair. “Not a lot of people do. Probably just my mom. Maybe Declan.”
“You haven’t told me much about your family.”
Owen didn’t reply right away, and she worried that she might have tread on a topic that he didn’t want to discuss. Finally after what felt like a long time, he spoke.
“Things haven’t always been good in my family. Let’s just say that peace wasn’t a concept I was familiar with growing up with my dad. He was an intense person.”
“Intense?”
“An asshole, basically. All he ever cared about was power and money. He ran the organization with an iron fist. He hurt people when he didn’t need to and some of that cruelty came out at home as well.”
Ruby went still, not liking what she was hearing. “Did he hurt you?”
“Sometimes. The man demanded obedience in all things, whether you were his son or a member of the mafia. When I was a kid, I did my best to keep the brunt of his anger from my mom and brother.”
“That fell to you?”
He shrugged. “I’m older than Declan. And my mom…she’s a kind woman, a pure soul. I don’t know how she ever ended up with a man like my dad, but she didn’t have it in her to stand up to him.”
“That’s a hell of a burden on you as a kid.”
She could almost see it in her mind. Owen as a teenager, standing between his dad and Declan. She pictured his dad as a tall figure in a suit with a cigar in his mouth and a cruel laugh. She had no idea if the image her mind conjured was accurate, but it sent a chill down her spine anyway.
“Sometimes I feel like I’ve always had responsibilities, ever since I was born,” he continued. “One of the things that drew me to you in the first place was the way that you seem happy and fun. That music festival you dragged me to? I never would have done something like that.”
“Well, it sounds like you missed out on learning how to be happy. If you don’t learn that as a kid, it can be tough. Don’t worry, I’ll be here to help you loosen up when you need it.”
Somehow she knew he was smiling, even though she couldn’t see him in the darkness.
“My dad died three years ago, and I swore that I wouldn’t be like him when I took over the organization. I stood by that vow, but I didn’t realize how unhappy I was before. It was the same joylessness that I sensed in him. But I don’t feel like that anymore.”
Ruby pressed a kiss to his chest. She knew without being told that Owen didn’t open up like this for just anyone. He was sharing a part of himself with her that he didn’t let others see. She felt so much closer to him than before, that connection she’d felt from the beginning deepening.
Owen was unlike any other man she’d ever known, and she could feel herself falling for him more everyday.
13
OWEN
He finally figured out what happened to his shipment. It had been an obsession for him over the last few weeks, ever since they somehow intercepted his shipment. If he didn’t have Ruby to distract him, the problem probably would have driven him crazy.
He made inquiries and tracked the shipment back to the source. That was how he discovered that the shipment wasn’t intercepted. It was stolen before it even got onto the boat. Finding that out was the easy part. It turned out that the captain was paid off twice. Apparently, the Italians paid him more to act like he had the shipment and keep Owen from figuring out when it was stolen.
He paid dearly for that double cross.
