But he doubted his sister’s vengeance for being forced in that relationship would have spared her own family. She would’ve helped Romanov take over the entire eastern seaboard inside of five years—Boston included.
“Bully for her.” Charlie gave a mirthless smile, drawing him back to the present. “I can handle it.”
“I know.” It was why he’d recruited Charlie in the first place.
That, and because of her father.
The same FBI agent his brother Teague had been supplying with information for years.
Aiden smothered his rage. Both at his brother and John Finch.
Keep it locked down.
He offered Charlie his arm. “Shall we?”
She nodded, no evidence of anything but calm confidence on her face.She would have made one hell of an undercover cop.She smiled. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter Four
Charlie braced herself, nearly overwhelmed when Aiden led her into a room with eight other people—three couples and two little girls. They were talking, though tension ran through the space like fault lines.
And the power.
Good God, the power.
She’d once read a book that described one of the characters as wearing a mantle of power. Back then, it had been impossible to wrap her head around. Now, standing in this room, she understood.
Liam had given her a brief rundown of the family tree while they were shopping today, so she could put names with faces without too much trouble. The blond woman sitting at the table was Callista Sheridan, newly appointed head of the Sheridan clan. Her husband, Teague, was Aiden’s middle brother, and the small child in his lap with a head full of curls was Teague and Callista’s daughter, Moira. Callista was pregnantagain, far enough along to show. They should have looked like just another American family—and they did, until Charlie looked into the woman’s blue eyes.
If she thought I was a threat to her family, Callista Sheridan would kill me without a second thought and bury my body where it would never be found.
The thought left Charlie cold. Rationally, she’d compared Aiden to Romanov and she knew he wasn’t some good man who just happened to run one of the three crime families who ruled Boston. But now that she was standing in a room with both him and the other two-thirds of that power wheel, it was clear…Aiden was ruthless.
Another couple sat at the far end of the table, as far from the rest of them as they could get. The man was like a blond lion lazing in a chair with his woman on his knee, but there was a coiled tension in his body that spoke of violence ready to be unleashed. For all his surface attitude, it was clear he didn’t want to be here and didn’t trust any of them. This had to be James Halloran—which made the woman perched on his lap in a borderline indecent dress Carrigan. She, at least, wasn’t pretending to be anything other than what she was—powerful and dangerous.
God, Charlie could barely breathe.
Her gaze skated to the middle couple. This man was dressed in a three-piece suit and had tattoos peeking out at throat and wrists—that would be Aiden’s brother Cillian. He was in charge of the O’Malleys’ accounting and cybersecurity, and though he didn’t have the level of power that some of the other people did, the way he hovered over the woman and child at his side…Another person not to cross.
She started to dismiss his wife—a pretty Middle Eastern woman with a wild mane of hair—but froze. Charlie knewthat face. Olivia Rashidi and her daughter were Dmitri Romanov’s last remaining family, though Olivia was only his half sister via their late father’s mistress.
Liam had left outthatlittle piece of information.
Charlie shot a look at Aiden to silently tell him that he’d be answering her questions later, but found his attention focused on James and Carrigan.
I am in the room with the most dangerous people in Boston. Who thought this was a good idea?
She’d gotten through the last four years by flying under the radar and biding her time. Now she was about to be thrust into the limelight, such as it was, and Charlie suddenly wanting nothing more than to turn around and walk out of the room. Only the fact that Aiden promised to bring about the justice she desperately wanted kept her feet planted and her chin up as every eye turned to her.
Aiden, at least, didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the attention. But then, he’d grown up in this world. This was his natural habitat. He guided Charlie to a chair and pulled it out for her. Her instinct screamed at her to remain standing with a clear path to the nearest exit, but she managed to sink into the seat all the same.
He stood at her back, likely knowing that she was half a second from bolting. “Thank you for coming.”
Carrigan uncoiled herself, though she didn’t move away from James. “I’d be tickled pink over the invite if I thought for a second this was a friendly family gathering. Except I know the O’Malleys don’t have those, and, even if we did, I wouldn’t be invited.” She made a show of looking around. “Whereisour darling father? He’s been missing in action for well over a year now.” She raked her gaze over Charlie. “And who the hell isthis?”
Charlie wasn’t going to touchthatwith a ten-foot pole. The only thing Aiden had told her before leading her in here was to let him do the talking, and she was more than happy for him to field the hostility.
No one seemed particularly thrilled to be here—herself included.
