I risked a peep and noticed hisgoodside was my profile.
The party began to mingle. The host and hostess made sure their guests had beverages, and soon a pair of maids brought out trays of food.
I declined when they brought it our way.
The male across from me did the same. Once the maids backed away, he crossed his arms over his chest. The suit jacket pulled taut across his shoulders. I zeroed in on the motion, and a trickle of heat shivered through me.
“Not too ugly from this angle, is it.” He spoke so low, I didn’t realize he had at first.
I swallowed my tongue. My brain scrambled for a response.
Dio, was he this big the other night? Even if I was standing, he would still be taller than me, sitting there on the patio chair, which he dwarfed with the sheer breadth of his body.
“This isn’t your fairytale, cailín.” His voice dripped with a vicious bite. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
I snorted. There wasn’t much else to say. “You don’t know me. Why would you assume this isn’t what I want?”
He turned. The edge of the mask flashed. “Are you daft?”
“No.” Probably not, but I wasn’t sure about the vernacular.
“What kind of girl your age wants to be shackled to a hideous mutt like me?” he growled.
I leaned forward. “Maybe I was betting that you had a sunny personality.”
It was his turn to snort.
He looked away, staring at the groups that still didn’t mix. “Don’t count on it.”
“Clearly,” I muttered and snatched my drink. I swallowed the chilly liquid. Ice clinked against my teeth. “You can’t be all that bad.”
Liam snorted. “Do you know what happens when you tempt monsters, cailín?”
I shivered.
I don’t want to know.
So instead, I bravely asked, “What does that word mean?”
Was I avoiding the conversation? Yes. And for good reason. There was no escape. Which meant there was no point answering him.
“It meansgirl.”
When I set it down, I continued to study him. From this side, it was clear he had been dangerously good looking. That thick, wavy hair was barely contained with whatever product he’d used. His neck was decorated with vicious curls of ink. And that body….
I shifted in my seat, suddenly uncomfortably warm. But I didn’t let the rush of heat between my legs distract me. We might not be in the dark streets, but I would be foolish to think that the presence of our family and soldiers would protect me from this beast.
“You work at the don’s restaurant.” It wasn’t a question.
“I’m the manager.” I tapped my toe, wondering where the conversation was going. The mobster didn’t strike me as one to use small talk.
“You work often?”
A rumble came from the Irishmen. One of them spat on the ground. Another laughed lewdly and pointed at the group of Italians.
“Every day.” I splayed my hand over my knee to keep it from bouncing. It didn’t work. The nervous energy needed an outlet. “Why do you ask, Mr. McDonagh?”
“It’s Liam.” He turned and pinned me with a look. It was the way I imagined a wolf watched a lamb. Predatorial andhungry.“And it seems suspicious that a capo lets his teenage daughter work where his soldiers drink, then walk home every night—by herself.”
