“Was engaged. He broke it off when he found out you were pregnant. They got engaged sometime after Thanksgiving last year, if I remember correctly.”
Guilt churned in her stomach, though she tried to convince herself she had nothing to feel guilty about. She hadn’t known about Portia, and if she had there was no possible way she would have slept with Killian.
And yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling of having done something wrong.
“Well, at least I know I’m making the right call in not marrying him,” she grumbled, turning her head to stare out the window so Brody wouldn’t see the tears stinging her eyes. “Since apparently those vows mean nothing to him.”
“Those vows would mean everything to him, after they were said.”
“Right. Because there’s such a huge difference between running around on your fiancée and cheating on your wife.”
“It’s… more nuanced than that.”
She shouldn’t ask. Shouldn’t want to know. But curiosity always had been her fatal flaw. “How so?”
“Killian’s engagement to Portia was strictly a business arrangement. One they were keeping as hushed as possible because of the nature of their business. I can’t get into the details, but Killian and Richard were making some deals and Richard wanted his daughter protected. So he asked Killian to marry her.”
Her mind racing now, she turned back to him. “How does marrying Killian protect her? Wouldn’t that put her in more danger?”
“Yes and no. It makes her more of a target, but she was going to be one anyway, given the business Killian and Richard were discussing. If she’d married Killian, she would have had an army at her disposal, and she never would have gone anywhere without protection. And while some people might be willing to fuck with the daughter of a new player, there are fewer who would be willing to even consider touching Killian O’Rourke’s wife.”
“So Killian agreed to marry her to protect her, then broke things off because I showed up pregnant.” More of that guilt churned in her stomach, and if she’d actually been able to eat any of her breakfast, she might have been sick right there in the car. “So she’s in danger now? Because of me?”
“Not nearly as much, no. When Killian broke off the engagement, he learned some things about Richard that led to him cutting all of their business ties as well.”
“Still, she could be in danger.”
“She could. Which is why Killian has some friends watching over her.”
“Friends? Like, other mob people?”
“No. Members of a local motorcycle club.”
Settling back against her seat, Aria closed her eyes. “Seriously, when did my life turn into a fucking soap opera?”
“You get used to it.” Brody sounded almost chipper. “But back to your original concern. If you married Killian, you would never have to worry about him being unfaithful. Not only because he would take those vows to heart, but because you have something going for you that Portia never had.”
“What’s that?”
Looking over, Brody pinned her with a look so serious it had her stomach dropping to her knees. “The fact that Killian is wildly, madly, unreasonably in love with you.”
Aria
* * *
Twice now members of Killian’s inner circle had declared his love for her. And yet, the man himself never even broached the topic. He’d made it clear he wanted to protect her, own her, but love?
Not even a blip on his radar, as far as she could tell.
Along with, apparently, the fact that he’d had a whole fucking fiancée the night he’d knocked her up.
Those revelations plagued her the rest of the drive to the bookstore and while they stood in line, waiting to meet Goldie. She tried to distract herself with the shiny new copy of her latest book, but shockingly enough, a book about a woman being forced to marry the mob boss who accidentally knocked her up did little to distract her from her current state of affairs.
It was, ironically, Brody who finally distracted her. Not because of anything he said, since his chattiness seemed to have dried up the second they stepped out of the car, but because he was so damn alert.
Maybe not to the casual observer. He did a really good job of appearing laidback, almost bored as he stood in line beside her. But his eyes never stopped moving, assessing, and one time he even very subtly shifted their positions so he was between Aria and the door rather than the other way around.
Even now, scanning his own copy of Goldie’s newest book, Aria could tell he was aware of every little movement around them.
