Page 1 of Sins of Innocence

Prologue

ÁINE

The little bell over the coffee shop door jingles as I step inside, bringing the smell of fresh coffee and cinnamon with it. Normally, I would love it.

Today it turns my stomach.

Maybe it's because I'm eight months pregnant with a dead husband and a lot of fears for my future. Maybe it's because two men from the FBI spent an hour three days ago telling me my husband wasn't the man I thought he was.

Or maybe grief has simply sucked all the joy out of everything.

I smooth a hand over the stretched front of my maternity top before scanning the room. The man who called introducing himself as Kenneth Shaughnessy lifts one hand from a table in the corner.

He stands before I reach him.

"Mrs. Gallagher."

"Mr. Shaughnessy."

His handshake is warm, his smile practiced. Mid-forties, expensive charcoal suit, silver at his temples. The kind of successful businessman Troy had always wanted to become.

"Call me Kenneth. May I call you Áine?" he asks.

I nod.

"Please." He gestures toward the booth. "Sit. Can I get you something? Tea? Decaf coffee?"

"I don't need anything."

"I insist." He studies me for a second before nodding. "Herbal tea, then. For the baby."

Before I can refuse again, he's already walking toward the counter.

I should leave. Every instinct tells me to leave. Instead, I stay. Because Troy told me he worked for Shaughnessy Corp and this man's last name is Shaughnessy and he claimed to have been Troy's boss.

After my meeting with the FBI agents, I have a lot of questions about my husband's job and the people he worked for. The Shaughnessy Mob isn't exactly a secret in the boroughs of New York, but I never connected them to my husband's job for the huge global concern.

The FBI claims that connection is there. And they want my help bringing down Troy's former employers.

Kenneth returns carrying two mugs and sets one carefully in front of me. "Chamomile."

"Thank you."

"My wife drank it when she was pregnant with our son." He sits across from me and waits for me to take a sip before saying, "I hear you've been talking to the FBI."

What? How?

My heart starts pounding a mile-a-minute. "Did they contact you too?"

Kenneth spears me with suddenly cold eyes. "Is there a reason you think they should have?"

"They had some...interesting theories," I force out from my suddenly tight throat. "They said Troy wasn't who I thought he was."

"They should have left you alone." Kenneth sighs, looking genuinely disappointed.

What does that mean? He's not denying Troy had a life I didn't know about, but he's not confirming anything either.

"They didn't," is all I say. Then because if what the FBI agents claimed was true, I need to do damage control, I say, "I told them I wasn't interested in helping them with their inquiries. And I'm not."