Page 127 of Sins of Innocence

I bite him again, this time drawing blood. Eww!

He yanks his hand away and shakes me. "I said, settle down!"

"Let me go!" I yell.

To my surprise, he does, backing up a couple of steps, his hands raised in the universal sign of surrender. "I just want to talk."

He's between me and the front door. I could turn and run back to the office, but he's fast. If I scream, someone will come. But I want to know what he has to say. It could be something Kieran needs to hear.

I back up several steps so he can't grab me again and fix him with a disgust filled glare. "So, talk."

"Don't take that tone with me, bitch. Just because your boyfriend got a promotion doesn't mean you're anything more than a rat's whore of a widow."

I'm neither a bitch, nor a whore, but I don't care what this man thinks of me, so I don't bother telling him that. "Start talking or I start screaming."

"Dating one of our soldiers doesn't keep you safe from Mick Fitzgerald if I tell him you're a rat like your husband."

Mick wouldn't believe this pile of crap if Kenneth told him what year it is. "I'm not a snitch and you know it."

"You keep it that way. You don't talk to anyone about what you saw and heard working for my family. Not even your assassin boyfriend. There's plenty he doesn't know about Brogan's business and if Mick finds out you've been talking out of turn, he'll do you just like he did Troy."

"I don't know anything." Isn't that the truth? "I didn't even know Kieran was in the mob until you spilled the beans at the restaurant."

"He came to get you for Mick, what did you think he was, you stupid bitch?"

"Call me a bitch again and I'll—"

"What? Slap me?" he mocks.

"I'll tell Kieran. He doesn't like people being disrespectful to me." I'm guessing here, but considering his attitude about other things, I think it's a safe bet.

So does Kenneth. I take his flinch as my due.

"You didn't know he was in the mob?" Kenneth shakes his head like he can't believe how ignorant I am, but he doesn't call me any names.

"No. He didn't know my dead husband was a traitor when he came to get me that day either." Mick wants Kenneth to believe that I didn't tell Kieran anything about my deal with him to prove my loyalty to the mob by working for him and Allison.

"He knows now."

"You made sure he did. You and your son, the bully. She told Kieran what Kenny Jr. called her."

Kenneth's eyes narrow. "I bet Wraith didn't like hearing that."

"Kieran doesn't like me talking about being married to another man at all." My words have a ring of truth because they are true.

"Jealous bastard," Kenneth mutters, but the relief that flickers across his face is unmistakable. "You just remember that whatever he thinks about my son's so-called bullying, Mick doesn't think any more favorably of you than he did before. The fact he's letting you date one of his men only means he wants to keep a closer eye on you."

That could very well be one of the reasons Mick pushed for my marriage to Kieran. The question that matters to me is: did my new husband know it? "I'm not just dating Kieran, we got married a few days ago."

"What the fuck?" Kenneth rallies quickly, a calculating look coming into his cold eyes. "That only proves that he's determined to keep you under surveillance. Obviously, he doesn't trust you and neither does your new husband or there are things both of them would have told you."

Since I just thought the same thing, I can't exactly deny Kenneth's take on my speedy marriage. But I want to know what things he thinks Kieran would have told me if he trusted me.

So, I ask, with no real expectation of getting an answer. "What are you talking about?"

"Your husband's temporary promotion and my temporary demotion for one thing."

He's right. I know nothing about that. "Kieran doesn't talk business with me."