Page 132 of Sins of Innocence

Horror fills her eyes. "Or he wasn't there for me."

Now that Áine is married to me and he's been punished for his son's actions, I assumed Kenneth would know better than to go after my family. He knows what I'm capable of. He heard my promises during his sentencing.

My miscalculation could have resulted in either Áine or Sadie being hurt. Or the two younger girls. I grab my phone, sending a text to my men, adjusting the security protocols and sending guards to both schools. I instruct McLaren to hack into the security feeds at the girls schools and make sure there are no surprises lurking in the hallways.

"What are you doing?" Áine asks.

I tell her.

She sighs. "I'm not used to having security dog my every footstep and frankly, this whole thing feels like overkill."

"Not overkill. He was there."

"But he didn't do anything to me. He wanted to intimidate me into not telling you anything about what I might have heard or seen working for him. That's all."

I don't believe it was that simple and my silent regard tells her that.

She frowns. "Okay. He grabbed my wrist and he put his hand over my mouth so I wouldn't scream."

If he wasn't already marked for death, he would be now.

"You got away," I grit out.

She wouldn't be here if she hadn't gotten away.

"He wasn't trying to kidnap me. Just keep me quiet. He's the one that yelled though. I bit him." She sounds proud of herself.

She should be. My wife is fierce.

"He had no reason to kidnap you. As far as he is concerned, you don't know anything," I remind her and myself.

She wasn't in any real danger.

So, why do I feel this weird thing in my chest? Fear.

I don't feel fear. Facing pain or death has never scared me. Thinking Áine could have been kidnapped by that bastard makes me break into a cold sweat.

"You're right." Áine scoots back on my lap, her glare hot enough to singe. "I don't know anything. You didn't bother to tell me about the last-minute change to Disneyland until after the plans were made. You didn't bother to tell me those boys wouldn't be at Sadie's school today. You didn't bother to tell me that Kenneth was punished by being temporarily demoted from his position."

"It wasn't a temporary demotion," I correct.

"Not the point," she snaps. "The point is you didn't tell me about it. Why didn't you?"

"It's mob business."

"Related to me. You should have told me." She tries to scoot off my lap.

I grab her hips and hold her in place. "Why does it matter to you what his position in the mob is?"

"Because if he's been demoted and it was permanent, we didn't need to get married!"

Everything in me rejects those words.

"I told you. Our marriage is forever."

"But it didn't have to happen."

"Is that what you want?" Anger harshens my tone.