Page 80 of Sins of Innocence

Of course, she knows my passcode. This is Ellie, after all.

Her eyebrows rise into her hairline as she reads the open text thread.

"You played show-and-tell with the boss this morning? When? How did you avoid an audience of four interested roommates?"

"My children aren't roommates."

"Tomato, tomahto." Ellie waves her hand dismissively. "Where? When? And how, friend? That's what I want to know."

"In the kitchen. Before everyone else was awake." Which answers her last two questions.

Ellie's smile drops off her face. "I thought this relationship thing was fake. You let him stay the night with you? That is not fake."

"He didn't spend the night," I deny, disgruntled at her accusation. I know very well this fake relationship doesn't feel fake at all. "He came over with coffee and pastries this morning. You saw them."

"And between here's the coffee and Joy bouncing into the kitchen all wide-eyed, you two got it on?" Ellie doesn't sound any less shocked. "You?"

"Yes, me," I grumble. "I have sex."

Ellie looks unconvinced. "You might have three kids but if I hadn’t been there for every single birth, I wouldn’t believe it. You’re practically a virgin."

"Besides, we didn't get it on. He uh…" My words peter off, my voice box going on strike.

"Just tell me this: who was doing the showing and who was doing the telling?"

"I showed him my boobs and he told me they're gorgeous." My cheeks are on fire, but if I can't talk about this with Ellie, who can I talk to?

My mom? I don't think so.

Ellie smiles. "I was worried about this arranged marriage thing, but if you're willing to flash him in the kitchen with the kids asleep down the hall, there's more going on here than following the underboss's orders."

"Yeah. There's protecting my daughters and mom from said underboss," I hiss.

"You've got a great rack," Ellie says, ignoring my last salvo. "I'm not surprised Wr—uh…Kieran thinks your boobs are pretty."

Gorgeous. But whose keeping track?

Me. I'm keeping track because that word in his deep voice? Makes me wet just remembering.

Needing to change the subject before a change of panties is required, I ask, "You know everything, right?"

A guarded expression comes into my sister-by-another-mister's eyes. "Yes. You know I can't talk to you about mob business though."

"Is that why you didn't tell me you're working for them?" Knowing she kept this a secret for so long hurts.

Almost as much as the pain I've had from keeping my own secrets even longer.

"Pretty much. I mean, if you didn't know about Troy, I didn't want you finding out either."

"You thought you telling me you worked for Kieran would lead to me finding out my husband was a rat?" That's a pretty long stretch of logic, even for my unconventional thinking friend.

"I don't just work for Kieran. I'm a member of the mob. That's a lifetime commitment, if you were wondering and marrying Kieran means you'll never be out of it either."

"Didn't marrying Troy do that?" I ask.

"Nope. As long as you didn't know about him, the mob would have left you alone. It was Kenneth telling you stuff he shouldn't that put you in the underboss's crosshairs."

I shiver. "It's a scary place to be."