Page 24 of Honorable Sins

Assuming that's not a rhetorical question either, I reply, "Aye."

"But you wouldn't?"

"Mick would look for other alternatives first." There's no doubt in my wife's voice.

"Aye, because I have a conscience." It's her and she knows it. Kara is the only moral compass I'll ever have.

"But Shaughnessy doesn't know that," Wraith offers, surprising me with his loquacity.

Kara nods. "What he does know is that my father would never sanction the death of a child as punishment."

"You're saying what happened to my daughter was part of some plan Kenneth Shaughnessy has concocted to undermine your husband's position in the mob? Those boys could have raped her!"

"Doubtful. Seeing what happened today in light of what we believe Kenneth's plans to be, those boys meant for Fitz to find them. What they didn't count on was the strength of my son's reaction or their inability to defend themselves against it." There's pride for our son in Kara's tone.

"What they did was traumatizing enough. She'll need counseling." It helped my wife, my sister-in-law and my son.

I'm a fan even if I'd never waste five minutes talking to a shrink.

"She'll get it," Wraith promises.

I nod in acknowledgment.

For some reason, Áine's not happy though. She yanks her hand away from Wraith's and takes a defensive pose next to him on the couch. "That's for me to say."

"You don't want her to go to counseling?" Wraith asks. "I'll pay for it."

Oh. Maybe that's what's got her riled. She and her family have been living on a maid's wages since her husband's death.

He left them provided for if she sold the house, which she did, and lived frugally, which she no doubt does. But other than the college funds for her girls, Áine has no savings to speak of and Kenneth is a miserly employer.

I don't have to get a current financial report for Áine to know that, but I texted Fiona to run a financial background check on Áine from the car on the way here earlier.

"Of course I want her to go and I'll make sure she does, but that's not for you to say. I'm her mother."

Wraith is as unimpressed with Áine's lack of logic as I am and doesn't bother to answer her.

"Which is the point, I think," Kara says like she's trying to smooth the waters. She's so much more patient with people than I am. "Kenneth is setting everything up to make it look like you have a reason to resent Mick enough to turn him into the feds."

"Why would I resent Mick for what happened today?" Áine asks. "I'm more likely to despise Kenneth and his miscreant son."

Kara tells Áine that Kenneth probably plans to make it seem like what happened today was somehow my fault. And I'm sure she's right. My wife is a highly intelligent woman with a good head for strategy.

Look at how she handled that issue with Dierdre Kelly six years ago. It pissed me off at the time, but later, I had time to think about it and her promise never, ever to leave me. Her asking for a divorce before she demanded we kill the other woman was good strategy.

It undercut any belief her father and I might have had that her request was born of jealousy.

I did kill Dierdre but no way in hell was I ever giving my wife a divorce. Even thinking about it now fills me with rage and the need to cuff her to our bed until she promises again never to leave me.

Kara says something else and Áine frowns with resentment. "What you are saying is that I don't have a choice. If I want to protect my daughters and myself, I have to marry into your mob." She adds in a mutter, "Marry the man currently pressed up against me like an overprotective gargoyle."

"You could do a lot worse than a gargoyle as your protector." Kara tells Áine, her eyes warm with love for me.

She told me once that the monster inside me is a gargoyle, dormant until he needs to protect the people important to me. Which means my inner gargoyle is on constant alert because between her and the chislers, I always have to be ready to fight to protect them.

"You do have a choice," I remind Áine. "Both options have consequences. You decide which ones you can live with."

Then I tell her that if Wraith kills Kenneth without my permission, I will have to kill my loyal soldier. And I can't give that permission until we have determined who else is a traitor to me