Page 51 of Honorable Sins

"She been married to Kenneth longer than you've been married to me." I shift my hips, trying to alleviate my growing arousal. "She'll know things she doesn't realize matter. Maybe she noticed changes in his routine. Maybe she overheard conversations. Maybe she knows exactly what he was planning." I shrug. "Or maybe she knows nothing at all. Either way, I'd rather find out before the tribunal than after it."

Mick's hand slides up my calf, and my legs part of their own volition. He stops at my knee though, his hand hot against my skin.

Wearing a summer dress feels like one of my better decisions right now.

"Do you want to use the talk juice?"

I think about it and nod. "I'll lace her tea with it."

"You're a devious woman, Kara Fitzgerald," he says, his Irish brogue thick. "It's one of the many things I love about ye."

Every single time he says those words to me, they hit my heart. Every single time. Maybe because I spent the first seven years of my marriage sure that he never would.

Now, I know he does and that I'm the only woman he ever could.

My husband's heart beats for me.

"Michael," I breathe as a peremptory knock sounds on the door.

"Who the feck is that?" Mick demands, giving the door a glare that would fell a man.

The knock sounds again at the same time as my phone buzzes with a text notification.

Fi: Open your door!

"It's Fi." I tug my foot from Mick's grasp.

Instead of glaring again, like I expect because coitus interruptus, he smiles. "Finally."

Well, that's not mysterious. At all.

He slides out from under my legs and stands up. "I'll let them in."

Them? Is Zoey with her? And how does Mick know? Fi didn't mention it in her text. In fact, my first thought was that she and her girlfriend had argued again.

I don't have any more time to ponder what's happening because Mick opens the door and Fiona practically bounces into the apartment, Zoey right behind her, her usually stoic face wreathed in smiles.

My breath catches. She looks radiantly happy and my little sister is glowing, practically vibrating with excitement.

I quickly stand, hoping I'm right about what Fiona's here to tell me.

For so long, my little sister had barely spoken above a whisper around anyone outside the family. She carried our grandfather's poisonous words like they were carved into her bones. Good girls didn't get shot. Good girls stayed where they were told.

Then she met Zoey and started changing. Mick's suggestion Fiona attend online therapy led to a lot of healing for my sister too, but love brought light to my sister's eyes

Seeing her now hurts in the best way. Because this bright and happy woman is who she was always supposed to become.

"Kara!" She throws herself into my arms.

I hug her tightly. "What's going on, hon?"

Before she can answer, we both gape in amazement as Zoey pulls my husband into a hug. "Thank you."

"Congratulations," Mick says.

I blink. What does he know that I don't and why does he know it before me?

Zoey glances toward Fiona before looking back at us. "I suppose we should actually tell them."