Mob Bride (The O’Rourke Brotherhood #5)

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Carrie

The man is fucking gorgeous as sin. He’s also insufferable as hell.

I know exactly who Shane O’Rourke is. It also means my mom works for the fucking mob. What the ever-loving fuck?

I thought I keep a lot of secrets. How the hell has she hidden this for decades from the sound of it? What the fuck am I supposed to do with this little bombshell? Fucking hell. Who outside the O’Rourkes knows about my mom?

Motherfuckers. Did they set me up? Is this why they gave me the assignment? Does my boss know my mother works for the Irish mob? Are they using me the way I’m supposed to be using fuckface? He’s a separate issue, yet he’s the reasons I’m fucking in this goddamn Twilight Zone.

I have a jumble of questions rattling around in my head, and I can’t ask a damn one of them without giving away everything. Everything I don’t want to name because I’m in more pain than I’ve ever been in.

“Mom, I’m fine. I need ibuprofen, some water, and a good night and day’s sleep. I’ll get some arnica too.”

“Arnica?”

I glower at Shane. “Let me guess. You’re the little piggie who made his house out of straw.” His brow furrows. “You sound like a pig snuffling truffles when you snort.”

His russet eyebrows shoot straight up, and I want to gloat.

“Carys.” My mom hisses my name.

He won’t whack me in front of her. At least, I don’t think so.

“I’m feeling a little testy.” I opened my mouth to say I just want to go home, but home isn’t my parents’ house anymore. Home is supposed to be four hundred miles from here. I’m not supposed to be in the city. “Do you have any ibuprofen in your bag?”

I know she does. Shane’s still holding the old satchel my granddad gave Mom when she graduated med school. He hands it to her, and she pulls out an economy size bottle of pills. I look at the giant standing next to her. If the medicine went by weight, he’d need half the bottle. That weight is all lean muscle that flexes every time he moves. Such a shame he’s a mobster and an ass.

Granted, I can admit to myself when I’m being a royal bitch. But I don’t feel at my best. Everything right down the microscopic strands of hair on my toes hurts. I feel like death would be a vacation.

I accept the pills Mom hands me and pool enough spit in my mouth to get them down after several swallows. I take a fortifying inhale and turn in the direction Mom came from. I’m shaky, but I can make it.

“Put me down! What are you doing?”

Shane’s incredibly gentle as he lifts me into his arms. I barely feel the pressure of them, yet I know I won’t fall. Maybe I’m in too much pain to register anything more. But I suspect he’s that gentle.

“So you can fall over on a construction site and sue me? No thanks.”

He looks straight ahead, not even sparing me a glance. Rude.

You’re almighty ungrateful. Just because you’re in pain doesn’t mean you get to be rude to people. Especially people helping you.

That’s my mom’s voice in my head. I can hear it as clearly as if she were speaking it aloud.

Fine. I am being ungrateful. And I can be more gracious.

“Thank you.” I keep my voice low since he did, too. There’s no need to speak any louder than a whisper since our faces are practically touching.

Shane does his best not to jostle me, but the ground is uneven, and there are some steps. His hold tightens enough for me to keep feeling safe. It’s really like being enveloped by a bear. I’m so fucking tired I stop fighting the temptation to rest my head against his shoulder. Just for a moment.

I spy him glancing down at me as I close my eyes. Not that it takes much since they’re nearly swollen shut. They probably will be by morning.

“I have to pull the car around.” My mom’s voice is a million miles away.

“Joey can drive your car home. I’m taking you in the SUV.”

My eyes fly open—they open half an inch. “No.” I’m emphatic. “Mom, it would be better if I didn’t go to your place.”

“Why the bloody hell not? You need a doctor if not just your mum.”

“It’ll just cause more problems. It’s better I’m not there. I’ll deal with this when I get to the hotel.”

“You can’t possibly think you’re walking into a hotel looking like you do.” Shane’s incredulous. Obviously, he won’t be on my side.

“The hotel? As in one you’re already staying in?” Mom’s confused and frankly hurt.

“Yeah. I was going to call you in the morning to see if you were free for brunch. It was supposed to be a surprise.”

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. Lies upon buckets of lies. I had no intention of telling my mom I was in the city.

“You couldn’t surprise me before brunch? Carys, I’m doing my best not to demand some ruddy answers because I know you’re in pain. But you are sorely testing me. Why were you staying in a hotel? If you insist it was to surprise me, I’ll—” She’s at a loss for words since I’ll be thirty-one in a month.

“I’ll have men follow you, and they’ll tell Meredith why.” Shane’s lips nearly brush my forehead as he whispers, and I know Mom can’t hear him.

“Thank you for carrying me. Don’t get involved.”

I get a disdainful huff this time. “I’m well past ‘involved.’ I’m in the bloody thick of it.”

Shane’s men spread out to surround us as we head to what will be a parking lot. He calls out orders before I can stop him. I expect him to put me down, but he doesn’t. He isn’t the least fazed by carrying me. I shift to give him a hint.

“Stay still.”

“Put—”

“Not only will I have men follow you, I’ll wait until they tell me you don’t look like you’ve been pulverized, then I’ll spank you.”

“You will never.” He doesn’t need to know I like it kinky.

“There are three—four—people in this world who tell me what to do, and I actually listen to them. My cousin Dillan, who I work for, my parents, and your mother. You do not make the short list. Stay still.”

My elbow pushes against his chest as I try to get down. I wish I could stay in his arms forever because I’ve never felt so safe in my adult life as I do with this grizzly bear wrapped around me. But it’s too dangerous for all of us if the wrong people see us. Besides, I don’t want him dictating what I do.

“My list is shorter. My parents. You don’t make my list either. Put me down.”

“I don’t enjoy repeating myself.”

“Simple solution. Put me down. That’s the last time I’m saying it, Shane. I’m serious.” My gaze darts to my mom before I look up at him again. Then I sweep my gaze over our surroundings.

“There’s no one here but us.”

“You believe that because your men haven’t told you otherwise and because your security system hasn’t either. That doesn’t mean we’re alone. Please.”

“After you tell me who did this.”

His voice matches the steel in his arms. My mom’s gaze bores into me. I let my shoulders droop as I whisper a name I made up a year ago. “Jesse.”

Shock registers on Mom’s face, but Shane’s is unconcealed rage.

“Man or woman?”

I keep my lips sealed. I cringe when my mom answers for me.

“A guy she dated for a few months. They broke up when Carys moved to Pittsburgh.” She narrows her eyes at me. “The city I thought she was in today.”

“I’m not because I wanted to surprise you.” I sigh. “I also came to see Jesse. I arranged to see him after I’d already decided to come see you.” After being about thirty seconds ago.

“Your ex-boyfriend did this to you? Why?” Shane’s demanding tone tells me I’m not getting out of this without some kind of plausible answer. Silence won’t work.

“We started talking again three weeks ago, and I thought there was a possibility we’d get back together. Clearly, we are not.”

“Clearly, you haven’t answered why.” Shane’s snarling now. Sexy as sin if he didn’t direct it at me.

“We had an argument. One I will not discuss with a stranger or my mother.” Let them make of that what they will. Hopefully, they think it’s about sex.

When Shane’s gaze hardens into two emerald slivers, I know that was the wrong thing to imply. He sets me on my feet but keeps his arms around me to support me. He whispers again, and I’m certain my mom wants to know what he’s saying. I appreciate the discretion.

“Before, during, or after?”

My gaze locks with his, but I stay quiet. The more I say, the more lies I have to remember later. My mind’s already full of them.

“Did you consent, but he didn’t like your limits?”

I can only stand, staring and blinking. I swallow after a few seconds. How the hell does he know I might like it kinky or even just rough?

“Carys, answer me. I’ve reached my breaking point with you being uncooperative. Why?”

If I were someone else, he’d scare the shit out of me. I’m certain he scares the shit out of most men. But he’s not the biggest man I’ve faced before.

“I warned you.”

Fucking hell. He’s going to have me followed. “It’s private, Shane. Don’t you think this is humiliating enough without having to reveal stuff that private? My mom’s standing right here.” I hope he buys my beseeching look.

“He nearly killed you, Carys. He will kill you. No man does this without expecting his victim to die. When he finds out you didn’t, he will try again. Can you guarantee you’ll be so lucky a second time?”

He’s right about all of that. But this is an occupational hazard. I don’t want to think about work. At least not directly. I push all thoughts of it to the side.

“That’s why a hotel would be best. It keeps me away from my parents. Once I’m in my room, no one is going up without asking for my room number. I’ll tell the desk staff absolutely no visitors.”

“You’ll tell them that how? You can barely stand up, let alone walk up to the counter to tell anyone anything. And how will you explain your mangled face?”

“Thanks.” I glare at him, but then I relent. “I’ll figure it out. You need to stay out of this, and so does my mom. Thank you for trying to help.”

I’m sincere about that one. From the way his expression relaxes, I can tell he knows I mean it.

“I know a place you can go. It’s a rental my cousin owns that’s vacant right now.”

Mob? Empty place? It’s a safe house. It’s what I need, but Shane more connected to my life is the last thing I need.

“I’ll post guards around the block and the four surrounding ones. No one is getting near you. Your mom can check on you or even stay with you. You can rest there for as long as you want. It’s furnished, so everything you could need is ready for you.”

I want to claim it’s against my better judgement to agree, but it’s probably the only sound judgement I make tonight. “All right.”

I say nothing else until we get to the house. It’s in one of the nicer parts of the Bronx. It surprises me it’s here. As in, I’m surprised it’s the Bronx, and the house is so nice, considering I spotted a deserted train station like two blocks from here.

I hadn’t listened to Shane talking to a guy he called Joey as my mom handed over her keys. But I guess his bodyguard arranged things because I spot the cars with men assigned to my detail in them. It’s not like black sedans line the street. I just know what to look for, which means I’m searching for anyone watching me, but doesn’t work for Shane. I sense they’re there, but I see no one. I’m silent while he points out the cars I already spied. I remain silent the entire way to the safe house until Shane helps me back out of the car.

“Let me help you inside, then I’ll leave you alone with your mom. Do you need anything?”

“Just sleep. Shane, I’m sorry I dragged you into this. And I’m sorry about the way I’ve acted.” All three statements are genuine.

“You’re in pain. I’m certain those ibuprofens didn’t even take the edge off. I don’t blame you for being testy.”

“That’s a nice way to call me a bitch.” I smile, but his gaze hardens to the piercing shards of emerald they did when I confessed about my fictitious ex.

“Do not call yourself that. No one gets to insult you.”

“Then you won’t like my self-deprecating sense of humor.” As though he’ll ever hear it.

He sweeps his gaze over me before he locks his with mine. “One of these days, you’ll push too far, and I’ll push back.”

Shitty metaphor, all things considered. But I get it. I dip my chin before I let him help me inside. I don’t move past the front door. Blessedly, he gets the hint. He hands the keys to Mom, gives her a kiss on the cheek, nods to me, and leaves. Just like that. He parted with the last word. For now.