Page 36 of Possessive Mafia Vows

I swallow. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth as Nick’s hand snakes across the table to touch Sienna’s. She moves her fingers out of reach, and I exhale slowly.

“And thirdly.” Mom waves a hand in front of my face to get my attention. “I don’t want you sliding back into the way things were before, Kyle. You’ve come too far.”

“I won’t.” I don’t even sound convincing to my own ears.

“Sienna will come to you when she’s ready. What’s for you?—”

“—won’t go by you.” I finish the idiom for her. “I don’t trust him, Mom.”

Mom covers my hand with hers. “We’ll get to the bottom of it. I promise.” She arches an eyebrow. “I could always go over there and introduce myself right now.”

I smile. “I don’t think that will be necessary. The less he knows about us the better.”

“Do you think this is about us then?” She narrows her eyes.

“I didn’t.”Until I discovered who his father is. “But I do now.”

“Go on.”

“Call it a hunch.”

Mom drains her brandy in one go. “That might work on Terry and your brothers, but you’re the lawyer of the family, Kyle. My steadfast tin soldier.”

“Didn’t he only have one leg?”

“You’re missing the point. He fell in love with the paper ballerina and stayed true to her despite everything that happened to him. What I’m trying to say is, you wouldn’t risk losing Sienna over a hunch. So, either there’s something you’re not telling me, or the Irish contingency did a better job on you than I imagined they would.”

I glance across the restaurant, but Nick is no longer there. I half-stand, knocking the table with my thighs and making the vase of flowers in the middle rock precariously. Sienna is still seated, her chin resting on her steepled fingers.

“Looking for someone?” Nick sneaks up on me without warning. The smile is still fixed firmly in place, but his eyes are cold like the Irish Sea on a winter’s day.

“Hello.” Mom is on her feet. She shakes Nick’s hand, dragging his attention away from me. “Moira Keegan. But you already know that don’t you?”

It isn’t lost on me that she dropped the Murray from her name when she introduced herself.

“Nick Morris.” If Mom caught him off-guard, he recovers quickly. “I met your sons at Sienna’s gallery.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be there. Sienna is like family to us.”

His eyes flicker, but otherwise, his face is devoid of emotion. “That will explain the reason why you followed us here. You should’ve joined us. Sienna would’ve been only too happy to invite you to sit with us.”

“Oh no,” Mom says brightly. “We didn’t want to intrude. Besides, Kyle and I had family matters to discuss.” She keeps her eyes fixed firmly on him. “Good to meet you. Say hi to Sienna for me.”

She sits back down. Nick, recognizing when he has been dismissed, returns to his table.

I watch him sit down. He doesn’t look my way, but I sense that he knows he’s being watched. The fake smile returns the instant his ass hits the seat. I wait for him to tell Sienna that he spoke to us, but she doesn’t glance around, and within minutes, he signals the waiter for the check.

Mom is busy reading through the menu. She takes her time, trying to decide between the steak and the lobster. She doesn’t look up when she says, “Has he gone?”

“Aye.”

She closes the menu. “There’s something familiar about him. I don’t know what it is, Kyle, but you’re right not to trust him.”

9

SIENNA

There’san envelope waiting for me in my mailbox when I get home this evening. It crinkles in my hand with the weight of another problem. My legs feel sluggish as I climb the stairs up to my second-floor apartment.

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