Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“I know,” I tell her.
I have a feeling Mack won’t be going anywhere either after the things she’s seen. But she doesn’t seem to mind so much. Her and Lachlan have something special. I almost envy her in that way as strange as it sounds. All I’ve ever wanted was to get out. But when I see the way Lachlan looks at her, I understand why she wants to stay.
Mack tosses me a knowing glance and follows it up with a sigh. “How did a sweet girl like you get wrapped up in this world to begin with, Sash?”
“I’m not sweet,” I deny. “And I thought I told you I dated one of these guys.”
“Yeah.” Mack shrugs. “But you never talk about him. In fact, you kinda get all weird whenever I ask you about it.”
I stare down at the quilt and try to steady my voice. I hate lying to her. But I have to. To protect Ronan.
“His name was Blaine,” I tell her. “He was five years older than me, and I met him when I was nineteen. At the time, I was working in a diner that Niall’s sister owns. I didn’t know that it was mafia affiliated.”
“I didn’t know you worked for Niall’s sister,” Mack says. “Lach has mentioned that place, but he’s never taken me there.”
“They mostly only go there for breakfast,” I explain. “Late at night, when they’ve had a rough night or whatever. I was working there part time while I took night classes. I worked the day shift, so it was only by chance that I ever even saw them. I was filling in for one of the other waitresses.”
“What luck, huh?” Mack teases.
“Wrong place, wrong time,” I reply. “The typical bullshit. That was the first time I saw Niall. He sat at the head of the table, and the way people looked at him, I knew then. His sister introduced me and had me help with drinks and food. I noticed Blaine staring at me, but I had my eye on someone else.”
Mack smiles. “Let me guess. Brown eyes. Tall. Broody as hell?”
“That would be the one,” I laugh. “He didn’t talk to me, so I figured he wasn’t interested. And in all honesty, I knew I should stay far away from guys like that anyway.”
“Our stories are starting to sound eerily similar,” Mack notes.
“Yeah, well, Blaine noticed me. And he didn’t like taking no for an answer. He kept coming back to the diner after that. He was so persistent that I couldn’t help being a little flattered. He brought me these crazy over the top gifts that cost more than our entire month’s rent. I didn’t really know what was happening. But eventually, I agreed to go out with him.”
“That sounds sort of sweet,” Mack says. “But I’ve got a feeling it wasn’t.”
“No, it wasn’t,” I tell her. “It was just supposed to be one date. A harmless dinner. But Blaine kept pushing me for more. I knew right away he wasn’t what I was looking for. I tried to let him down easy.”
Silence falls over the room, and I can’t find the energy to relay the rest of the story. The guilt and the manipulation. The threats and the games. I never want to think about it again.
“I think I can guess the rest of it,” Mack says gently.
“He got bored of me eventually and left town,” I lie. “And I thought I could get my life back. But then my Ma got sick. And we didn’t have insurance. I had no idea how to make the kind of money that I needed to take care of her. One night, Niall was in the diner. His sister had mentioned what was going on with me, thinking he might be able to help. And he offered for me to come and work at the club. He said he would help me out until Blaine came back. But obviously, he never did. And so now, here I am.”
“Wow, Sash.” Mack groans. “That really didn’t help at all.”
“How’s that?” I ask.
“Your story is just as depressing as mine.”
We both laugh again, and then a few tears leak out of my eyes. I can’t tell if they are happy or sad, but I’m glad that Mack is here with me.
“I’ll talk to Lachlan,” she says. “And I give you my word, I’ll do everything in my power to convince him.”
Chapter Six
Ronan
“One more minute.” Farrell glances at his watch.
I grip the edges of the tub and count the seconds in my head. Every muscle in my body burns from the cold.
“Again,” Coyne repeats.
I rattle off the ingredients for the bombs they taught us how to make. These parts come easily to me. The lists. Remembering things. I can do that. When the lady in the room used to teach us things, she always said I had good attention to detail.