Page 47 of Sins of the Father

“Not like that.” Then she reconsiders, laughing again. “Okay, sometimes like that. But in all seriousness, my answer would have to be driving.”

“Driving?” I ask, surprised.

“Not here,” she clarifies. “When business takes us out of the city.”

Business. She says it so casually, as if mafia business isn’t a deadly risk every time.

Us. She says that casually too. She and Brady didn’t know each other before their marriage was arranged, but now they’re a single unit.

Liam and I have known each other our whole lives. I wish I could think of us as a single unit for this arrangement, but we’re separate people. Different people, while Cora and Brady are cut from the same cloth. The two of them even have the same devilish grin, which Cora’s giving me now.

“I like driving down country roads late at night,” she says, and I sense there’s something more to it than that.

“You mean speeding down country roads.”

“Abiding laws isn’t really my thing.” She snickers to herself. “Traffic or otherwise.”

I bite my lip. As far as traffic laws go, I don’t even jaywalk. I pay my taxes, I fulfill jury duty summons, and I teach church youth group. I’m a law-abiding citizen.

Liam is not. I know that should bother me. It’s why I’ve avoided thinking about that side of his life for so long—because I know it should bother me. And yet it doesn’t.

Liam’s not a bad boy in the fictional trope sense. He doesn’t own a leather jacket, doesn’t drive a motorcycle. His version of bad is… darker. Sinister in a way that makes my blood rush. And now that I’m closer to that side of his life, now that I can’t help but think about it every day, it’s irresistibly intriguing. There’s a thrill to it, like a rush of blood to the head. Or a rush of heat between my thighs. Liam causes those thrills in me, and I can’t deny it, I enjoy them.

I realize I’m smiling to myself when Cora raises an eyebrow at me.

“I bet you’re the type to brake for every yellow light,” she says.

“Maybe.” I shrug. “I wouldn’t know. I’ve lived in Chicago my entire adult life, so I’ve never needed to learn.”

“You’re missing out.” She says it kindly, but I drop my gaze to the hand-knotted rugs.

The largest carpet in my workspace has a forest motif, a mishmash of elegant tree trunks stretching into swirls of branches and leaves, all on an emerald background. If you know where to look, there’s a deer hidden behind one of the trees, and behind her, a lone wolf that’s even harder to spot. And if you kneel down to look very closely, you can see that the wolf’s mouth is slightly open, and his teeth are sharp. He’s hungry.

I trace the toe of my sneaker along one of the curving branches, feeling Cora’s eyes on me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her drop her gaze in embarrassment. She’s so confident. It’s part of what makes her a great mafia woman, and a great match for Brady.

I’d always imagined that the best partner for Liam would be someone like Cora. In our twenties, he dated a woman named Victoria for almost two and a half years. She wasn’t mafia, but she was confident. I remember so clearly how she was my opposite in every way. Strong, capable, talented. Skills came naturally to her in a way they don’t for me. Every talent I’ve ever had, I gained through practice, practice, practice.

I take a deep inhale, and the smell of clean fabric wraps around me like a reassuring blanket. I’m not gifted, but I’m determined. When I set my mind to it, my aim with a handgun went from nonexistent to nearly perfect in less than a week. And while I’ll never be naturally talented at any skills required for mafia life, I’m committed to my role as Liam’s fiancée.