Page 21 of Honorable Sins

Finally. It's about time my sister-in-law settled down.

She'll be in a position of leadership soon and the mob likes their leaders domesticated.

"What are you talking about?" Áine shouts and then at significantly lower volume says, "I never yell."

Sadie claims her mom never loses her cool but you couldn't tell that by me. The woman is definitely riding the roller coaster on one rail right now.

"We can't get married. I just met you!"

Yep. Calm, she is not.

Sadie worries about the logistics of planning the wedding too quickly, showing she's got a practical mind and good instincts for identifying problems.

Fitz has solid taste in his friends. Which is why that little shit Kenny Jr. isn't one of them.

After today, that kid isn't even going to be in Fitz's circle of acquaintances.

"Contract marriages happen in the mob all the time," Fitz says.

I'm not sure if he's trying to comfort his friend or explain the reality of our life to her nearly hyperventilating mom.

Áine mentions her traitorous bastard of a dead husband and Wraith doesn't like hearing his name any more than I do. Then the woman starts making noises about leaving, like she's got no clue how significantly her life changed the second Wraith made his vow to keep her safe and I sanctioned the marriage that would make that possible.

Kara, my beautiful and feckin' smart wife, arranges for Fitz and Sadie to go with our security team to collect Áine's younger daughters.

Aine sits back down on the couch and Wraith crowds her, making it harder for her to make a useless run for it. Kara, always in tune with the feelings of others, suggests he give Áine more room, but Wraith, showing the smarts that has gotten him so far in our mob, doesn't budge an inch.

He even takes her hand to keep her in place.

Good move.

"Kenneth told you your husband was a rat?" I ask Áine, going straight to the information that matters.

The marriage? Is a done deal, but how the bleedin' hell she learned about her husband's role in our mob and that he betrayed us is important.

If she knew all along, Wraith won't be able to save her, but I'll let him take responsibility for the girls to feed that white knight complex he's got going on.

He's a damn fine captain but no one is perfect.

"And that you killed him for it? Yes." She glares at me, showing more courage than half our soldiers would do. "And all the torture you put him through before you did it."

"Life in the mob is harsh," I dismiss. But what the feckin' hell was Kenneth doing blabbing about the details of Troy's death to his widow? "Our laws are inviolate and breaking them comes with heavy penalties."

The rat knew exactly what he was risking when he took money from Gabriel Lyon to spy on our mob and look the other way on the sonar equipment so Kara's cousin, Róise, could be kidnapped from under our noses.

Kara gives Áine one of those gentle smiles of hers I'm not sure the other woman deserves. "Did you know Troy was mobbed up before Kenneth told you what he did?"

"I didn't know when he died," Áine claims and if she's lying, she's a damn good actress because there are no micro expressions giving her away.

Then she tells us the feds took her in for an interview and told her about her husband's mob affiliation. They wanted Áine to turn traitor. Typical.

But the woman didn't have any information to give them. We made sure Troy's financial accounts and communications were scrubbed. Showing she has more smarts than her husband did, Áine turned the feds down flat.

"But you know all this," she accuses me with belligerent anger.

So, not so smart after all.

I wouldn't bother to ask the questions if I knew the answers and taking that tone with me isn't a good choice for her future.