Free THE CALLAHANS (A Mafia Romance): The Complete 5 Books Series by Glenna Sinclair Page A

thoughtful.
    Why did he have to be so damn charming?
    “I made a lot of promises to you back then.”
    “You said we’d make a life together. That we’d have a houseful of children.”
    “I did.” His eyes dropped to his glass. “I believed it when I said it.”
    “I know.”
    And I did. That was the thing, the thorn that stayed with me for so long. I had known that he meant everything he said to me. I also knew that he was ready to divorce Abigail, even saw the lawyer’s card he’d had sitting on his nightstand. But I also knew what changed his mind.
    I saw her coming out of his room that day.
    “He’s mine,” she’d said, touching her hand to the huge swelling of her belly.
    “You kicked him out.”
    “Only because he needed to learn a lesson. I believe he’s learned it now, despite you.”
    “Then I guess the choice is his.”
    Had I known then that he would chose her? Maybe. But maybe I’d hoped that the seed he’d planted in my belly would be enough to turn him away from her, from his sons. Maybe I’d hoped my little girl and me would be enough for him.
    I was wrong. I never even told him.
    “Did you hate me?”
    I tilted my head. “For a while. I hated you for not telling me about Abigail in the beginning. I hated you for allowing Jack to be the one to let the news slip. And I hated you for choosing her and Killian and the baby in her belly. But then…” I took another sip from my glass, my eyes moving to a young couple dancing not far from where we sat. “But then I admired you for sticking to your responsibilities.”
    “She kicked me out again. Not even a year after I went back.” His eyes danced with the flame of the candle. “I looked for you, asked around the college campus to see if anyone knew where you were. But no one did. It was as if you’d just disappeared like a puff of smoke.”
    “I’m surprised anyone remembered me. I wasn’t there long.”
    “They remembered you, but they didn’t know where you’d gone. I even called your mother once.”
    “You did?” My eyebrows rose. She’d never mentioned it to me.
    “She said you were living in Houston and I should leave you alone.”
    I shook my head, sipping more of the champagne. “My mother lied. That’s a shock.”
    “It was a lie, then?”
    “A year after you left me? I was married then, living two doors down from my parents in a little house they bought for us as a wedding gift.”
    “I almost went to Austin. I guess I’m glad I didn’t now.”
    He swallowed down the last of what was in his glass, which was a significant amount of champagne, before pouring himself more.
    Was he jealous by the thought of my marriage? Or was he simply annoyed to have been lied to? If it was the latter, what would he do when he learned the whole truth?
    And if it was the former…?
    “We shouldn’t focus so much on the past.”
    “True.” He set his glass down and stood, holding out his hand to me. “Let’s dance.”
    I hesitated for only a moment, then allowed him to lead me away. He pulled me into his arms, a smile on his lips as he looked down at me. My heart was in my throat. The way he looked at me…it reminded me too much of when we were young, when he used to look at me that way. I felt younger in his arms. I was the one who didn’t want to linger in the past, yet that’s where I went every time he touched me.
    When he loves you, he’s vulnerable…
    What did that mean? What did they plan to do to him?
    Why did I care?
    He slid his hand along the small of my back, pulling my hips close to his. I closed my eyes and rested my head on his shoulder, loving the feel of him, loving the smell of him. Was it possible for one man to be so tender and so strong all at the same time?
    I have only known one man like Brian Callahan. Only loved one man in all my life. Could I really do this without falling in love with him all over again? Then, again, did my heart matter when my child’s life was in danger?
    I slid even closer to