Page 187 of Don’t Say Mafia

I’d laughed for three straight days.

Unfortunately, Jagger was currently married and spending as much time as possible with his new wife.

Which meant I had to suffer through this alone.

She glanced at my leg as I shifted in my chair. “You were limping when you walked in.”

“I was shot, if you recall.”

She frowned slightly. “How careless.”

I stared at her. “Next time I’ll try to schedule it more conveniently.”

She waved a hand dismissively. “Well, I assume it was something ridiculous that Jagger dragged you into.”

“It wasn’t.”

She ignored me. “I never understood why you associate with that boy. His family has absolutely no breeding.”

“Funny,” I said lazily. “He says the same thing about you.”

Her eyes narrowed, and I finished the last of my wine and pushed my chair back. Today was a good day for takeout.

“Well,” I said, standing, “this has been delightful.”

“You’re leaving?” she gasped. “We’ve just barely started our appetizer.”

“I have to get back to my life of crime.”

She sniffed as if that life didn’t pay for her mansion.

I grabbed my jacket, and she picked up her phone, probably to text all her friends about what a terrible son I was.

“Oh,” she said suddenly.

I paused halfway to the door. “What?”

She peered down at the phone. “The Hollis girl is getting married tomorrow. Her mother just posted it.”

Everything in my body went still. Slowly, I turned back around.

“What did you say?”

She looked up, annoyed. “The Hollis girl,” she repeated. “Rowan Hollis.”

My chair scraped loudly as I sat back down. My pulse had kicked into a sudden, violent rhythm.

Rowan Hollis.

My mother continued reading as if she hadn’t just dropped a grenade in the middle of the room.

“Lovely girl,” she said. “Her family always had excellent taste in art.”

I barely heard her. All I could see was Rowan standing under the streetlights outside the fraternity house years ago. Her face pale. Her voice shaking.

Telling me she never wanted to see me again.

Telling me to stay the hell away from her.