Page 52 of Shattered Hearts

I’m hyperventilating.

I still remember the first time I set eyes on Troy Sullivan. Three years ago, in August.

During the day, New York City broiled in the summer heat, and at night, the city partied with the leftover sizzle. That year, the Gallaghers had a busy summer season lined up. Major client event after major client event…including a bash for the Sullivan Brothers.

Darragh and Patrick Sullivan, the boss and underboss of the Red Hill Mafia, are infamous in mob circles. They specialize in heists and ransom rackets, stealing important people and objects within the criminal underworld and profiting by their safe return. Darragh and Patrick have made an art of their family’s operations, and they’re known for their stealth, efficacy, and outlandish practices.

Other mob families hire the Sullivan Brothers to oversee high-profile heists and kidnappings. They sit atop a handsome criminal empire, and back then, they were longtime patrons of the Gallagher clubs. Like all our biggest clients, they were best kept happy.

The Sullivan Brothers preferred Shea, my least favorite of the Gallagher clubs. Shea didn’t have service hallways I could use to sneak in and out of the place, which meant, like braving a rough sea, I had to fight through waves of club patrons just to report to my father while on assignments.

A horrible task for a terminal people-phobe like myself…which included swimming through dizzy, designer-clad celebrities and their entourages, or handsy company executives who couldn’t tell the entertainers from the servers, or raucous,raunchy Gallagher foot soldiers drooling over Harper, who was usually somewhere nearby.

But one night, through the throng of people, someone noticed me. Troy Sullivan, son of Darragh, nephew of Patrick, heir to the Red Hill Mafia.

He carried himself like a prince, and he was the first person to ever take an interest in me while Harper was in the room. Troy was different from any guy I’d ever known. He didn’t salivate over me like I was a juicy steak. He held my hand when we crossed the street. He made me feel seen…at first.

I was twenty. My sheltered, antisocial upbringing hadn’t taught me much about men, other than most preferred my sister to me.

I got lost in the feeling of belonging. Of being liked…for me.

So lost, I thought the planned expansion deal between Troy’s family and mine had nothing to do with us. Serendipity.

The Kings wanted to do business with Red Hill, and the Red Hill’s heir had fallen in love with me. I hate to admit, but I truly believed those few months where I’d found my place within the Gallaghersandsomeone to love were the happiest of my life.

Troy was everything to me.

Until he started pressuring me to sleep with him.

He knew I’d never seriously dated anyone before him, and somehow, he parlayed his desire and my hesitance into the refrain,If you really love me, you’ll sleep with me.

At first, I thought his enthusiasm was romantic.

Before Troy, I’d only had a few minor hookups. Kissing and a little groping. I just never found the risk worth it.

So I was nervous with Troy.

I was afraid he’d find me boring, that my sexual inexperience would disappoint him, and despite his eagerness, he wouldn’t enjoy being with me. Sex suddenly became a test I wasn’t prepared for. No one had ever liked me as much as he did, andI didn’t know how to handle the intensity of his attention or the danger of his expectations.

Before long, his argument turned into,We’ll fuck all the time when we’re married. Might as well practice now.

His words were matter-of-fact, even though we’d never discussed marriage before, and he’d certainly never proposed. That was the first time he brought marriage up to me, but after that, he started to bring it up more often.

And one afternoon, I snapped.

Who said anything about marriage? I’ve never said I’d marry you.

I’ll never forget Troy’s cold laugh. His response.Of course you’re marrying me. Everything’s already been decided.

I demanded to know what he meant and soon discovered my beautiful relationship with Troy was actually a backdoor business deal.

The truth was the Sullivan Brothers suggested the expansion deal on the condition I marry Troy, and my father agreed without so much as mentioning it to me.

Enraged beyond all words, I stormed out, and Troy followed. The argument we had in the alleyway behind my apartment still haunts me. We screamed at each other until he went postal and attacked me.

I went to my father for help. For answers.How could he have sold me to the Red Hill Mafia without so much as a word? But Thomas Brennan was proud of the deal he made. He neither offered me an apology, nor showed the slightest bit of concern about my bruised body. And when I told him about Troy’s abuse, he advised me to try harder to keep my future husband happy.

For weeks, I struggled, searching my soul. I’d never hated my father or the others before, but I loathed them now. Until he attacked me, I believed Troy actually loved me. I thought I lovedhim. But the pain and betrayal I received from all sides sobered me.