Saint:A Dark Mafia Romance(36)

My proofreader, Cassie Hess-Dean, for always picking up the bat-phone when I call and always being incredible.

Tracy Smith Comerford, of the Be My Book Boyfriend blog, for organizing a kick-ass cover reveal and a phenomenal release tour. And a BIG thank you to all the blogs, Facebook groups, and individuals who pitched in for both of those! Thanks for shouting my name as loud as you can!

To my "Letters" ladies - Willow Winters, Lauren Landish, Bella Love-Wins, Vivian Wood, Alexis Abbot, Tabatha Kiss, Holly Hart, KB Winters, Kylie Walker, Sierra Rose, Crystal Kaswell, and Athena Wright. I have learned immensely from you all. Willow, you have re-defined my own definition of "hustle."

To the other authors whose advice, words of wisdom, hard truths, snark, and encouragement sustains me: Roxie Noir, Amelia Wilde, Vivian Lux, Joanna Blake, Isabella Starling, Jade West, and more than a few others that I'm going to feel terrible about forgetting. You ladies are amazing. Thank you for always taking my bizarre mix of book and breastfeeding questions without batting an eye.

But mostly, a huge thanks to you, the reader. It would be romantic and bohemian to say that we'd "still be writing even if no one was reading", but that's not true at all. We do this because you guys keep reading, and keep writing us to tell us you're reading, and keep demanding more of us.

Seriously, thank you.

Now, if you've made it this far, you're a saint. Positive or negative, your feedback is always appreciated. Please consider leaving a review and letting me know what you thought.



xoxo,

Aubrey





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Also by Aubrey Irons





Shelter Harbor Series:

Thief: A Second Chance Romance

Sinner: A Bad Boy Next Door Romance

Saint: A Dark Mafia Romance



Sports Romance:

Score: A Stepbrother Sports Romance

Player: A Secret Baby Sports Romance

Jock: A Secret Baby Sports Romance

Rivals: An Enemies To Lovers Romance



Soldiers of Fortune Series:

Heat

Burn

Scorch

Roar



Standalone Bad Boy Romance:

Secret: A Military Stepbrother Romance

Cockney: A British Stepbrother Romance

Wicked Tease: A Bad Boy Next Door Novella



Bloodlines: A Second Chance Mafia Romance (currently exclusively available in the Begging for Bad Boys anthology.





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About the Author





Aubrey Irons enjoys writing about bold, sassy, and intelligent women and the dominant, cocky, and quite typically forbidden bad boys who love and lust for them; gripping stories, happy endings, and plenty of steam!

In the real world, Aubrey is kept plenty entertained by her own bad boy of a husband, their two adorable kiddos, and one very ill-behaved puppy.

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AubreyIronsRomance



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Four Chapter Preview - Thief: A Second Chance Romance





A Shelter Harbor Novel





Silas Hart has always taken what he wants. Now he wants me. Again.

He's a thief. Always has been, always will be. When we were kids, he taught me how to pick locks and pockets.

And then we got older, and we learned to open doors to places we never should have gone.

Eight years ago, he stole the kisses from my lips, and I gave him everything. And then my thief stole my heart.

But he also stole a lot of money for some very bad people, and then the boy I knew disappeared.   





 

Now we're both back in Shelter Harbor, but Silas is no boy.

He's a man. A hardened, cocky, demanding, very grown-up man.

A man who looks at me like he wants to steal me away again. Like he wants to take me, like he wants to make me lose my mind and scream his name. Just like I used to.

But I'm not that wide-eyed girl anymore. He left nearly a decade ago, and I don't give a damn what Silas Hart thinks.

There's just one problem...

Did I mention we're still married?





Copyright © 2016 Aubrey Irons



Editor: Ellie McLove, Love N Books

Formatting: Vellum



This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author's imagination and/or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, organizations, actual events or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademark status of products referred to in this book and acknowledges that trademarks have been used without permission.



All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations used for review purposes.



This book is intended for mature, adult audiences only. It contains sexually explicit and graphic scenes and language which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please do not continue reading this book of you are under the age of 18 or are offended by content of this nature.



All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older and are in no way blood relations. All acts of a sexual nature are completely consensual.





To my daughter. We can't wait to meet you …





Prologue





Silas




There's blood on my hands.

They're twisting in my lap as I sit there breathing heavily in the dark of my uncle's truck. Rain drums like bullets across the roof, pouring in sheets across the windshield.

"Fuck," Declan mutters in the driver's seat, dropping his phone into his lap. "They're onto the hit, kid. It's all over the police scanners."

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

My heart's hammering, the pain throbbing in my side from the crash.

"Don't worry, kid, I'm gonna help you outta this."

I look up through the rainy windshield, through the glass front doors of the hospital. I can see her crying, her family around her. Huddled, hurt, and broken.

Because of me.

Because of the job gone wrong - the one her brother never should've been on. I can still feel the sting of her words from twenty minutes ago, slicing right through me. Slicing me in half.

"Why did you go?" Her eyes are pleading as she looks up into my face, tears running down hers. "Why'd you do the job?"

I have no real answer, because I don't know. Maybe because I'm young and stupid, and I wanted to be able to give her the kind of life she'd want - that kind of life she deserves.

"I don't know."

"I asked you not to, Silas," she's crying now. "I begged you not to do it."

It doesn't matter that I was there to stop her brother - my best friend - from making the mistake of his life. Because he was only there because of me in the first place.

This is my fault.

"Ivy-"

Jacob steps forward, moving between me and his daughter. "You need to get away from her, right now."

"Sir-"

The reverend's jaw tightens beneath his thick beard, his eyes twitching with rage. "You aren't welcome here, Silas."

Irene steps forward, her hand on her husband's arm as she dabs tears from her face. "Jacob-"

"No." He shakes his head, his eyes never leaving mine. "Get out."

I'm reeling, the world rocking beneath my feet. I'm face-to-face with the only family I've ever really known, and I can see the pain and the hurt I've caused across every single one of their faces.

I turn to Ivy, but she shakes her head.

"You should go," she says softly.

It's the last words we speak to each other.

And now I'm watching the aftermath of paths taken and choices made. I'm living with the outcome of going on the fucking job for Declan I never should've gone on - the job I only did go on because I found out Rowan had taken my place when I'd backed out the first time.

I couldn't have that.

I'm already lost, but my best friend has his whole life ahead of him.

Or did, until I just wrapped our car around a guardrail fleeing the scene of a crime I helped commit. Until I dragged him out of that wreck and carried him on my back to the hospital, his leg bloodied and raw, mumbling that he was sorry.   





 

Declan pats my shoulder. "Uncle Declan's got your back, kid." He shoves an envelope into my hands.

It's an Irish passport.

I look up at him, my face caving. "What?"

"All expense paid trip to the old country, kid. Ireland." He chuckles as he pulls a cigarette from the pack on the dash.

"Well, not all expenses." He grins at me as he lights the smoke. "Nothing in this world is free unless you take it, ain't that right, nephew?"

"I don't understand."

"Got some people we're friendly with over in Dublin." He gives me a hard look. "You're going to be working for them now."

"I'm leaving?" I shake my head, my eyes narrowing at him. "No. No fucking way."

Declan cocks his head. "Kid, you robbed an armored truck."

"You set up the job!"

He shrugs. "Yeah, well nobody told you to pop a bullet in the driver's arm, did they?"

I can feel my blood pumping like fire, my breath coming raw. "I told you, that was Sean." I swallow. "Dec, I was just the getaway driver."

"Just the driver." Declan snorts. "Oh, yeah, they'll love that." He gives me a hard look. "Sean just got picked up, by the way."