Page 72 of His Forced Irish Mafia Bride

“You ever get bored of hearing the same people talk every day?”

She didn’t look up. “People don’t talk that much.”

I tilted my head slightly. “They do here,” I said. “They just think they don’t.”

That made her pause for a second, just enough to notice. Then she continued wiping the surface.

I pushed gently, not forcing it. “You notice things,” I said. “Even if you don’t say them.”

Her cloth slowed again. “I notice what I need to notice.”

I nodded like I understood, even if she wasn’t giving me much. “That’s fair,” I said. “Everyone does that.”

A small silence came back between us. Then I added, carefully, “I’m trying to understand how this place works. Not just the surface of it.”

Teresa finally looked at me again, just briefly. Her eyes didn’t change much, but I felt her attention shift. I didn’t push. I just waited.

Teresa didn’t answer right away. She went back to cleaning, slower this time. Not because she was tired, but because she was thinking.

“This house isn’t simple,” she finally said.

I nodded once. “I didn’t think it was.”

That made her glance at me again. “You think you understand it.”

“I think I’m starting to,” I replied.

She let out a small breath through her nose. Not quite a laugh, not quite frustration.

“That’s how people get into trouble here,” she said.

“Maybe,” I said. “But I’m already in it.”

That made her stop for a second. Longer this time. She set the cloth down on the cabinet again. Not fully relaxed, but less guarded than before.

“You ask questions like you’re not afraid of the answers,” she said.

I shook my head slightly. “I am,” I admitted. “I just can’t afford not to ask them.”

That seemed to settle something in her. She looked at me for a moment, really looked this time. Then she turned slightly toward me, like she was deciding something.

“There are things you shouldn’t ask inside this house,” she said quietly.

Teresa didn’t go back to cleaning right away. She just stood there for a moment, looking at the cabinet like she’d forgotten what she was doing.

I stayed still and waited. Finally, she picked up the cloth again, but her movements were slower. “You’re not the first person to come here like this,” she said.

I watched her carefully. “Like what?”

“Looking for answers,” she replied. That made me quiet again. She paused, then added, “And you won’t be the last.”

I nodded slightly. “I figured that much.”

Another short silence passed.

“There are people in this system you will never see,” she said.

I frowned a little. “System?”