by Kasey Krane
“Am I?”
He just walked to the door.
“Colin!” I yelled. I was desperate for something. At least a goodbye kiss. Why? What was I trying to cling to? This was a mistake and I felt foolish but there wasn’t a thing I could do to stop it. The wheels were already turning.
“What do you want from me, Marley?” he asked, in a voice that sounded almost like he was exhausted.
“Do you want me to leave?” I asked.
I didn’t want to hear him say it, but I knew it would be for the best. If I left now and never saw him again—I’d be able to forget about everything. I’d even destroy the photos I took if it meant never having to deal with a Doherty again.
Colin brushed a hand through his hair. The girls turning up at the apartment and me getting along with them—had clearly messed with his head. He wanted to distance himself from me. He didn’t want me getting too close to his family.
“You can leave whenever you want to, Marley,” he said. Then he threw a key in my direction which I luckily managed to grab or else it would have smacked me across the face.
Colin left the apartment.
I knew it was a key to the place.
So he didn’t want me to leave?
Not just yet.
I could have left the apartment if I wanted, since I had a key now, but I didn’t. Where would I go?
It wasn’t like I actually had anything I wanted to see in New York.
But I’d already rooted through the entire apartment. There was most likely nothing else to find there either.
Once again, I was left with the question of—why was I still sticking around? I could return to Las Vegas, walk into the precinct with the photos and the evidence I had.
It didn’t seem like Colin even wanted me there anymore.
So why was I still in his apartment, putting myself in danger?
I ran myself a bath to pass the time. As I sank into the perfectly warm bubbly water and closed my eyes, I tried to come up with all the ways in which I thought Colin Doherty was a danger to me.
So far, he hadn’t done anything that made me feel like he was a threat. He was strong, he made me feel safe, he knew how to take care of me.
In fact, I had met practically his whole family by now. All his brothers, and the women involved in their lives. The only family members I hadn’t met so far were Colin’s father and stepmother.
And none of the Dohertys I had met, made me feel like I would be in danger. Like they were even capable of committing a crime. They appeared to be strong men and women, closely knit and fiercely protective of each other with very clear black-and-white morals and values. They stood up for what they believed in and would fight for it to their graves.
But wasn’t this what made them so dangerous?
I gasped, opening my eyes—I’d managed to startle myself back into reality.
Who was I kidding?
These sweet funny people who had welcomed me so warmly into their lives would be the very people to turn on me and hurt me when they found out I lied to them. That I had been trying to hurt their families this whole time.
I had to get out of the apartment.
I was way in over myself. I shouldn’t have been there in the first place, and now that I had seen and met the rest of the family and witnessed how much they actually cared about each other—I knew for a fact what they were capable of doing to protect one another.
When they found out I was a detective trying to build a case against them, using one of their brothers to spy on their business and the rest of the family—the Dohertys would make sure I never got to see Las Vegas again.
I jumped out of the bath and slipped into a robe, tying my hair up in a towel tightly and quickly.
I was going to give myself fifteen minutes to get ready and be out of the door. In half an hour, I’d be on my way back home.
I was ready to go, standing in the middle of Colin’s kitchen and taking a good look around the place.
I’d arrived here with nothing, and I wasn’t taking anything with me either. I had those photographs I’d taken of his documents, they were on my phone—and I had yet to decide what to do with them.
Even if I left New York City and built a case against the Dohertys, it wasn’t like they wouldn’t know how or where to find me. I would forever be a target to them.
But this was a part of the job, wasn’t it? When I chose this career—I knew it was going to be dangerous. It was another reason why I knew having a family and being in a committed relationship was not for me.
So it wasn’t the fear of being persecuted by the Dohertys that made me change my mind. Did I actually care about them? Did I care about Colin? Did I really want to bring them down and help the department build a case against the family?
Why should I have helped the very people who spent every day tearing me down? The people who didn’t believe in me or my abilities as a detective?
The Doherty family had treated me in the complete opposite way. Like they were delighted to have me in their presence, even though I had nothing to offer them. They just accepted me for who I was. Just like Colin did.
So it was hard for me to just leave.
I considered leaving a note, but didn’t know what to say in it. We still had to get our marriage annulled. There was still a chance that Colin would find out who I was through his lawyers.
I was standing in the living room, trying to decide what to do, when there was a knock on the door.
I had no idea who it could be…someone from the family? One of the girls? Colin wouldn’t knock.
I made the mistake of opening the door without looking through the peephole first.
An older man stood in front of me. There were three other men behind him—and they all looked like they knew exactly who I was.
“Can I help you?” I asked. My hands had suddenly gone very cold.
The man in the center, who was clearly running the show, smiled at me knowingly. Without answering, he pushed past me into the apartment, followed by his men who shut the door and then locked it.
I didn’t have a chance to think. I didn’t have a moment to escape. And now I was in the apartment—aware that I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to.
Without a word being exchanged, I knew I had just landed myself in a deeper pile of shit.
“Who are you people?” I hissed, backing into a corner of the room.
It wasn’t like I would actually be able to get away from them if they made a move on me. The four men filled up all the space in the loft with their mere presence.
I usually prided myself as being the kind of girl who knew how to take care of herself. I was a trained detective after all. A member of the American police force.
But currently, I was locked in a space with four men I knew were here to harm me and I wasn’t carrying my weapon.
“You can relax, Marley Price, you’re not getting hurt. Not today,” the man said. He had a thick oily voice and he looked me up and down, sizing me up like I was a prize bull.
“I asked you a question,” I snarled at him.
He looked at one of his men and they both chuckled like I’d said something funny.
“So I take it your husband hasn’t told you who I am.”
My husband? I thought nobody outside the Doherty family knew about the wedding. And it was pretty obvious to me that this man was outside the Doherty family.
“I was just about to leave. If you want to speak to Colin, he’s not here. You’ll just have to come back later.”
Stupidly, I made for the door and two of the men stepped up to me and dragged me to the center of the room. I yanked my arms away from them, but I knew enough to not try and fight them. This thing could turn very ugly for me if I wasn’t careful.
“Come on, Marley, who are you kidding here? We both know I’m here to see you. We waited after Colin left so you could have a bath and relax. We didn’t want to interrupt,” the man continued speaking with a smile on his face.
My s
kin prickled at the thought that I was being watched this whole time. What else had these people seen? Did they see us having sex in the bedroom too?
“Don’t worry, sweetheart, we didn’t intrude on your private times as a happily married couple.”
It was like he could read my mind and it made me sick with fear and anger.
“What the fuck do you want from me?”
“I want the same thing you want, Marley. To bring down the Dohertys. And it seems like this would be the perfect opportunity for us to work together, don’t you?”
Before I could respond, the man gave a nod to his men who grabbed my arms again and dragged me to the kitchen table where they forced me to sit on one of the chairs.
“I’m Aldo Baron by the way,” the man said as he followed us to the kitchen. He pulled out a chair of his own and sat down across from me, crossing his legs in a peculiar fashion.
“Now that we’re all cozy and comfortable, why don’t we talk openly, huh? We’re all friends here, sweetheart.”
Twenty-Two
Colin
I wasn’t happy with the way things were left between us.
Isabelle and the girls showing up in the morning had thrown me. We were in the middle of having sex, and my brain was muddled. The more time I spent with Marley, the more I realized I was capable of feeling something.
It had been a long time since I last felt something real. After Tina, everything had been a blur. My mother’s death had left me feeling like an empty box and I didn’t think anyone could fill it.
But being with Marley made me feel alive.
I wondered if maybe I had a purpose beyond being just another member of the Doherty family fulfilling the familial duty.
And then the girls showed up and gave me a glimpse of what it would be like to have Marley in my life permanently. Seeing her with my sister and sisters-in-law, laughing and making breakfast together—made me feel things I didn’t want to feel.
And I took that frustration out on her.
I shouldn’t have.
I should have stayed at the apartment that day. I didn’t know how long I actually had left with her, and yet, I chose to remind her that our relationship wasn’t real.
We both knew that already.
And then when she asked me if I wanted her to leave—I didn’t tell her I wanted her to stay.
So I didn’t know if she would actually be there at the apartment when I went back.
I had to spend the day in the office taking care of a few phone calls and some filing nobody else wanted to do. I tried forgetting about my wife, but she was always on my mind. For all intents and purposes, she truly was my wife. Whether we wanted to admit it to each other or not.
And yet, I refused to treat her as one.
I made a few stops on the way back home and when I finally got there, I found myself wishing I could take back what happened between us that morning. I was an idiot and I didn’t even know how to apologize.
If she’d left, I wouldn’t blame her.
Why would a girl like her—who had everything to give and a whole world available and open to her—stay there stuck with me? I could never leave New York. I could never leave my family. I had nothing to give her.
I had to wait a few moments to compose myself before I opened the door.
At first, I thought the apartment was empty. I couldn’t hear a sound and nothing looked out of place.
Then Marley came out of the bedroom, in my shirt and her pair of tight blue jeans. Her dark hair spilled over her shoulders. Her blue eyes were wide and beautiful.
She had no idea how relieved I was to see her.
“You’re back!” she exclaimed, half-smiling.
“And you’re still here,” I said, walking towards her.
“I should have left,” she replied.
I pulled her into my arms and kissed her.
“You should have, but you didn’t. I’m glad you didn’t,” I said.
She kissed me back.
I held the bags up for her to see.
Marley crinkled her nose in that cute way of hers. There were small things about her that I noticed now. Things I knew I wouldn’t easily forget about her when she was gone.
“What’s this?” she asked.
She took the bags and looked in them.
“Oh my God!”
I loved the excitement in her voice when I pulled out the dress.
It was a long burgundy silk dress with a very deep neck and an even deeper back. I went into the store I knew Isabelle liked to go to in Manhattan. I told the sales assistant to bring me a selection of clothes and I picked out the dress I thought Marley would look sexiest in.
Who knew a dress would cost this much money?
I didn’t.
But I didn’t care. I wanted to see Marley in it.
Then I took out the shoes. They were even more expensive than the dress.
“Oh, Colin! You didn’t!” she exclaimed, snatching the shoes out of my hands.
Her face flushed and she looked happy and also in disbelief.
“Who picked these out?” she demanded.
“I did.”
“I don’t believe you.”
I shrugged.
“You’re telling me you went into a women’s clothing store and picked out this dress and these shoes for me, all by yourself?”
“Well, let’s just say a helpful sales assistant pointed me in the right direction.”
Marley lunged at me, wrapping her arms around my neck.
“Now I see what the other girls were talking about when they said the Doherty men are known for their unusual sweetness at times when you least expect it.”
I grunted and peeled her off me. I didn’t do this for the compliments. I did it because I wanted to see her in them.
“Now, go put these on so we can go out,” I said.
“We’re going out?” She sounded equally excited still.
“We have a dinner reservation in forty-five minutes and I don’t like being late.”
Marley bit down on her lip, trying to suppress the utter joy she felt. Then she grabbed the stuff and ran to the bedroom to get changed.
I sat on the couch with a beer while I waited for her.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt this happy and content because of the joy I brought someone else. I didn’t think I cared about anyone enough for it to matter. But seeing Marley happy, and finding out that she didn’t actually leave, made me want to jump with joy.
Maybe finally, I had done something right.
Everything leading up to this point was worth it.
Because Marley Price stood in front of me in the living room of my apartment looking like she was worth more than a few million dollars.
The dress fit her perfectly and made her look even more beautiful than I’d imagined. It hung off her, accentuating all her curves and angles. She clearly wasn’t wearing a bra because I could see her stiff nipples underneath the silky material.
Did she have panties on? I wanted to know, but I decided not to ask so I could fantasize about it all night.
She had styled her hair in a neat classy bun at the side of her head. She barely even had any makeup on, but the chocolate brown lipstick she wore matched her dress to perfection.
She must have noticed the look on my face because she came up close to me with a smile.
“You said we have to be at the restaurant soon,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll make a call. They’ll hold the table for as long as we want.”
I grabbed her and she chuckled with delight. I was about to lift her and take her to my bed, but she banged her fists playfully on my shoulders.
“No, we have to go. I’ve been looking forward to this dinner. Come on, we have to get you dressed first!”
But I kissed her deeply before letting her go and she sank in my arms. I didn’t want to let her go.
How would I ever let her go?
Marley got wha
t she wanted.
She looked through my wardrobe until she found something she wanted me to wear.
The only suit I owned.
We stood in front of the mirror together, staring at each other up and down. We made a darn good couple, I had to admit.
Marley picked up her purse and found the wedding ring inside. She held it up for me to see.
“Let’s do this. Let’s pretend,” she said, slipping the ring on her finger. I went over to the drawer in my nightstand and fished out my ring too.
When I joined her at the mirror again, we both had our wedding rings on. She reached for my hand and weaved her fingers with mine. It felt good. It felt fucking great.
The sensation hit me like a wave—sudden happiness.
It wasn’t just lust anymore. It wasn’t about sex. I still wanted her body, more than anything in the world, but standing at the mirror admiring each other and together as a couple—that was almost as good as sex.
She looked up at me with twinkling dark blue eyes.
“Let’s go. I can’t wait for the rest of the world to see us as a married couple. This is going to be fun!”
I followed her out of the apartment, I could barely keep up as she rushed down the steps to my car outside.
Nothing had ever made me as happy as seeing the smile on this girl’s face.
Was I going crazy?
We were at one of the swankiest restaurants in Manhattan.
And even though we arrived forty minutes late to our reservation, we were led politely to our table in the corner. Marley made a face at me like she was impressed. Slowly, but surely, she found out that people knew me around there. They knew which family I belonged to—and that was good and bad in equal measure.
However, she didn’t question me on it. Maybe she knew I wouldn’t want to talk about it.
We ordered wine and a few canapés to start. People turned to stare at us and it wasn’t because of who I was. It was because of how stunning Marley looked. She stood out in that dress, she stood out because it was created for her perfect body. And even in a place like that where everyone was dressed to the nines, she was someone who made people’s heads turn.
