Mark was a businessman who left the house every morning in a suit and tie and very rarely had a spec of dirt on him. Troy, I hate to say it, but he was all man. The few times I had seen him, he was either wearing cowboy boots or work boots, and it seemed jeans and a tee were his standard attire, whether it was work or not.
“I never imagined you and Troy together,” Ethel mused.
“He’s definitely not the type of guy I used to find attractive. I’ll have to see if he’ll even let me in his house. The last time we talked, we didn’t exactly leave things friendly.” I sat back down on the couch, tucking my legs underneath me.
“Just talk to him, hun. I don’t know Troy as well as I should, but he seems like a good man. Straight to the point, no nonsense.” Ethel was pretty spot on.
“Yup, that is definitely the vibe I got off of him too. Plus he told me he’s not into playing games.”
Gravel stomped back in the room and tossed his phone onto the coffee table. “Pack your shit, you need to stay at the clubhouse until we clear up the shit storm that followed you. Things are not looking good right now.” Gravel barked.
“Wait, what are you talking about?” What the hell had changed from the time Gravel’s phone rang to now?
“Mark’s family has direct dealings with the Banachi family. His family reached out to the Banachi’s to help take care of you.”
A chill ran up my spine as I remembered all the things I had heard about the Banachi’s. They were a rather large family that lived in Chicago but sent their children to a private school in California. They had dealings spread out throughout the US, and their reputation proceeded them. “Mark’s family owned a PR firm. How are they connected to the Banachi’s?” I asked.
“From what Edge dug up, it appears Mark’s grandfather ran into some problems playing the slots quite a few years back, and the Banachi’s helped him out. That forged a connection between the families that had only strengthened over time.”
“Well, is there any way to get in touch with the Banachi’s and explain to them that Marley doesn’t want any of this?” Ethel asked as she pushed the foot rest down and sat on the edge of her chair.
“King and Edge are trying to pull some strings and see what they can do. King just called church so that’s why you need to pack up and head to the clubhouse with me.
I’ll feel better if you are somewhere safe,” Gravel explained.
I didn’t want to go to the clubhouse. I would just end up locked up in Gravel’s room, bored out of my mind. “Can’t I stay here or go somewhere else that is safe? I could go stay with Gwen. They would never think to look for me there.”
“I’m ninety percent sure they know where you work and who you work for, Marley. We don’t want to involve any more people in this than we have to. You’re coming with me.”
“No,” I replied, digging my feet in, ready for the fight Gravel was going to give me. “I’ll go stay with Troy. I doubt they know about him, it’s a perfect idea.” “Marley, no. Just fucking, no,” Gravel growled.
“This isn’t up for debate, Gravel. Before you walked out of here to answer the phone, I was going to tell you the same thing. You want me to stay with someone, it’s Troy or I leave, right now.” I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest.
“I need to get to church. I don’t have time for this bullshit. The answer is no.”
“No need to go to church and figure things out, Gravel. I’ll be out of Rockton within the hour.” I stepped around Gravel and made my way to the stairs.
“Son of a bitch, Ethel can you talk some fucking sense into her,” Gravel hollered as I walked up the stairs.
“I don’t see what the problem is with her going to Troy’s,” I heard Ethel say as I reached the top the stairs and made my way to my room.
“Because it’s fucking Cowboy!” Gravel shouted.
Ethel replied, but she talked much quieter than Gravel, and I couldn’t make out what she was saying. I reached under my bed and pulled out my suitcase and tossed it on the bed. I rummaged through my drawers, grabbing what I would need and threw it into the suitcase.
I had just opened the closet when Gravel bellowed up the stairs. “You can stay with that fucking cowboy, but you better believe I don’t fucking like it!”
A grin spread across my face. I knew all along that as soon as Ethel talked to Gravel about me staying with Troy, he would give in.
I reached into the back of my closet and pulled out the little black dress Troy had bought. When I had tried it on, I didn’t plan on buying it, but as soon as Troy touched me in it, I knew I had to have it. I slipped it off the hanger and folded it, placing it in my suitcase.
Troy’s gaze when he had seen me in it had been enough to melt my panties off, well if I had been wearing panties. I grabbed the blood-red heels I had on the floor of my closet and tossed them on top.
It was going to take a lot of talking and begging for Troy to let me in the door.
But as soon as he did, I planned on putting my little black dress and heels to good use.
Troy wasn’t going to know what hit him.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Chapter 11
troy
“Bandit, hurry the hell up,” I called as I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to stay warm. It was the beginning of October and Wisconsin had definitely cooled down. Two weeks ago I was walking around in a t-shirt and jeans, and now I almost need to put a God damn parka on.
Bandit bound up the two steps into the house and hopped up on the couch as I shut the door. “I don’t know how you can stay out there for so long without your balls freezing off,” I mumbled as I cupped my hands together and blew on them. Son of a bitch it was cold out.
It was Friday night, and I thankfully didn’t have to work tonight. It was God damn hell at work all week, wanting to ask Meg how Marley was doing but not asking. I was surprised that Meg hadn’t mentioned anything more about her either. I had been expecting a full on attack from her about Marley, but she was unusually quiet. I walked into the kitchen, grabbed two beers and headed back into the living room to catch up on The Walking Dead. I had let all of last season's episodes accumulate on my DVR and was slowly watching them on my weekends off.
I sat down on the couch, propping my legs up on the coffee table.
Just as the opening credits start playing, Meg’s ringtone, ‘Oath’ started blaring from my phone. Meg had snagged my phone and took it upon herself to pick her ringtone for when she called me. She often stole my phone and set random alarms to go off. She thought she was hilarious. “Meg,” I drawled into the phone.
“Don’t sound so chipper.”
“I’m trying to watch The Walking Dead, what do you want?”
“Oh no, I’m interrupting your mutant zombie time,” she cackled. “I’m hanging up in five seconds if you don’t tell me why you’re calling,” I threatened.
“Oh, Troy. Take the stick out of your ass and chill.”
“Bye, Meg.”
“Wait,” she yelled, “I have to tell you something.”
I paused the TV and waited for whatever Meg had to tell me. “That is why most people use the telephone, to tell people something.”
“You are so fucking cranky lately.”
“Meg.”
“Fine. You’re about to have company in about five minutes. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“What the hell-” I started, but all I heard was silence.
What the hell did she mean I was about to have company. I hoped to hell that wasn’t her funny way of telling me that she and Cyn were coming over. I really wasn’t up for those two tonight. They may be my good friends, but sometimes I just want peace and quiet. Their last fiasco of breaking an expensive ass bed still made me laugh and shake my head. Those two were a force of nature when together.
A loud knock sounded on my door, but I didn’t get up from the couch. I didn’t want anyone to come over. I just wanted to sit on my couch, order some pizza and do nothi
ng. All night. Nothing more, nothing less.
My door rattled as another loud knock landed on the door. Whoever was out there wasn’t going away. Bandit’s ears perked up, and he turned his head sideways as another loud knock thudded.
“It’s probably Meg, boy.” He jumped off the couch and raced to the door.
Bandit loved Meg. He loved her, even more, when she brought Blue over with her.
Rising from the couch, I walked over to the door and held my hand out to Bandit, and he sat down, waiting for me to open the door.
Just as I was twisting the handle open, the person on the other side pushed on the door, smashing it into my face. Son of a bitch that hurt. I let go of the handle and grabbed my nose, hoping it wasn’t bleeding. I tilted my head back and closed my eyes.
Why the hell did getting hit in the nose hurt so fucking bad?
“Who the hell stands in front of a door when it’s opening?”
Gravel. What in the hell was Gravel doing here? “You pushed the fucking thing into me.” I gently prodded my nose, trying to see if it was broken. “I barely touched you.”
“You were thirty seconds in front of us, how did you manage to get a punch in?”
Marley too? What the hell was going on?
“I didn’t punch him. Cowboy here was standing in front of the door when he opened it.” Gravel walked past me and started walking around the living room.
“You pushed the fucking thing into me.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Gravel mumbled as he grabbed hold of the banister going upstairs and shook it. He muttered something under his breath as he walked up the stairs. “I brought your other bag, hun. Are you sure this is enough? Gravel doesn’t want you going back to the house until everything is cleared up.” I glanced behind Marley and saw Ethel standing behind her.
“I should be okay. I can always do laundry or shop. I’ve wanted to get some new clothes.” Marley walked past me and set the suitcase she was carrying down next to the couch with Ethel following behind her.
I was in the twilight zone. That had to be what was happening.
“There’s this little vintage shop that just opened downtown that you should check out. It looks like clothes you would like.” Ethel dropped the bag she was carrying and hitched her purse up on her shoulder.
What the fuck was going on? I thought I would never see Marley again, and now here she was, standing in my living room talking to Ethel about vintage clothes. “We’ll have to go there-”
“Stop!” I yelled. I needed to know what was going on. To top off all this confusion, my God damn nose was killing me, and I felt a headache coming on. Ethel and Marley stopped talking and looked at me like I had two heads.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Meg said she was going to call and tell you we were on the way over,” Ethel said, puzzled why I didn’t know what was going on.
“She called me like two fucking minutes ago and told me I was going to have some company. That’s it!”
“Oh, no,” Marley whispered.
“Okay, well, I’ll give you the short and sweet condensed story, hun. Marley can fill you in on all the small details later.” Ethel plopped down on the couch, and Bandit hopped up next to her, nudging her hand with his nose.
“That would be a good place to start.” I slammed the front door shut and crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
“You need to put better locks on all of your windows upstairs and fix this fucking banister.” Gravel walked down the stairs, wiggling the banister the whole way. It was more like trying to rip the banister off.
I repeat, what the fuck was going on? Why the hell was Gravel telling me fucking home improvements I needed to do? “The next person who talks better be explaining to me what the hell you are all doing here.”
Marley bit her lip and looked at Ethel while she twisted her hands together. “You ready to go, woman?” Gravel asked as he stood at the bottom of the stairs, his arms folded across his chest.
“Not quite. Meg didn’t give Troy the rundown of why Marley is staying, so I think you might want to clue him in on what’s going on.”
“The assholes who shot at y’all are mafia. Until we figure shit out, we need someone with her twenty-four seven. Since I missed Marley’s rebellion years, she’s decided to give me a glimpse of them and insist that she stay with you just to piss me off.” Gravel gaze shifted from me to Ethel. “Let’s go.”
The fucking mafia? Who the hell was Marley engaged to? “For how long? I do have a job.”
“Till we get this shit squared away. King said when you’re at work, one of the prospects will stay here. Keep her safe or I will fucking kill you.” Gravel walked out the door, leaving it open and leaving me still confused as fuck.
“Well, you kids have fun. I’ll stop by in a couple of days to see how you two are getting along.” Ethel grabbed her purse and followed Gravel out the door. She, at least, shut it behind her.
Marley and I just stared at each other. How the hell did this happen? *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Marley
Troy just stared at me. Not talking, just staring. He didn’t look happy to see me. This had all played out so differently in my head. A tense stare down was not what I expected.
“So, I decided to not leave,” I said meekly. Start with something positive.
“Why? I thought there was nothing here for you?”
“Ethel and I had a talk, and she helped me to see things clearer. I was making a decision without really thinking things through. I’ve finally found a place to live that I love, and I’ve met some amazing people I really don’t want to leave behind if I don’t have to.”
“Why are you here, Marley? There are lots of places you could have stayed that would be as safe as here, if not safer. Four days ago I was someone you could walk away from without a second glance, and now you’re at my doorstep expecting me to protect you. I’m sure everything Ethel told you was the same thing I said to you. “ I sat down on the couch, and Bandit hopped up next to me. Bandit seemed to be a bit more forgiving of me than Troy. I scratched behind his ears, and he closed his eyes, leaning into my hand. “I shouldn’t have said what I did, Troy. You were right when you said I was irrational, but all that kept playing through my head was that you could have been shot or even worse, killed, because of me. My problems have nothing to do with anyone here, but you all seem to think that you need to fight them for me. I’ve never had something like that before. Even when I was with Mark, if I had a problem, I solved it, no one else.”
“You’ve had the wrong fucking people in your life, Marley, if they never helped you when you were in trouble.” He ran his fingers through his hair and walked over to the TV, pausing the show he was watching.
“You’re telling me. I thought Mark’s family were upstanding people who did no wrong, and I just found out they have ties to the mafia. That’s enough to make me wonder if I’ve had my head up my ass this whole time and didn’t know who Mark really was either.” I turned my head and dashed away the tears that were streaming down my face.
“None of this is your fault, Marley. I’m sure if there was any indication that Mark was anything less than good, you would have seen it. Don’t beat yourself up for something that is out of your control. You had no idea any of this was going to happen when you left California.”
“I knew they were upset, but I thought leaving would help. They took me to court to appeal the will ruling, and I’m not fighting it at all. The only reason I can think of as to why they are doing this is because maybe the case isn’t going the way they want it to.”
Troy sat down on the edge of the recliner and looked at me. “I think it’s time we have the conversation about what all happened before you moved to Wisconsin. I can piece together what happened from bits and pieces I’ve heard, but I’d much rather hear it from you.”
“It might take a while,” I hiccuped.
Troy popped open the footrest on the chair and reclined back. “I�
�ve got all night, Marley. If I’m going to be the one protecting you, I think it’s fair I know what I’m protecting you from. Start from the beginning.”
I wiped the tears from my eyes and buried my face into Bandit’s neck. Telling Troy what was going on was going to be hard, but he had a right to know. A psycho family and the mafia trying to kill me was some serious shit.
“Okay,” I whispered, sitting back.
Troy held his breath and waited.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Chapter 12
Marley
I clenched my hands together and tried to gather my thoughts. Where the hell should I even begin? Bandit laid down, resting his head in my lap. “Mark and I met when I moved to California. We were always in the same classes together but never actually talked until we started high school. Halfway through sophomore year, something changed. He started hanging out by my locker, asking for a pen even though I knew he had one. He finally asked me out on a date right before the end of the school year, and we were inseparable from then on.”
“Sounds like your typical high school romance. No red flags ever popped up, made you think there was something up with his family?”
“I knew he had money. His family owns a talent agency and were well known around town. His money never really crossed my mind, because it was his and not mine. His parents hated me the second they met me. They had an air about them that they thought they were better than everyone. We only went over there a couple of times, before his mother called him into the kitchen, and I could hear them arguing about me. I tried to break up with him that night, but he insisted that those were his mother’s problems, not his. She had heard about my mom through town gossip. She also knew about Gravel, but I could never figure out how she found out about him. I never talked to anyone about him. I eventually told Mark about Gravel, but he didn’t seem to care.
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