by Tl Reeve
“Then you’d better make it.”
“I will, Your Honor.” The defense attorney straightened his tie. “Indulge me, Mr. Raferty—”
“I’d rather not,” Mackenzie grumbled. “But, get on with it. Lay your cards out for all to see.”
The man frowned. “All right. You were shot in the head, were you not?”
“I was. Went in near the temple came out at the base of my skull,” he answered.
“Did you sustain brain damage?”
“Some, yes. I was also beaten.” He would never admit to how close he came to almost losing his life. Had it not been for Rapier and his family finding Mackenzie in the middle of the desert in his wolf form... Shit. He wouldn’t have everything he did. The idea of not having his children or grandchildren tugged at his heart. They were his family. He’d also do everything in his power to protect them as well.
“Well, then, how do we trust your memory of the events that took place almost twelve years ago?”
Mackenzie tilted his head. “My short-term memory is fine as is my long-term memory. If I couldn’t remember who I was or how I got here, do you think I’d be here? Yes, it took quite a while to heal and get back to myself. Nevertheless, I didn’t forget a thing.”
“Have you ever forgotten to pick up your children, whom you say you’re trying to protect?”
A sly smile tugged across Holly’s lips, and Mackenzie knew where the asshole was going with that question. There’d been a few times he’d left for work, knowing damn well Holly would be picking up Hayden from school or later, Liam and Riley only to be called from the schoolhouse telling him, he’d forgotten. “Nope, sure haven’t.”
“You haven’t?”
“Objection, Your Honor. Relevance?” Charles stated.
“Counsel?” The judge glanced at the defense attorney.
“We have proof,” he said holding up a piece of paper. “We are using this to show that his memory isn’t reliable or infallible.”
“Your Honor?” Mackenzie glanced up to the balding middle-aged man. “I know what he’s holding.”
“Go on, Mr. Raferty,” the judge said.
“It’s a call log from the high school and he probably has one from the elementary school as well,” Mackenzie said. “It shows on three different occasions they had to call me to pick up my children. However, Your Honor, it was Holly’s day to pick them up. On two of the dates, I’d been working an hour away from home at the time at a new build site. There was no way for me to get them on time.”
“The third?” the defense attorney asked.
“The third, I was at Valley Community Hospital with Jacob, one of our young human drywallers,” Mackenzie said. “He got hurt on the job—put a nail through his thumb. Since he doesn’t have any family, I accompanied him, and since I was also the crew leader for the day, I remained with him until the doctor could treat the wound. From start to finish, we were there until three-thirty which coincided with when the school called me. If you’d like the formal Worker’s Comp report from my boss and the hospital, I can get them to you.”
“Mr. Raferty, do you know anything about door locks?” The defense attorney jumped topics quicker than a flea jumping on a dog’s back.
“Sure. I suppose I do,” Mackenzie answered.
“Could you explain why they would be on doors inside your home?” the lawyer prodded.
It wasn’t his place to tell others Holly’s business. The reasons for them, at the time, were practical. Hayden had a bad habit of walking in on people. If she knew the truth, well, it would have devastated her. Now, he wished they could have been open and honest from the beginning, because it looked like everything, they’d done to protect his niece, was blowing up in his face.
“Two bedroom doors had locks on them,” he answered. “Holly’s room and mine. We did it for a reason. Hayden, at the time, had no compunctions about barging into rooms without permission. In order for everything to work out properly, Holly and I decided to put locks on them just in case.”
“In case of what?”
“In case she walked in on something she shouldn’t be seeing,” Mackenzie hedged. “In hindsight, it was pretty reckless of us to do so. However, at the time, we both thought it was acceptable.”
“By both of you, you mean yourself. Holly had no input on the decision,” the lawyer grabbed another document. “Your honor, these are the photographs of the locks on the doors. Though innocuous, they drive home the point that Mr. Raferty was fully committed to Holly and her plans.”
“Her plans?” Mackenzie snarled. “What exactly are you trying to say?”
“Objection, Your Honor!” Charles yelled.
“I’m saying, Mr. Raferty, if Holly is on trial, you should be, too!”
Mackenzie launched out of his chair. “What?”
“Objection, Your Honor, he’s badgering the witness!” Charles shouted, again.
The judge smacked his gavel on the bench and called for order in the courtroom. “Mr. Walker, I have given you enough rope to ask your questions and steer this courtroom in whichever direction for the last twenty minutes, you’ve wanted to go. Seems to me, you are now headed for the cliff, and willing to implicate everyone in this case.”
“Your Honor,” Mr. Walker, the defense attorney said. “I have proved Mackenzie Raferty, not only makes questionable choices, but also unilateral decisions for his family. He has had severe head trauma, anger issues, and has also said he had an arrangement with my client. He is just as responsible as she is in this case.”
White-hot anger flashed through Mackenzie’s veins. He’d done nothing of the sort. He’d tried to protect Holly and in the long run, it blew up in his face. She’d turned her back on his family. She used them. Not the other way around. “I am nothing like her.”
The judge smacked his gavel again. “Order. Another word, Mr. Raferty...”
He nodded.
“Your Honor,” Charles said. “Mr. Walker knows how small his chances of winning this case are, so he’ll employ any tactic readily available to help take some of the harsh lighting off his client. During the state’s investigation along with our own, we found all of the Raferty family innocent of any wrongdoing and to implicate Mackenzie, because he wanted to see his niece happy, is inexcusable.”
The judge mulled over their arguments while Mackenzie tried to tamp down his rage. Every step he’d taken since the minute Holly arrived in Window Rock was now being used against him. He couldn’t say it surprised him. He’d honestly been waiting for it.
“Jury,” the judge said, “You will disregard what you’ve heard. It will also be stricken from the record.”
“Your Honor,” Mr. Walker said.
“I believe it’s time for a recess, gentlemen and ladies. We’ll reconvene tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. sharp.” The judge smacked his gavel once more then stood and left the bench.
Mackenzie stepped off the stand and headed for the door. He didn’t look at Holly or her slimy lawyer, nor did he look at Charles. If he did, he was afraid he’d say something that would be used against him later on. Mackenzie avoided the press by walking out the back door where he’d parked his truck. Leaning against it, was Rapier. The look on his face matched Mackenzie’s disposition.
“What the fuck, Mac?” Rapier pushed off the front quarter panel. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Which part?” He pulled his keys from his pocket.
“All of it.”
“I told you everything after Holly left. What more do you want to know?” Mackenzie scowled.
“Door locks? We knew about them, but not why.”
Mackenzie snarled. “Yeah, well, I did it for a reason. I’d like to discuss that with my children and niece before I tell the whole fucking country my goddamned business.”
Rapier held up his hands. “I get it, Mac.”
“No, you fucking don’t,” he snapped. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I need to plan dinner and get my house ready for Abby’s visit.”<
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He wrenched open the driver’s side door after unlocking it and got in. As he started up his truck, his phone rang. Mackenzie pulled away from Rapier who stared after him, before answering it. “Yeah?”
“A little bird said it didn’t go well for you,” Kalkin said.
“You should shoot the little fucking bird and eat the fucker,” Mackenzie growled.
“Wow, such language, big bro,” Kalkin teased. “Look, I know it didn’t go the way you wanted it to. It’s the first day of your testimony, and we both understand how this will play out. Holly will try to discredit you as much as possible. You can’t let her, or her slimy-ass attorney get under your skin.”
Mackenzie blew out a breath. “How’d you know what I needed to hear?”
“Because I’m the Alpha and speaking of which, another birdy told me Aurora has the day off. You should go see her.”
Mackenzie pulled the phone from his ear and made a face. “What are you on that you’re seeing and speaking to birds?”
His brother laughed. “Go see her.”
“She has a mate. I won’t interfere,” he replied.
Kalkin laughed. “You’re an ignorant, bullheaded asshole. Go see her. Maybe you can work out some of that pent-up aggression.”
“She has a mate,” he growled, frustrated by the turn the day had taken and now his brother’s misguided attempt to set him up with a fuck buddy.
“Are you sure?”
“I saw the mark,” Mackenzie snapped.
“Hmm... I didn’t. Go see her, Mac.”
He hung up on Kalkin and started driving. He had a couple of hours before he needed to pick up Riley and Liam, or he could take some time and call Charisma to have her pick them up. He settled for the latter. Once he made the call to his daughter-in-law, he continued to drive. He had to clear his head before he did something stupid. Being on the stand proved one thing, he hadn’t been prepared. Sure, he’d anticipated some of the questions, but the shit with Holly... No, he hadn’t been expecting it. Should’ve, though.
By the time he stopped driving, he sat out front of Aurora’s apartment. He cursed himself all kinds of a fool while staring up at the stained stucco façade and hanging letters. This was no place for her or Abby. If Abby was as sick as Danielle said, the air in the apartment probably did more harm than good. Stop it. Even the barest of hints of wanting to help more crept in. He’d seen the inside of her apartment, and it turned his stomach. The walls were stained. The floor matted in at least thirty years of gunk and who knew what else. He understood her predicament when it came to money, but buildings like those, needed to be torn down and replaced by efficiency apartments that were still cheap, but healthy and sustainable.
Go home.
His hands tightened on the steering wheel. It would be so easy to turn around and do such. Just drop the truck in drive, flip a U-turn, and go home. Nevertheless, he didn’t move. Instead, he put the truck in park then got out. His legs moved on their own accord, and before he could even stop himself, he knocked on her door. Of all the stupid shit you should be doing, this isn’t one of them, he chided himself as he stood there waiting for the door to open. When it did, he didn’t say hi or ask permission to enter. He stepped inside the dank apartment and growled.
“Pack your shit.”
Aurora fisted her hands on her hips. “Excuse me?”
“I think you heard me,” he snapped. “Pack all of your shit. You’re coming with me.”
“I don’t think so,” she said, giving him her back. Anger roared to life in her. Who the fuck did he think he was? “Go home, Mac. You’re not welcome here.”
“Bullshit.” He stepped to her, spinning her around. “You want me here. I know it. I also know you can’t stay here and take care of Abby. Her being sick and this shitty apartment don’t mix.”
“Fuck you, Mackenzie Raferty!” She shoved at his chest, but he didn’t budge. “You don’t get to walk into my ‘shitty’ apartment and tell me what to do. This place is mine. I pay the rent and utilities. I put food on the table and take Abby to the doctor. Not you. Not your family. Not anyone but me.”
He bent forward until they were nose to nose. His intoxicating cologne wafted around them wrapping her in a suffocating blanket of arousal. She trembled before him. Her palms itched to run along his chest—dig her fingernails into his pecs to leave behind her scratch marks. The irrational emotional conundrum he pushed her into didn’t make sense.
“You’re right,” he replied with a huff. “But I am the one who fixed the leaky pipe. I am the one who’s been taking care of Abby at night while you work. I’m the one who has listened to her cough and worried just as much as you. You can’t stay here, it’s not good for you or her.”
“Well,” she crossed her arms, “it’s still mine.” She squared her shoulders, lifting her chin in defiance.
The growl he let loose with, startled her. Mackenzie lifted her into his arms and kissed her. Like before, the red-hot passion burning between them ignited the minute their lips met. She clung to him, her fingernails dug into his shoulders, and he moaned, palming her ass. Stupid her, she’d fallen into bed only wearing a sleep shirt and her panties. Had she realized she’d have a visitor; she’d have been a little better dressed.
Stop thinking!
“Bedroom,” he muttered against her lips.
“Mac...”
He pulled back slightly. “Bedroom?”
“Are you sure we should b—?”
He kissed her again. He feasted on her; his lips moved over her mouth the way she suspect he’d have sex. Hot and dirty, taking her over inch by inch. Then he was kissing a path down her neck, zeroing in on the scrape he’d left behind at the Halloween party. The one he couldn’t or didn’t remember leaving while he’d been a wolf. Aurora ran her fingers through his hair, gripping it when he sucked at her skin.
“D-down the hall. Only bedroom.” She tugged his face back up to hers and kissed him again as he carried her toward her room. “Mac, there’s something I should te—”
“I already know.”
They were going too fast. He didn’t know. How could he? Everyone thought she was Abby’s mother. What would happen when he figured she didn’t birth the little girl she called her daughter? He’d already been through so much, and she, too, lied to him. She was like the other women he’d been with. “No, you don’t.”
“Shh,” he whispered before placing her on the bed. He climbed over her, his large frame looming there, and then she saw it, the ice-blue eyes of his wolf. “This will be our secret. We won’t tell your mate.”
Guilt lanced her heart. He still didn’t realize he’d been the one to mark her. “I told you, I don’t have a mate.”
He didn’t say anything. Instead, he pushed her shirt up, exposing her breasts to his perusal. He groaned, pouncing on her. He palmed her breast before latching onto the nipple of her left breast. She cried out as intense pleasure crashed over her. It was as if an invisible tether connected her nipple to her clit, causing the small bead to throb each time he sucked the hard peak. She wriggled against him needing more of something. She couldn’t articulate it. The coil of arousal and bliss tightening within her lower belly spread through her body causing her to tingle from head to toe.
“I can’t get enough of your scent. Like jasmine and honeysuckle. I could eat you all day,” he muttered against her skin.
“You sound like the big bad wolf,” she whispered.
“I am.” He let loose with a feral snarl, and she swore she saw a hint of his curved canine. He lowered his hand between her legs and groaned. “You’re all wet, star.”
Embarrassment tinged her arousal. “Mac, I need to te—”
He kissed her again while tracing the shape of her sex. He didn’t remove her panties, though. He’d been content to tease her through the thin barrier. His fingers followed the line of her slit before circling her clit without actually touching it. He drove her insane and worried her. He wasn’t listening. She
’d never done anything like this before, and certainly, the other day didn’t quit fit the bill when it came to having sex. If she had to name what happened, she’d call it near-sex or dry humping? Well, maybe she humped his leg while also stroking him off. This would be her first time. So, shouldn’t he want to know? Didn’t it make a difference to him? Shouldn’t he have some kind of expectation from her?
The clank of metal drew her attention as he opened his jeans and the ends of his belt crashed against each other. She held her breath as he flicked open the tab, releasing the button fly. He’s not wearing any underwear. Holy shit. The thick length of his erection sprang free of the confines of his pants, and her eyes widened. “You’re huge.” Since they’d been braced against the wall the last time, she hadn’t gotten to see him as well as she did then.
The smug grin on his face transformed his features from the man she knew to the wolf she’d seen outside her apartment almost every night. “I don’t like to brag. It’s unbecoming for a man my age.”
Yeah, she knew how old he was. That was another reason he deserved the truth. “Mackenzie Raferty...”
He shook his head, stroking his dick. “Not now. We both need this.” Mackenzie tugged his pants down his hips then pushed between her legs. “No regrets.” He yanked her panties to the side and placed the tip of his cock to her entrance.
“No regrets,” she murmured.
His lips crushed hers the minute he pressed forward. She cried out, arching her back. The pain had been expected. She knew it would hurt, what she hadn’t been prepared for was his size or the fact he didn’t stop filling her until he was fully seated within her. Her breath lodged in her chest. Her heart hammered. She felt as though she’d been torn in two. Yet, even for all of the discomfort, a spark of something amazing chased it. It started small as he began to move then grew with each thrust.
Aurora clung to him, trying desperately to keep up with him, but Mackenzie was unhinged. Determined. He’d had a single focus, her. He fit his hand between them, toying with her clit. She gasped his name, rolling her hips, pursuing the delicious sensation sensitizing her body. The sybaritic sounds he made added to the atmosphere, turning her on more.
