Maria

 

He never showed up today. I’m heading home now. Maybe tomorrow it will work out.

 

I sent the text as I was closing up for the day. The last of my father’s employees had gone home. I hadn’t seen any of the members of the MC, and I hadn’t heard back from my father since we’d spoken earlier in the day. Meanwhile, Brawn had called a couple of times throughout the day, probably trying to check on me.

 

Between handling the business by myself and looking for more information to use against my father, I hadn’t had time to answer the phone. Texting before I left was all I could do to try to make up for that. I wasn’t supposed to have anything to do with him. I couldn’t have allowed myself to get caught talking to him if my father finally decided to show up unexpectedly.

 

I’m calling you, Brawn texted.

 

“No,” I groaned.

 

Then, the phone rang. Sure enough, it was Brawn.

 

“I can’t talk to you here,” I told him when I picked up. “I’m still at the office. We’re not supposed to be talking anyway, remember?”

 

“Whatever. I just wanted to hear your voice,” he said. “I had to know you were all right and someone wasn’t texting me from your phone just to throw me off.”

 

I didn’t mean to laugh at him, but I couldn’t help myself. “You paranoid ass. I’m fine.”

 

“Hey, I’ve worked with guys like your father on the wrong side for too long not to expect shady shit, okay? Forgive me if I’m a little suspicious right now.” I could hear the relief in his voice, and it was flattering to know he’d been genuinely concerned for my well-being. It even made me blush, another sign I was talking to someone I shouldn’t have been.

 

“Thanks for worrying about me, Brawn, but I’ll have to call you back when I get out of here. I can’t risk being seen on the phone with you. My dad might have someone watching me for him, or he might be here himself, I don’t know,” I said, urging him to let me go.

 

“All right. Give me a call back once you’re sure it’s safe,” he said. “Do you think he’ll be at the house when you get there?”

 

“See, I don’t know that either. He’s been out of town on business a lot lately, so he hasn’t even been home yet. He was supposed to be back in town today, but he said he had other business to tend to today as well, so I’m really not sure. Why are you so worried?” I finally asked.

 

“I can’t shake the feeling that something’s up. It can’t be easy to pull something on your father like this without him suspecting it. He’s a dick, but he’s a smart dick. I’m worried he might already be onto us. Be careful. Call or text if you think something’s going wrong. Don’t let yourself walk into a trap,” he warned me.

 

My stomach knotted up, and my veins turned to ice. I hadn’t given much thought to what Brawn was trying to tell me. I had been worried about my father coming back early and walking in on me while I was talking to Brawn or digging through his paperwork. I hadn’t thought it was possible for him to already know what I was doing. I took a deep breath, resolving not to let Brawn know that his warnings made me nervous. “Yeah, if anything goes wrong, I’ll let you know immediately.” I peered through the window of the office trailer, watching for my father in the empty jobsite. “But I’ve got to let you go before he shows up and finds me talking to you.”

 

“Okay. I’ll talk to you soon.”

 

We said an awkward goodbye. I could hear it in his voice, and I was sure he could hear it in mine: we both seemed to feel like there was something else we wanted, or needed, to say. My heart swelled with feelings for him as we hung up the phone. There were things we’d been ignoring, things we hadn’t discussed because of pride, the business we’d built together, or for whatever reason, and those thoughts and emotions were bubbling up to the surface now. At least, they were for me, now that I was forcing myself to be away from him.

 

I locked up and walked to my car. I felt so utterly exposed, completely alone and out in the open. The jobsite was deserted. No one had shown up from the MC; they’d all been called off. And I had no idea where my detective was. He hadn’t said anything else since our text conversation earlier. I knew he was likely to be stealthier than my father or any of The Twisted Ghosts, but I didn’t like not knowing where anyone was.

 

The more I thought about it, the more I felt like someone was watching me. I held my phone in my hand. If anyone tried anything stupid, I wanted to be able to call for help right away. Nerves took over as I fumbled with my car keys, trying to get in.

 

“Come on, Maria. You’ve got this,” I said aloud to encourage myself. Finally, I was able to unlock the car. I got in and cranked it up right away, before I put my seatbelt on. I checked behind me as I backed away from the trailer and turned around to head out of the lot.

 

I stopped and checked both ways on the road for traffic. I had the road to myself. It was as if the entire world had stopped so it would be easier for someone to spot me. I rested my head on the back of the driver seat and closed my eyes for a moment. Talking to Brawn had made me as paranoid he’d been.

 

If Detective Collins had been watching me, it would have made sense. If my father had been watching me, it was also to be expected. I had to ask myself if I honestly felt like someone had their eyes on me, or if it was because I’d talked to Brawn and allowed him to put those thoughts in my head.

 

I decided it didn’t matter, and I left the jobsite, heading home. I kept my eyes on the road, checking behind me occasionally to see if anyone was following me. I decided I was okay. There were no headlights behind me.

 

As I drove closer to the house, I ran into more traffic. It was comforting to see other people out and about. I felt like I was blending into the world and fading from view, like I was just another person heading home from work once again.

 

My phone buzzed on the console next to my seat. I checked to see who it was. Brawn was calling me already.

 

“I haven’t even had time to make it home,” I pleaded as the phone rang. “I’ll call you back.”

 

At a red light, I unlocked my screen and muted my ringer. I put the phone down face down on the console. He was going to have to deal with his paranoia on his own instead of dragging me down with him. He was so certain something was going to go wrong.

 

My father might have been involved with the mob, but I felt insulated against the dangers of his involvement. I had worked my way back into his good graces by agreeing to take over the company and leave Brawn and The Twisted Ghosts behind in the process.

 

I turned up the radio and let the music fill the car, leaving no room for me to worry about what might have been waiting for me at home. He was supposed to be out of town, and if he wasn’t, we were going to have our little talk anyway. Things didn’t have to go completely according to plan to work out.

 

I pulled into the driveway and parked behind the closed garage door, like I always did, like I had the day Brawn had changed my life. Every time I pulled into the driveway, I chuckled a little bit as I remembered his horribly botched kidnapping attempt. It really had become amusing.

 

I shoved my phone in my pocket, not thinking to check if there was another incoming call. I got out of the car and walked up to the door. I grabbed the house key, but when I touched the handle on the door, it opened.

 

My heart stopped. My father, or one of his associates, must have been waiting on me. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. I walked quietly through the house, stepping softly enough not to make a sound on the carpet. I didn’t know who was waiting for me, but I didn’t want anyone to catch me by surprise.

 

A light flipped on while I walked through the living room, and my father stepped around the corner.

 

“Ah, Maria,” he said in his stiff voice, “I’m glad you came home. I know you had other options, especially after I disappointed you this morning over our meeting. Please, have a seat.” He gestured to the chairs and the couch in the living room as he moved to his large leather armchair.

 

“I was going to grab something to eat first,” I said, trying to come up with a legitimate reason for creeping through the house instead of heading straight upstairs to my room.

 

“This will only take a minute. Then, I was thinking we could go out for dinner or something, to celebrate,” he said with a sly smile on his face and gleam in his eye.

 

“To celebrate what?” I asked cautiously as I took a seat on the couch.

 

“To celebrate handing the company over to the next generation of Kellys. That is what you wanted to talk about, isn’t it?” he asked. I couldn’t help but feel like I was being lured into a trap. He was playing dumb, pretending he didn’t know what I had been up to. And he’d been home all day, planning what he was going to do to me once I got home from work. I knew it in my bones.

 

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about this morning. There are a few things I need a better understanding of before I can take over completely. Maybe we talk about it another time?” I asked.

 

“No, after tonight, everything will be crystal clear for you, I think.” He allowed the full weight of that statement to hang in the air between us before continuing. “You won’t need me to show you anything at the office after tonight.”

 

Something was wrong. My heart started to pound in my chest, and a voice in the back of my head started shouting at me to text Brawn, to let him know I was in trouble. Or I was about to be.

 

“That’s great news,” I said with a nervous smile and laugh.

 

“Yeah, I thought you might like it.” He crossed his legs and rested his hands comfortably in his lap, and it hit me that he was wearing a suit and tie, as if he had, in fact, been handling serious business all day. Probably mob business.

 

I narrowed my eyes as I scrutinized his look. I wondered if he was being promoted or brought into the fold by the guys he’d been working with for all these years. I wanted to know, but I also felt like I was better off not knowing how far my father had gone in with his connections.

 

He caught me looking him over and decided to address it. “I supposed you’ve been curious what kind of business I’ve been handling out of town,” he started. “I assure you, it’s not going to impact the business at all. In fact, the connections I’ve been making over these last few days have made it imperative that you take the business over as soon as possible.”

 

I knew from his self-satisfied tone that he was confirming everything I’d been thinking. If I were forced to take over the business, I would always be under his thumb. There would be no more school, no more Brawn, no more of my own company, my own success. It was time to make a move, whether I was ready or not.