Page 97 of Past Due

“I didn’t,” he answered truthfully. “I don’t care for Whataburger.”

She actually gasped. Scandalized, she asked, “Please tell me I didn’t marry a man who thinks In-N-Out is better than Whataburger.”

“You didn’t. I don’t like either one.”

“Okay, but you like tacos, right?” She eyed him warily. “Because, I know the ink is barely dry on our marriage license, but this might be a dealbreaker.”

“You’re stuck with me then,” he said, tugging her a little closer as two wild little boys ran toward them. “Street tacos and a cold beer are my go-to after work meal.”

The smaller of the two boys stumbled and fell, whacking his face on the floor. Marley immediately rushed to help. She carefully sat him up and slipped out of her backpack. The tired, harried mother of the two boys rushed over and crouched down to check out the damage. Marley offered her a handful of napkins and a small package of wet wipes to clean up the blood on his face.

Besian watched Marley interact with the boys and their mother. She had such an easy way around people. In that respect, she was his complete opposite. He went out of his way to not get involved in other people’s problems, and she went out of her way to help. Seeing her there, offering her stash of travel candy to the little boys and helping their mother clean up the mess on the floor, reminded him what a gentle heart Marley possessed.

He needed to guard her easily bruised heart. She hadn’t cried since they left Tirana, and she had put on a brave face during their travel. Just under the surface, though, she was a mess of emotions. He sensed it wouldn’t take much to send her into a spiral of tears and sadness. Until they located her mother and received an update on Spider, he had to be careful with her.

“Poor kid,” she said when she returned to his side. “They just flew in from London.” She held out her backpack. “Can you hold onto this while I go wash my hands?”

“Sure.”

While she ducked into the bathroom, he checked his phone for any updates from Ben. By the time he and Marley had reached Frankfurt, Aston’s legal team had sprung Ben, Devil and Jet from jail. None of them had been charged, and the raid on the shop had turned up nothing. His orders to clear out the shop as soon as he heard of the MC raid had paid off.

“Any news?” Marley asked when she rejoined him.

“Ben opened the shop after lunch and went right back to work. My managers have all of my clubs open and running again. My lawyers are saying that none of the violations will stick.”

“So, what was the point of all this?” She tried to take her backpack back, but he shook his head and hefted it onto his shoulder.

“To remind me that I’m not untouchable,” he grumbled. “I wasn’t the only one that had problems. Nicky Jackson’s businesses were hassled, and Diego Reyes’ grandmother and sister got pulled over on their way home from playing Bingo.”

“Ugh, that’s so gross to go after someone’s family,” Marley said with disgust. “Nate’s grandma is the sweetest old lady. That’s so wrong!”

“You know Nate Reyes?”

“All my life.” She must have seen the confusion on his face because she explained, “Before his mom was killed, they lived across the street from me. In the first trailer park Spider owned,” she added. “We used to ride bikes and play until it was too dark to see outside. Me, Nate, sometimes Sway and Diego and Levi.”

“You rode bikes and played with Levi Calder? The defensive end?”

“Yeah. I mean, he and Diego were a couple of years older than us, but we all sort of wandered around the park together while our parents worked. Well,” she amended, “while their parents worked. Mom was sort of the neighborhood babysitter who kept an eye on everyone.”

Suddenly, Marley’s recent dating history made sense. He had tried not to pay attention to her social life, but it was hard with Ben telling him every single chance he got. He had been crushed when Marley had gone a series of first and second dates with some of the most eligible men in Houston, a couple of them professional athletes. Knowing that she had a longtime friendship with Levi Calder filled in the blanks of how she was meeting them.

And she still chose me.

He marveled on that while they grabbed their luggage and took the underground tram to the Marriott stop. He had parked his car in the garage there before leaving for Albania. One of the garage attendants was a friend he trusted to look after her his property so it was one less worry while he was out of town.

“Can we stop by my place?” Marley asked after they had loaded their luggage into the trunk.

“That was my plan. I figured you would need some things.” He opened the passenger door for her. “That was my plan. I figured you would need somethings.”

Not getting into the car just yet, she asked, “Can we stop by my mom’s? It’s on the way out of the park. I want to see if she left a note or something.”

“Sure.” He kissed her lovingly and shut the door after she slipped into her seat.

The drive from the airport to the mobile home park where Marley and her mother lived wasn’t that long. He would have to drive by it to get to his penthouse anyway so it made sense to stop and let her gather up as much of her clothing and other necessities she wanted.

“We should try to get you packed up and out of your place as soon as possible,” Besian decided. “I don’t want you having to go back and forth to get things.”

“It won’t take long to pack up my place. It’s really small, and I don’t collect or keep a lot of things.”

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