Page 72 of This Moment

“Why would I be hurt? Are you married?”

Laughing, I shook my head. “No. I’m not married.”

With a deep breath, I took his hand in mine. I could do this. I could trust Kian and needed to trust that I was safe here in Moose Village.

“Let’s sit down.”

Kian followed me, and we sat on the edge of the bed and turned to face one another. I crossed my legs and took his hand again.

“I don’t even know where to start.”

Kain squeezed my hand. “Do you want to wait until tomorrow? I know you said you have to be at the bakery early.”

“No,” I said, wiping a tear away. “I want you to know everything.”

He smiled, and I was once again struck by how beautiful his eyes were and how his smile did wicked things to my libido.

“My name isn’t Cadie Waterford.”

To his credit, Kian attempted to keep a neutral expression, but his eyes gave him away.

“My first name is Cadie, but I used to spell it Katy. My real last name is Reynolds. I was born and raised in Oregon, but moved to Boston several years ago after visiting there numerous times with my parents. I lived there up until December, when I sold my bakery and left.”

“What?” he whispered.

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “My parents currently live in Italy and probably have three times your family’s money. My brother lives in Oregon still.”

Giving him a moment to absorb it all, he nodded. “Keep going.”

I glanced down at our intertwined hands. “I owned a very successful bakery in Boston. It was featured in a few magazines, and we were even onGood Morning Americaonce.” I sniffled and wiped a tear away. “About two years ago, I met this guy through mutual friends. He was nice, charming, and persistent about wanting to go out with me. He would come into my bakery every morning and get a coffee and a piece of coffee cake. His name is…”

Kian placed his finger on my chin and lifted so our gazes met. “His name is?”

Drawing in a breath, I slowly exhaled. “His name is Michael Bellucci.”

I waited to see if the name would ring a bell. When it didn’t, I let out a humorless laugh.

“Yeah, his last name meant nothing to me when I first met him.”

He frowned. “Should it mean something?”

“His family has very close ties with the mafia.”

“The mafia?” he asked, his head drawn back in surprise.

“Yes. And I didn’t realize it until we dated for about six months. My best friend, Lauryn Andrews, warned me about Michael’s family. She works for the district attorney in Boston. Nothing had ever been linked to Michael, so at first, I blew off her warning. I couldn’t even imagine Michael hurting a fly. I kept dating him, against the advice of Lauryn, and everything was great. I couldn’t see a future with Michael; he worked endless hours, and we had fun together, but something deep inside warned me not to get too close to him. At least, close as in, I never thought about marriage or kids with him in that picture.”

Kian nodded and looked a bit relieved. “What did he do?”

“He told me he was an accountant for a large banking firm. I hadn’t realized that his father owned the bank, and they were laundering money through it; at least, that is what Lauryn told me.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah,” I said with a gruff laugh. “That’s not the worst of it, though. When I noticed Michael changing, the warning bells started to go off like crazy. I asked Lauryn if she had heard anything about Michael being involved with hisfamily’s…business. She said they had been watching Michael since his activities had become suspicious. That’s when I knew I needed to break things off with him. Lauryn told me not to just up and do it. To slowly back away from him. We hardly ever saw each other the last six to eight months we dated. I was always at the bakery or doing volunteer work. My life and his were busy, so I didn’t think it would be a big issue. So, when he would call and ask if I was available for dinner, sometimes I would say yes, but most of the time, I said no. Weeks would go by without us speaking, but he came into the bakery one day. He said he had this big gala for the bank’s investors, and he asked me to be his date. I told him I would need to check if I was available. Lauryn begged me not to go, and initially I told him I couldn’t. He showed up at my condo and said he realized things between us had fizzled out and that it was probably for the best. He also said his father insisted that Michael attend, and he wanted him to bring someone he knew, not a new girlfriend or anything.”

“Why?”

I shrugged. “He said with events like this his father wanted people vetted, only people they knew. I’d never even met Michael’s parents. Not because I didn’t want to, and I’m not sure I did, but Michael never brought me around his family. I assumed it was because of the mafia ties and he didn’t want to be associated with that. Anyway, he did what he was good at. He charmed me until I said yes. A beautiful, stunning evening gown showed up the next day, along with a card that said he had booked a spa day. The full works. My hair and makeup, all of it would be done. I have to admit, it sounded like fun. I had a full staff at my bakery, and I knew I wouldn’t be missed, so I said yes to the dressand spa day.”

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