Page 9 of Don’t Marry Him

They were a family here in town with ties to the mob. Everyone knew it, but no one apparently knew how to prove it. Anyone who got too close ended up either missing or dead. It wasn’t hard to figure out who’d done it, but they were incredibly clever at covering their tracks. No one had been able to hold them in jail for longer than twenty-four hours. There was never enough evidence against them. At least, not the kind that was sticky enough to hold up in court.

Bob suddenly appeared in front of me, a grim smile on his face. “Hey, son. It’s been a while.”

He extended his hand and shook mine harder than I’d expected before giving me a nod toward his office. I followed close behind him, avoiding the eyes in the room that were undoubtedly watching my every move. Everyone knew that Dove was engaged to Trevor, and I was sure it made about as much sense to them as it did to me.

“Still trying to bring down the Firenzi family, eh?” I said, hoping to break the ice.

His steps faltered for only a second before he gave me a curt nod. “Someone’s always working that case. They’re bound to screw up at some point.”

Heading inside his office, he closed the door behind me and dropped the blinds covering the windows, so no one from the war room could see inside.

“So, what brings you in today?” he asked, and I almost laughed at the absurdity of the question.

“I think we both know why I’m here.” I tried to sound composed, but my damn voice cracked as I sat down across from him.

He looked older than the last time I’d seen him. His eyes bore more wrinkles around the edges, and the bags under them appeared bigger. Was he as worried as I was?

“You’re going to have to be a little more specific, Dominic.”

I decided to come right out with it. “I saw Dove this morning.”

His eyes widened as he leaned back in his desk chair, the pressure making it squeak. “Did you talk to her?” The tone of his voice was almost animated.

Now, we were getting somewhere.

I nodded. “She’d asked me to meet her.”

“What did she say?” he asked a little too quickly before he sucked in a loud, long breath. “Hell, Dominic, what did she ask you to do?”

Sometimes, Bob was too good at his job. He had the ability to put all the pieces in place before most people even realized that there was a puzzle to put together. Or maybe he just knew how Dove and I operated better than most.

“It doesn’t matter what she said. What matters is, everything she didn’t.”

“I don’t know what happened between the two of you,” he said, and I had to stop myself from completely coming apart.

The idea that he, of all people, would simply accept that we broke up—for any reason—was beyond asinine.

“Nothing! That’s just it, Bob. Nothing fucking happened! One minute, she was here, and the next, she was gone,” I tried to explain, but I felt like nothing I was saying made any kind of sense. I still hadn’t been able to figure out where we’d gotten so sideways, or why, or more importantly, how.

“That’s not what she told me.”

I blew out a sound of disgust. “I’m sure it isn’t. But in what universe does us breaking up make sense to you? Tell me.”

His lips pressed together in a straight line. He knew this was as fucked up as I did, but for whatever reason, he refused to admit it to me. Maybe it was his fatherly side that didn’t allow him to see Dove as a deceiver, even when he knew that she was.

“There’s only one thing I can think of.” I looked him dead in the eyes. “She’s doing this to either protect you or me. And I’m ninety-nine percent positive that there isn’t anything worth a damn on me. I’ve been careful. So, I’m asking you, Bob… what could Trevor possibly have on you?”

Anyone else would have missed it. But I wasn’t some nobody off the street. I knew this man inside and out. Knew that he wasn’t perfect even though he always tried to be. So, I didn’t miss the way his face started to turn ashen before he regained his composure. Or how his hands balled into fists so tight that his knuckles turned white before he put them in his lap, out of my view. Or the way his jaw clenched, forcing the muscles in the back of his mouth to flex with the pressure before he released it.

“No idea, son. I really don’t.”

“This isn’t the time for games. She’s going to marry him! You have to tell me the truth. I can’t lose her. I can’t.” I stumbled over the words he already had to know were true as what was left of my heart crashed to the floor at my feet.

“Dominic, pull yourself together. You’re no good to me like this. Go home. I’ll talk to Dove. And I’ll be in touch.”

Pull myself together? My fucking world was falling apart, and he wanted me to pull myself together?!

“Just tell me one thing,” I said, and he waved a hand in the air, indicating that I should go ahead and ask. “You think this is messed up, right? Dove and Trevor? It doesn’t add up to you, does it?”

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