Screw Me Sideways

“You want to know why he is the way he is?”

“I know why.” Reason sorted mail, tossing the junk and setting aside the bills and invoices.

“Maybe, but you didn’t have a front-row seat.” Madden sat with his legs propped up on a corner table. Chewing on his toothpick thoughtfully, he added, “If I’ve ever been close to having a broken heart, it was when I watched what one woman did to his.”

“Lara died. Didn’t she?”

“Yep,” Madden replied, looking off in the distance. “I’m actually surprised he told you her name.”

Reason left the bar and approached Madden, realizing he probably had a lot of answers to the questions no one dared to ask. “He nearly caught a bullet for Nory a few months ago. He never thought twice about trying to save her.”

“He’s paid to do a job, Reason.”

“Yes, but—”

“And you’re paid to keep that job in place,” Madden said. “If you think I’ll tell you someone else’s story, you’re wrong. Kellan had a love like no other. Some believe that kind of love only comes along once in a lifetime. Maybe it does. For Kellan, I don’t believe that’s true. The way he looks at Jade is very similar to how he once looked at Lara.”

Curious, Reason asked, “What can you tell me about her?”

“Nothing more than you already know. Her name was Lara Louise. She was Kellan’s high school sweetheart. She was killed. An accident and all. That’s it.”

“Was it Hank Sarsarone?”

Madden swung his legs away from the table. “I didn’t live it so that horror story isn’t mine to tell, but I don’t see any point in dodging that particular topic. Sarsarone ordered a hit and Lara was in the crossfire.”

“Kellan took this job because he wants revenge.”

“That’s something you’ll have to ask him.” Madden left and Reason cursed under his breath. He would always be the outside man and he seriously doubted Kellan would ever open up and talk about Lara or why he’d taken a job in Fletcher. Western North Carolina was a world away from the big city life.

“What do you want to know?” Kellan approached from the other side of the room. His gait was slow and cautious.

“You heard us?” Reason wasn’t surprised. Kellan, like Madden, had a knack for emerging from the shadows.

“She was nineteen,” Kellan said, beginning the story without Reason’s probing. “She may not have been my greatest love, but she was my first love. We were young and wild, reckless.” He blew out a hard breath.

“And because of me, she’s dead.”

Reason frowned. “What happened?”

“Ah man,” Kellan said, looking around as if he were suddenly lost. “It’s been a long time ago, but just mentioning it brings it all back like the whole thing happened yesterday.”

“You don’t have to talk about it.”

“And I won’t,” Kellan said. “You can look it up online. In 2005, Lara Louise Conyers was found in a posh hotel right outside of Chicago. Her story is there. All the gory details.”

“2005 was a long time ago,” Reason said.

“Yes and I’ve finally come to terms with what happened,” Kellan said. “I can move on but I’ll never have a liability again.”

Reason scoffed. Now it all made sense. “So you’re saying you wouldn’t fuck Jade for fear you would develop feelings for her?”

Kellan reached in his hip pocket and pulled out his billfold. He tossed a photograph to the table and said, “What do you think?”

Reason picked up the small wallet-size picture. “Ah no, man.”

“They could’ve been sisters,” Kellan said, pointing out the obvious.

“This thing between you and Jade could play out a lot of different ways if she ever finds out about this.”