Immediately, tears began to well up in the corners of my eyes, and I couldn’t help but begin to sob. I had done exactly what I didn’t want and gotten him involved in all of this. I cried hard, leaning into his shoulder and letting the emotion take over. Blaine wrapped his arms around me and shushed me, trying to calm my nerves. I could feel him running his hands down my arms and kissing the top of my head. He should not be comforting me when I just got him in a really bad situation. He pulled away and stood up, straightening himself. I looked up at him as he reached down and scooped me and the blankets into his arms. For a moment, he stood there cradling me, letting me hug his neck tightly. I could tell he wanted to comfort me so badly. He started walking with me in his arms toward the bedroom. Once inside, he clicked on the light and laid me down in the bed. He pulled the covers from underneath me and pulled them up to my chin. He sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned forward, kissing the top of my head.
“I’m going to get some more work done,” he whispered. “You don’t need to be sorry for anything. You didn’t get yourself into this mess, and you didn’t get me into anything that I wasn’t ready for. I want you to get some good sleep in a real bed. I’m sure the cots were not comfortable at all.”
“Thank you,” I said, grabbing his wrist.
He smiled at me and kissed me one more time before walking out of the room and turning off the light. I laid there listening to his footsteps as he walked back to his desk and pulled out the chair. I could hear his fingers quickly tapping on the keyboard. I turned over and faced the window, looking out over the ocean. The skies were gray, and the sea was angry, and I felt like it was exactly how I felt. My heart hurt so bad and for so many reasons that I felt I was swinging angrily around but never actually coming in contact with anything. My mind couldn’t even start to wrap itself around what had happened.
I cuddled into the pillow and shut my eyes, knowing that I needed to get some good sleep. The bed was so warm and inviting that it didn’t take me long to drift off, but peaceful sleep wasn’t what came my way. Instead, I saw my father’s body floating in the water. I ran down the pier, but when I got there, he was gone. I stood there looking at the angry sky and wondering what was going on. Behind me, I heard a creak in the pier, and I whirled around, trying to figure out where I was. Standing in front of me were a thousand men, all lined up in really nice suits. On their faces, they were wearing masks that resembled Paulie’s face. I looked down at their hands, and they all were carrying bats, and I stepped back, crying out for them to leave me alone. As I stepped backward, the pier disappeared from under my feet, and I screamed out, my body falling and falling with no reprieve.
Chapter 25
Blaine
I walked through the living room, unable to fully grasp what Anderson had told us on the phone. My mind was completely blown away, and I needed a second to really come to terms with all the facts. How had a woman as sweet and kind as Josie fallen in with the mob? She was not the kind of person that came to mind when you thought about gangsters, and she definitely was not the kind of woman that could hurt a fly, much less kill a person. I had thought that I knew everything about Josie, everything big at least. How could I have missed a sign that huge? Was I completely wrong about my perception of her? Was she not actually as kind and sweet as she had shown herself to be? My mind was swirling in circles, and I stood at the window, staring out at the gray skies and raging sea. The ocean looked how I felt, completely off-kilter. Outside influences forcing me to act completely out of character.
Anderson had asked me how I really felt about her. He had asked me if I could actually trust the woman that she seemed to be. I had told him yes, easily, with no question, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe I had gotten caught up in a love affair with someone that was the opposite of how she appeared. Anderson was right about one thing. I had only known Josie for a week, a week to the day to be exact, and I had already professed my love and put myself in harm’s way to protect her. What if she was playing me for a fool?
Maybe that sweet demeanor and that kind smile were all an act. Maybe deep down inside of her, she was really an evil person. Just thinking it made me shake my head, but I had seen men tougher than I get played by a woman before. If she was this murderous mobster, then why was she clinging on to me? The evidence, at face value, pointed straight to her, no questions asked. Any other time, it would be an open and shut case. I had a hard time believing this sweet school teacher was a mob boss, but I had been wrong before.
I had really changed everything about me in the span of a week, giving up my bachelor status, changing the way I thought about life, and jumping back into the firm, full speed ahead. Maybe I had made a mistake doing all of that so quickly. Maybe I should have taken my time and gotten to know Josie before giving up everything I knew and taking her life as my own. In reality, the changes I had made weren’t bad, but they were definitely geared toward a different type of life than just hooking up with chicks and drinking whiskey. I was starting to feel like everything was blowing up in my face.
I turned away from the raging ocean and walked through the house, trying to ease my mind. I tiptoed down the hall and stopped, listening to Josie whimper quietly in her sleep. I poked my head around the corner and saw her laying there, tangled in the covers. She was tossing and turning, and her face was scrunched up as if she were in pain or scared. Sweat was starting to bead up on her forehead as she flung her arm over and grasped onto the bedspread. It was obvious that she was having a nightmare. I walked into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, stroking her back and whispering to her. She wasn’t waking up like she normally did at my touch, so I leaned over and gripped her shoulders, lightly shaking her awake. When her eyes flew open, she took in a deep breath of air and grabbed onto my wrists.
She sat up and looked around as I rubbed her leg and waited for her to realize where she was. She turned to me and immediately burst into tears, laying her head on my shoulder as she sobbed. I rubbed her back and felt her heart, which was racing a million miles an hour.
“I’m so sorry,” she cried. “I got you involved with something that I don’t even understand how I’m involved in. My father, he just couldn’t stop gambling, and now, I have to pay the price. I never wanted you to have to feel that way, too.”
I gripped onto her tighter, trying to calm her nerves. She leaned into me and grasped her hands against her chest as I shushed her to a silent whimper. She was so upset, and I couldn’t believe that I had questioned her for even a second. She hadn’t asked for any of this to happen, but there she was, taking the brunt of everyone else’s issues. And at the end of the day, she was still only worried about the people around her, not herself. It was very telling that she was so kind and empathetic, even in ti
mes of stress. The real culprit here was her bastard of a father who couldn’t keep himself from gambling. The idiot had taken too much money from the mob and had no way to pay it back. So, what do they do? The normal thing that any mob does. They get what they are owed. This time, they weren’t after the money, but instead, planned to exploit Josie and put her in prison for the rest of her life. If her father had just come forward and been responsible for once, she would not be in this mess, and the police and FBI could have helped keep them safe. It was a huge mess.
There was no way that I could hold Josie responsible for what was going on. She had been put into a position, and she’d done what she knew best. She couldn’t sit there and let her father be alone, so as a young teenager, she decided that she would take on the responsibility of taking care of him. Ever since then, she had been living her life for her father, while he lived his life for the poker table. Now, he had really gone and done it, getting in so deep that both of them had the chance of having their lives ripped away from them. I knew the mob, I knew how they did things, and once Josie was tucked away in prison, they would off her dad anyway, not wanting to leave any loose ends behind. He was a walking dead man, but instead of coming and saving his daughter, he ran, and probably straight into Paulie’s trap.
I knew from the first moment I laid eyes on Josie that she was special. By the time the first night was over, I was hooked, unable to get her out of my mind. She had broken every single one of my walls down, and she didn’t even have to try. I loved her very much. I loved her before I even knew that I did, and although it used to scare me to death, it was what drove me to do better, be better, and create a beautiful life for the both of us. Nothing was going to stand in the way of that love, not the mob, not her father, and definitely not some bogus charge that had found its way to Josie’s doorstep. My father told me that I would fall in love one day, and it wouldn’t be simple. That love never was.
Well, he was absolutely right. There was nothing simple about loving Josie. Our love was being tested, but I knew if I stuck in there and kept pushing, our relationship and bond would grow in strength. My mother had always said that she loved my father from the first moment, but she didn’t really feel like they were unbreakable until they held hands and walked through the tough times together. I knew that was going to be true for Josie and me. It just had to be. There was a reason that the universe led me to this woman, that it broke my walls down and made me fall in love so quickly. She needed me as much as I needed her, and I had made a commitment to her well-being. When all of this was over, we would finally be able to enjoy each other the way it should be. Everything in our lives had been challenged. Beyond her father possibly losing his life, Josie had the most to lose. I would be fine, but she was facing life in prison, and possibly even a death sentence. Our love was the only thing holding us together, even if it was by threads at this point.
When Josie calmed down, she laid back down on the pillow and fell asleep pretty quickly. I sat there thinking about a way to get her out of this whole mess. Nothing about this situation was easy, and everywhere I turned, there was some sort of roadblock. I let out a deep breath once she was good and asleep and crept back out of the room. I walked over to the window and watched as the sun started to peek through the clouds. Florida never stayed cloudy, and I was happy to see the light beaming down on the rolling waves. My mind continued to work through the problems, not finding an easy solution to what we were facing. I walked back over to the table and sat down, opening up the file and going over every detail again, thinking maybe I had missed something.
I knew that she couldn’t go to the police. It would only put her in more danger at that moment. The police were already pushing her away, anyway, not wanting to hear anything she had to say. They had dubbed her a murderer, and there was no changing their minds. If I found something that would get her off, there was still the danger of the mob looming over our heads. They didn’t waste any time, and I would be surprised if she made it out of the courthouse alive. It sounded like some dramatic movie, but I didn’t put anything past these guys. In reality, if I let her take a guilty plea to make the mob happy, she would be locked up in prison for the rest of her life. If she took a plea bargain, she would still end up in prison, and there was no guarantee that the mob wouldn’t come after her when she got out. On top of all of that, she was facing an uncertain future behind bars. That was a tough life, and my delicate angel would never make it behind those bars.
Whichever way I looked, it seemed like I was in a pickle. There was no easy answer in any of this. Every single solution led to possibly having Josie killed, whether it was by the mob, or while she was locked up in prison. Of course, I was afraid to lose her, but that had to be the last thing on my mind. My selfishness wanted to keep her close, but that didn’t mean it was the right answer, either. She was going to have to make some decisions and have the tough conversation, something that I had been completely terrified of doing. I didn’t want her to think we had given up. I would never give up. Even if something were to happen to Josie, I would spend my life proving her innocence. She really had two choices, and both of them had less than happy endings. It seemed like no matter which way I looked, we were fucked, and I couldn’t let that happen to the love of my life.
Chapter 26
Josie
When I finally woke up, I felt worse than before. The nightmares had really taken a toll on me, and I couldn’t get my mind right. I dreamed the same thing over and over again. My father was dead, and the mob was coming after me. I would step backward off the pier and just fall endlessly until I woke up. I went through that over and over again until finally I had enough and pulled myself from the bed. My stomach growled, and I remembered that I hadn’t had anything to eat in a couple of days. I was so exhausted before and worried about my father that I couldn’t seem to find my appetite. I needed to do something that made me feel normal.
I walked out into the main area and kissed Blaine on the top of the head as he finished up a phone call. I went through the cabinets, trying to find something to cook. Eventually, I landed on steaks, mashed potatoes, and fresh green beans. I liked this housekeeper. She had good taste in food. Without even a thought, I went to work cooking us a good meal. I knew if I didn’t, Blaine would order takeout, and I really didn’t want him to leave the house right then. Besides, there was nothing more comforting than a homecooked meal, and I didn’t know how many of them I had left to enjoy.
As I cooked, Blaine walked over, putting his cell phone in his pocket and kissing me on the forehead. I watched as he made himself a drink and walked into the living room to stare out of the floor to ceiling windows facing the beach. For a moment, everything seemed absolutely perfect and almost like a dream. I could almost believe that I belonged here in this big kitchen, cooking dinner for my man, and getting to sleep in the same bed with him every night. There was something calming about it all. It had actually been the first normal moment I had experienced since everything went down. I could remember what I was thinking when I was cooking last, making a pot roast for my father and preparing to tell him things needed to change. Even then, life was stressful, but at least I had my father around and I knew he was safe. I swirled the chopped potatoes around in the water and sighed. It really did feel like I belonged in Blaine’s home with him by my side. Well, if it weren’t for thoughts of the mob floating in my head, it would feel normal.
I pushed the thoughts from my mind and put the steaks in the pan, listening to them sizzle. I watched as the outside turned dark and then flipped them, not wanting to burn them. It wasn’t often that I got to cook steaks like these, and I wasn’t totally confident about how to do it. I grabbed the thermometer from a nearby drawer and stuck it into the center, deciding to cook it just a bit more. When they were done, I pulled the plates down from the cabinet and then began mashing the potatoes and pulling the green beans onto the plates. The dinner smelled delicious, and I was pretty proud of my accomplishment. Now it was time to get the opinion of the foodie in the house, Blaine.
I sat the plates down on the table and waved at Blaine to come eat. He smiled as he stood up and walked over, a visible worry hidden under his forced smile. I grabbed a bottle of red wine from the small wine cooler and opened it, pouring us both a glass before sitting down. I placed my napkin in my lap and waited for Blaine to cut into his steak. The color looked good, so I knew I could give myself at least one pat on the back. He put it in his mouth and chewed, his face staying in the same position. Suddenly, he wrinkled his nose and looked up at me, frozen.
“Just kidding,” he said, laughing. “It’s delicious, thank you.”