Dare to Trust (The Dare 1)

“What? And miss the look on that bitch’s face when we send her and her entourage of shit on their asses out the front door? No can do, bro. Her stinking reputation is going to get more ruined than it already is. She’ll never step into this place again,” Jack said and stood up from the stool. He turned his back on the crowd.

“Not so smart. That guy is bigger than you and he’s drunk. He’ll think nothing of—”

“Hey, assholes. I’ve got a bone to pick with you.” The guy approached from behind and Danny slightly turned on his stool.

Jack chuckled.

The guy pressed a finger into Jack’s back. In a flash, Jack had the guy’s finger bent backward and the man kneeling on the floor crying out in pain.

“Hey, asshole, you don’t belong here and neither does that trash. You’re going to leave our fine establishment right now in one piece or in multiple pieces. Your choice.”

“You’re such an asshole, Jack. You’d pick that low-class waitress over me? Your loss,” Vicky said from behind him.

Jack looked her over.

“I don’t think so. Take your slutty, disgusting, unladylike self out of our place now and don’t ever return. You and your friends aren’t allowed here.”

“What? You can’t do that,” she yelled as the security guys grabbed the one guy on the floor and another took Vicky by her upper arm.

“Yes, ma’am, he can. They own the place. They can do whatever they want,” the bouncer told her and started directing her toward the front door.

“You’ll be sorry and so will the ugly bitch waitress. I hope I scarred her today,” she spat out, and Jack started walking toward her all pissed off, but Danny grabbed his arm and pressed up against his side.

“She isn’t worth it. We’ll protect Marlena from her. She’s just making idle threats.”

Danny and Jack turned around but not before Danny locked gazes with Marlena’s friend Adele. He nodded at her and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and looked at her friends. They had to have heard the whole episode. They would probably tell Marlena. He realized that he didn’t care. She was going to find out sooner or later that they planned on making her their woman. Why not through the grapevine, first?

* * * *

Marlena changed the bandage on her stomach and ribs. She applied some ointment in hopes that it wouldn’t scar. It was bad enough she had the scar on her hipbone from the fire back in Connecticut.

She pulled the tank top back into place and adjusted her breasts in the cups of her bra. She needed to go shopping for more clothes. What she had was getting dingy-looking. She had saved enough working at the diner, but she wished she had the forty thousand dollars that was in her savings account back in Connecticut. She couldn’t contact anyone there. There was no one to trust to help her close out the account and have the money transferred to an account here. Besides, she didn’t want to give Peter the chance to find her and come after her again.

Like Detective Morgan had explained to her, no evidence was found to prove that Peter started the fire. He had an alibi, another woman who swore that he was with her. There was nothing she could do. She knew that Peter lied. She knew the other woman lied for him because Peter was a manipulative bastard with money. Marlena had nothing. No family, no one to trust, not even Detective Morgan, who told her to disappear, and that it was the best thing she could do because he couldn’t find any evidence to stick to Peter. When Marlena suggested that she leave town, he didn’t try to stop her. In fact, he agreed that it would be a good idea. He promised to keep the investigation open and push for more evidence, and she believed him. It was that or wait for Peter to strike again and next time be successful in killing her.

She shivered from the thought as she slipped her feet into her flip-flops and headed toward the small porch. This was a nice little cottage. She rented it from Rita Spencer’s brother, who owned a large piece of land by a lake. His house was a good distance from the cottage, so she had lots of privacy.

She let the screen door slam closed behind her and inhaled the later morning air. It was a beautiful Sunday, and so different from Connecticut. She’d lived in an apartment, where people came and went saying hello and have a nice day, but not much more. She made a few friends, but when she met Peter he took full control of her social schedule. The only time she was at peace was at work in the accounting office where she worked as a CPA. She was moving up in the firm, enjoying making good money, dressing nicely, and being able to establish a career and a future. She never thought that accepting a date with the wealthy entrepreneur, Peter Jones, would have changed her destiny entirely.

She took a deep breath and released it as she walked down the steps taking a leisurely stroll through the backyard and toward the lake. There was a nice bench and some picnic tables there that Rita’s brother and family used years ago. His kids were all grown up now and living elsewhere. Two in town and one in North Carolina.

She loved how calm and peaceful it was out here. She remembered showing up, not knowing anything about Chance except for its name. She figured it meant something. Perhaps to take a chance and stay in the town, find a job, and settle down for a while, putting the past behind her. She figured it was fate that first day she started looking for work and met Rita Spencer. She was so kind, and they hit it off immediately. She had a real motherly way about her. She was envious of her sons. She wondered if Mike, Danny, and Jack knew just how good they had it having parents to love them. Heck, they even had two dads. That was shocking at first, but soon became so interesting and natural. She learned fast about the ménage relationships and about the commitment. It was pretty magical to watch.

She thought about the look of the town. Not old or rundown, very clean, well maintained, and freshly painted, and it all coordinated. There was just about every kind of store she would need and even some she didn’t. Like the hardware store, the lingerie store, and the cigar store. She smiled. She could spend the day just walking the two blocks of stores, saying hello to other local people and discussing the weather, the change of the seasons, or how rabbits and deer repeatedly destroyed Mrs. Ulster’s gardens.

She smiled. It was all so normal. Like a different world than what she came from.

She got to the bench and took a seat. Her belly ached a little but she ignored it and watched the water. This was peaceful. This was where nothing else mattered and everything was simple. She embraced it.

She closed her eyes after a while, feeling pretty tired from the long workweek. As she was just about to doze off, she thought she heard her name. She ignored it. The pull to take a little catnap under the large tree was too inviting. But then she heard it again, and this time she recognized the voice. Danny Spencer. Oh shit.

She sat up too quickly and cringed from the ache. Danny was at her side a moment later and kneeling by the bench.

“Whoa, slow down, Marlena. Are you still sore from the burn?” he asked, placing his hand on her bare knee.

She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and looked up at him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.