AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ignoring the wicked heat of his touch, I playfully asked, “Right now?”
“No,” he said with a laugh. “We’ll make it special. The way it should have been.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“It is.” He glanced away from the traffic to hold my gaze for a moment. “It is, Macy.”
When he looked at me like that, I believed he saw me as something special, something precious and perfect. I wanted to trust him again, but I was still hurting and unsure. “Where were you, Danny?”
“Ireland,” he said without hesitation. “With a few short trips to Riga and Tallinn.”
“Latvia and Estonia? Why?”
“Macy,” he said carefully, “you know I’m not going to answer that.”
“So, underworld things,” I replied quietly.
“Yes.”
“And now you’re back for good?” I tried not to sound hopeful.
“Until the boss sends me somewhere else again,” he said. “But what happened with the phone and my crew letting me down? That’s never happening again.”
His angry tone surprised me. “Your crew?”
“Boy, Kir, Stas, and some other guys,” he said, annoyed. “They were supposed to answer the number I gave you 24/7. They were supposed to look out for you. One of those idiots lost the phone, and by the time they realized you were in trouble—.”
“I yelled at Boychenko when he found me working at Whataburger,” I admitted. “He tried to give me money, and it made me angry because I didn’t need money. I needed help.”
“He means well,” Danny assured me.
“I’ll apologize when I see him again,” I said, feeling kind of guilty about the way I had blown up on him.
“You don’t have to, Macy.” Danny merged into the left lane to turn, and I finally realized I had no idea where he was taking me.
“Where are we going?”
“To see a bondsman I know,” he explained. “We’ll get Janie bonded out and then tomorrow we’ll find her a lawyer. A real one,” he added. “Not a public defender.”
“Danny,” I clutched at his arm, “you don’t have to pay for a bond! It’s expensive. Like really expensive!” My cheeks heated with shame as I admitted, “That’s why I was working for Paulie. For the debt my dad owes but also to get some cash for the bond.”
“You realize he wasn’t going to give you that money, right? Or, if he did, there were going to be horrible strings attached.”
Well, no, actually, I hadn’t thought of that. “But he said...”
“Macy, I fucking adore you, but you have to get more street-smart.” Danny took my hand and interlaced our fingers. “You’re so beautiful and sweet. Men—bad men—can sniff that innocence out from miles away. You have to be more aggressive. You have to be less trusting.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off our intertwined fingers. Where my skin was pale and pink-hued with freckles, Danny’s was tan and scarred with tattoos from his knuckles to the sleeves of his shirt. I suspected those tattoos went all the way to his shoulders and across his chest. Holding his hand, I realized how much I didn’t want to be the kind of person who mistrusted everyone. “That’s not me, Danny.”
He exhaled roughly and lifted my hand. He kissed the back of it, branding me with his lips. “I know.”
Danny kept a tight hold on my hand as he drove to the bail bondsman. The office was crammed between a pawn shop and a nail salon. The acrid scent of chemicals filled the air, and I wondered how those nail techs could handle breathing in all those choking fumes.
“After I post the bond, it will take a while to get Janie out of custody. Once she’s out, you two can come back to my place.”
Realizing he didn’t know his townhouse had been damaged, I said, “Danny, your place is ruined.”
“My new place,” he clarified. “You’ll like it.”
