Conned (2 page)

They arrived at the short term parking area and stopped at a
big silver truck that looked brand new. She had never owned a new car let alone
been inside one.

Conall lifted her bags into the bed and she watched the
muscles in his arms flex while a tingle of longing crept through her chest. It
had been so long since she had been with a man and she missed the feel of
strong arms surrounding her and keeping her safe. That was the excuse she kept
giving herself at least. She was 26 years old and there was no reason to be
gawking at the man like that. He was obligated to spend time with her and as
far as she knew, that time wouldn't be spent watching the calendar move closer
and closer to the trial. Deputy Ross had made her feel comfortable, but she
never forgot her circumstances. Not for one single second.

The stress had been overwhelming and a part of her had been
hoping those men would succeed in taking her away just to give her a break from
the constant worry.

She pushed the thought out of her head because it didn't
belong there. This wasn't about her and never would be. She had a job to do and
nothing was going to stop her from doing it. She just wanted her brother safe.
She wanted her family back.

Conall opened the door to the backseat for Julia and the
look on her face was priceless. After all the boasting she did on the plane, it
seemed she didn't handle rejection as well as Emily thought. She climbed in and
without a moment's hesitation, he slammed the door behind her as if to say
'Good riddance'.

He moved to the front passenger door and opened it, but she
didn't move from her spot. She just couldn't get her feet to approach the truck
and he watched her warily for a few seconds.

"You alright, Emily?"

He said her name familiarly, like it belonged on his tongue,
and it made her all the more afraid to go through with this fiasco. How much
time would it take before she spilled her guts? One simple look from him and
she knew all her secrets would scatter out in front of her. She could feel it
in her bones.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I just…" She took a deep breath
and raked her fingers through her blonde hair, pulling through several knots
along the way. She had been such a mess since her brother had called her that
horrible night and it didn't look like the last several weeks of protection had
changed anything.

She was alone when she talked to the police, she was alone
when she sat through the deposition, and she'd been alone when the ground
beneath her had shifted permanently. The next couple months didn't look too
bright, but for some reason, she didn't think she would
feel
alone. Not
when Conall was looking at her the way he was.

He stepped away from the truck and stood in front of her,
keeping only a foot between them, forcing her to tilt her head back to look up
at him. What would he think of her dilemma? She wondered if he already knew
somehow.

She lived in fear of that every day. Did they know she was a
lying piece of work? Did they know she would do anything to save her little
brother from a lifetime of suffering even if it meant
she
would suffer
instead?

They couldn't know that, but she wondered. And worried.

"I know you are scared and I know this has probably
taken a lot out of you, but I promise you that while you are with me, you will
be as safe as you could possibly be."

He couldn't know how much those words actually meant to her,
but she couldn't let them penetrate. She had heard them before and it made no
difference. Regardless, she felt her lips twitch into a grin, "That's a
little conceited, don't you think?"

He frowned and she wanted to kick herself. Either he thought
she was flirting or that she was a bitch, both of which were not what she
wanted him to think
at all.
She ran her teeth over her bottom lip and
forced herself to keep her chin up. He glanced down at her lips quickly before
meeting her eyes again and the move made her catch her breath. He looked
irritated. Maybe he was barely containing his annoyance at his new assignment
as much as she was.

"Not conceited. Confident. I take my job seriously. Not
gonna stop now." He turned away from her and wrapped his fingers around
the handle of the door that was still opened and waiting for her. When he
turned back to her, his expression was solemn, but his eyes had softened.
"
Especially
now."

She wanted to ask what he meant by that, but Julia was
huffing and puffing in the back seat already and it wasn't like it mattered
anyway. It wasn't necessary to question him or even get to know him.

Especially now.

She climbed into the passenger seat and buckled in while
Conall made his way around the truck. He really was the most handsome man she
had ever met, but there was something closed off about him. Something hard in
the way he carried himself that completely contradicted the warmth in his blue
eyes.

The complete opposite of her brother. Rayce carried himself
like he didn't have a care in the world, but his eyes were hard and cold. Emily
always wondered where he got his personality from. Both of their parents were
anything but serious. Looking at the two of them together, it was the hair and
eyes that pointed out their relation. The day their parents died, however, had
taken away the unique brightness in the green eyes they shared. Hers had
softened over the years, understanding that life was life, but Rayce's had only
grown colder.

She had spent the last few years trying to change it, but
nothing she did had made any kind of difference. She hoped what she was about
to do would see to that.

The thought brought her back to the present and what she was
supposed to do.

Stay off the grid for a couple months.

Testify.

Move on.

Of course, moving on after testifying against the beloved
brother of a major crime boss was going to be impossible, but it was still a
goal. Once it was over, she would convince her brother to leave the life he was
living behind and they could finally be a family. She just had to get through
this.

Conall played with the radio for a minute before finding a
station he was satisfied with and turning the volume just loud enough to fill
the silence. He steered the truck out of the short term parking and Emily kept
her eyes toward her window, watching as they passed cars dropping off and
picking up loved ones while they slowly made their way out of the airport.

Her thoughts drifted to what her life was like several
months ago. Busy, but peaceful. No one walked all over her because she didn't
let them. No one except her brother, apparently.

She had loved her job at the middle school teaching English
and the kids made her happy. She wondered if she would ever be able to teach
again or if that phase in her life had been incinerated also. She would just
have to be patient and take life as it came.

"You know any bars close to the hotel I will be staying
in?" Julia chimed from the back sarcastically, apparently not quite over
the rejection, but planning her next move for tonight.

"One in the hotel that's pretty fancy," Conall
replied.

She didn't say anything, but Emily could imagine she was
still shooting daggers her way as she glued her eyes to the window. She
couldn't be sure how much time had passed, but the people on the street and the
businesses flying by told her they were probably getting close to their
destination. She had never been to California and hoped the opportunity to go
to the ocean would be available to her at some point in her stay. This wasn't a
vacation, but everyone needed a little break now and then. Even someone like
Conall Brannock.

"Is the place I will be staying in close to a
beach?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the road.

"We are a port town so there aren't a lot, but there
are a few nice ones you could visit. Not right away, though," Conall
answered.

"I understand. I've never seen the ocean so I just
thought it might be fun."

Silence filled the inside of the truck again and she could
almost hear Julia's impatience to get out of there and wondered how it would be
to live your life from bed to bed. It seemed that's what she did for recreation
and Emily felt a little dirty just from sitting next to her for so long.

They drove up to a luxurious looking hotel and Conall parked
the truck at the front doors and climbed out to open the door for Julia. He may
not have thought much of the woman, but he was still a gentleman. She watched
Julia sashay into the hotel lobby while several pairs of hungry eyes followed
her movements. Emily didn't feel like she was ugly, but she knew she wouldn't
ever get that kind of attention when she walked into a room.

"Wonder what that's like," she said to herself,
not realizing Conall had returned already.

"It's unfulfilling," he grumbled next to her.

She yelped in surprise and his lips twitched with amusement
before he turned the ignition. He again played with the radio for a moment,
then shifted into drive without another word and took off.

Unfulfilling. It sounded about right to her and she wondered
if he knew from experience.

"We are going to be staying at my father's house for a
little while. It's all I have available until I can make some
arrangements."

She nodded even though he wasn't looking at her. She assumed
that the last minute assignment would be an inconvenience and wasn't surprised
at the subtle hint of exasperation he was already showing.

"He's not there is he?" she asked. The man's son
was already putting his life in danger to protect her, no reason why anyone
else should have to do the same.

"He is, but he will be leaving town soon. He's retiring
from the force in a few days. He knows what's going on so no need to
worry."

She didn't respond.
No need to worry.
The thought of
putting someone in danger who wasn't supposed to be involved made her nauseous.
She didn't want to be responsible for that, too. She would just have to trust
him.

"When we get to the house, we need to go over
everything that is going to happen," he said and turned into a subdivision
full of big houses of all varieties.

"That's fine," she replied absently and watched
the houses pass, mesmerized by the size and beauty of them.

Rayce and her had never lived in anything so big. It was
always studio apartments, trashy houses, or motel rooms. An 18 year old
couldn't really afford much better, especially with a 13 year old to take care
of. She had done her best to provide for him until he was able to finish
school, but once he did, it felt like everything she had done was pointless. He
still went with the wrong crowd and he still got into trouble.

They still struggled. Then it was just her.

It wasn't until she started teaching that he showed up again
to help
her
out. He had somehow come upon a boatload of money and helped
her pay off her student loans, but she didn't want anything more. She knew the
money wasn't from a hard day's work and she didn't want to touch it. He tried
to push it onto her, but was never successful. It was the one thing they had
always argued about and the one thing that kept them apart.

Rayce lived for money and nothing else.

Emily sighed and laid her head against the headrest as they
pulled into the driveway of a beautiful house. A home.

"Here we are. My father is a really good guy and will most
likely fall in love with you right away…" he trailed off and his eyes
widened, almost like he had surprised himself by saying that.

Emily didn't think it would be wise to comment even though
it was one of the best compliments she had ever received.

"Just make yourself at home," he grumbled, then he
was gone.

She suppressed a smile and got out of the truck just as he
made it to her door. He frowned at her and she immediately went on guard. So
far, he had been polite to her, but the irritation she sensed was only growing.

"What?"

He shrugged and lifted her bags out of the back, "You
ever let a man open your door?"

She thought about that for a moment and realized that it
wasn't that she never
let
a man open her door, it was just that they
never really had. "Guess I haven't really had the chance."

He frowned, but didn't say more before he walked passed her
with her bags toward the front door of the house. She followed behind him and
wondered why something like that would even be a concern for him.

He was about to open the front door when it was pulled open
quickly from the other side and a dark haired woman stood in the doorway. She
was in a sling and looked like she had been through quite the ordeal, but she
had a huge smile on her face. She was gorgeous and her gray eyes sparkled when
they took in Conall.

Emily wasn't sure why, but a spark of jealousy coursed
through her. This woman loved Conall, you could see it all over her face. A
face, she suddenly realized, looked a lot like his.

"It's about damn time, Con! I have been waiting all
morning for you. Gus is driving me nuts and I need you to run some
interference," she pleaded.

"Where the hell is Luke?" he asked her as she
cleared the doorway to let them in.

She rolled her eyes then scowled at him. "At work. I
talked him into going and leaving me the hell alone for the day so don't get
your panties in a twist. My problem is Gus who feels the need to get kicked in
the-"

"Ash! Come on, we've got company," Conall scolded,
but Emily caught the amused grin on his face as he leaned down and kissed the
woman on the cheek.

"Who is this?" she asked casually and Emily felt
her cheeks burn. She was still standing on the porch like a lost puppy and
wanted to kick herself for being so hesitant.