In the Arms of the Wind (19 page)

Kaycee slumped in the chair, stunned by the news.

“Look, Kaycee,” Kathleen said, her tone softening as she reached over to put a hand on Kaycee’s arm. “I like you. I really do and I mean that. I hate to see you get mixed up with that bunch. Danny is bad news, sweetie. Really bad news. You need to get as far away from that psychotic bastard as you can.”

“Now wait a minute, Kathy. Just because his family is involved with crime…” Kaycee began, but Kathleen snatched back her hand and stood, looking down at the younger woman with a pitying look.

“He’s handsome, yes, and he’s damned good in bed—I’ll grant you that—but you have no idea what you’ve blundered into here. Take my advice and get away while you still can. If you don’t, you will wish you had!”

That said, Kathleen marched into the lobby and to the elevator. She viciously stabbed the button and seemed anxious for the cage to arrive. As soon as the door shushed open, she was inside, her face filled with what looked like anxiety as she repeatedly pushed the button to close the doors.

Completely taken aback by what she had learned, Kaycee sat where she was and stared at the ground—trying to assimilate information that had rocked her to her foundation. Her instinctual fear of Xavier Gallagher now made sense and Danny’s reluctance to discuss his family clicked the pieces of puzzle into place. He was a cop and he had to be ashamed of what his family did, who they were, but did he fear them as well?

More of Danny’s grandfather’s words came back to her.
“I asked if you could stand beside your man, uphold his decisions and keep his secrets to yourself.”

She had vowed she would. No one—and especially not her own family—must ever know that the man she was seeing, the man she was contemplating marrying—was the son and grandson of mobsters and killers at that. Just thinking of how her family would react to the news made her cringe. She had to keep them from finding out.

“And how are you going to do that?” she asked herself. Knowing her older sister Jonee would have already started asking around, gathering information about the man who was seeing her baby sister.

Glancing down at her watch, she realized it was nearly eleven and Danny would be returning for lunch. She had no idea what she was going to say to him, how he would react when he learned Kathleen had been gossiping about him. But she had to hear his side of it, give him a chance to explain.

* * * * *

“Hey, pumpkin, I’m home!” Danny called out as he came into the apartment. There were no delicious smells coming from the kitchen and he didn’t see any dishes on the bar or the table. His lady was nowhere in sight but the French doors onto the deck were open. He frowned. “Kaycee?”

Going out to the deck, he found her standing against the railing, her hands wrapped around the top rail as she looked out to sea.

“Hey, baby, didn’t you hear me calling you?” he asked. He walked to her, wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her to him as he bent his head to plant a light kiss on her neck.

“I heard you,” she said softly. Her body was tense, stiff against his, and when he looked down at her hands, he saw the knuckles had bled white from the grip she had on the rail.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, unease moving through him. “Is it the baby? Did something happen?”

She shook her head. “The baby’s fine.”

He stepped back, put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Then what’s the matter?” He searched her eyes. “I can tell you’re upset. Did…?”

“I saw Kathleen today,” she said.

Anger shot through Danny Gallagher and it showed on his chiseled features. “What did the bitch say to you?” he asked. “If she…”

“Why didn’t you tell me about your family?” she asked. “Who they are. What they are.” She watched his eyes close slowly and when he opened them even slower, she recognized guilt staring back at her.

“She had no right to tell you,” he said. “I would have told you.”

“When?” she asked. “Before or after we got married?”

He opened his mouth to answer but couldn’t seem to find the words. His hands tightened on her upper arms. “Kaycee, it’s complicated and it’s not the kind of thing I like talking about.”

“I understand that, Danny, but don’t you think I had a right to know?”

“I was afraid…” He swallowed. “I was afraid you wouldn’t want anything to do with me if you knew I was the brother of a mob boss. I had enough problems when I started with the force, with IA looking over my shoulder the first few years, other cops letting me know they didn’t trust my ass. I was watched. I was tailed. Believe me when I tell you I earned every promotion I got by being the best damned cop on the force. But even now there are some of my fellow boys in blue who don’t have any confidence in me. I’m not sure they’d back me up in an alley late at night, you know?”

Kaycee flinched at his words. Hearing him say the phrase “mob boss” sent a shudder through her. It dredged up thoughts of violence and brutality and death. She lowered her head.

“You should have told me about your family. Finding out like that was a shock.”

“I’m sure it was,” he said, “and I’m sorry. I was waiting for the right time to tell you, but obviously there is never a right time for something like this.” He took his hands from her and moved back. “Kaycee, look at me.”

She lifted her head and saw hurt in his amber eyes. For a long moment he didn’t speak then he took a breath, released it and said, “I love you.”

Her heart ached for him.

“I love you too, Danny, but I need time to think. My family is going to go ballistic when they find out and I don’t know how I’m going to handle it.”

“I’ll be right there with you,” he said, reaching out for her, but she stepped back. He let his hand fall to his side. “Maybe I should go. We can talk about it tonight.”

She nodded and turned her face from him. Tears were gathering in her eyes and she pursed her lips to keep from crying.

He didn’t prolong the moment, said nothing more. When she looked around again, he was gone and the sound of the front door closing behind him made her heart clinch.

Fury drove Danny as he stalked toward the elevator. At the last minute, that anger nearly blinded him and he bypassed the elevator and instead shoved the stairway door with a brutal push. His boots clunked on the metal steps as he stomped down them double-time, breathing hard by the time he reached the fifth floor but completely unconscious of his pounding heart, the sweat dripping down his face and the blood rushing through his ears. He jerked the stairwell door open with a vile curse, allowing it to bang against the wall. He pivoted to the left and by the time he reached Kathleen’s door, he was in a murderous rage he could barely control. Not bothering with the buzzer, he doubled his fist and slammed it loudly and rapidly just below the apartment number.

“Open the goddamned door, Kathleen!” he bellowed, striking the door again.

“No!” he heard her tell him.

“Open it or I swear to God I’ll shoot the fucking lock off!”

“Go away, Danny, or I’ll call the cops!” she warned.

“This door will be down long before they ever get past security!” he yelled. “And if I have to get in there that way, you’ll wish I hadn’t!”

The door was snatched open and Kathleen was there with a .357 Magnum pointed directly at his chest. He watched her cock the weapon, holding it with both hands, her knees flexed in the shooter’s stance he’d taught her.

“I’ll shoot you, Danny. I swear I will,” she told him.

He moved so fast she barely had time to shriek as he grabbed the muzzle of the gun, shoved it upward, not even flinching when the thing went off to send a bullet into the ceiling.

“You’d better hope you didn’t kill someone up on six!” he snarled, jerking the gun out of her hand.

“I’m not going to let you beat me again!” she said, slapping savagely at his hands.

“When have I ever beat you, you stupid cunt?” he bellowed, clicking open the chamber to remove the bullets from the gun before tossing the weapon to the sofa. He pushed her away from him when she came at him again then pointed a rigid finger at her. “Stay away from me or I will give you the beating you keep asking for!”

“I didn’t tell her anything about you,” Kathleen said, wrapping her arms around her upper body to keep from attacking him. The hatred in his eyes seemed to be enough to quell her desire to jump on him.

“Bitch,” he growled, pocketing the bullets. “You go near her again and I swear to God I will fucking kill you!”

Kathleen raised her chin. “You’d better be very careful with your threats, Danny. If I tell the old man…”

“Tell him!” Danny thundered, his lips skinned back from his teeth, eyes narrowed with rage.

“Better yet, I’ll tell Kaycee,” she threatened. “I’ll tell her about the killer whose bed she’s wallowing in every night!”

Danny growled, took a step toward her and she shrieked, running around the sofa to put it between them, holding out a hand to stay his advance. “No, Danny. Please, no!”

He stopped dead still. His eyes were filled with rage as he lowered his voice.

“You do that. You go ahead and tell her, Kathleen, and I promise you it will be the very last thing you do this side of hell!”

Trembling as she stared at her ex-husband, Kathleen Moriarity was gasping for breath. There was sheer, unadulterated murderous rage flaring from Danny Gallagher’s glare and she shook her head in denial, realizing she’d pushed him too far this time.

“I won’t. I swear to you, I won’t!”

He stood there a second or two longer then spun on his heel and stormed from her apartment, leaving behind a woman sinking to her knees in relief as her phone began to chime.

* * * * *

“Who pissed in your cornflakes this morning?” Barnes asked Danny later that afternoon when Danny sent one of the lab techs scurrying away from him in tears.

“Goddamned incompetent bitch,” Danny said as he flung the coroner’s report to his desk. “You look at her wrong and she squeals like a stuck pig!”

“Sanchez is terrific at her job,” Barnes defended the Latino woman. “What the fuck’s wrong with you?”

“That report doesn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know about Adams’ death!” Danny snarled, slamming himself into his chair. He leaned back dangerously to glare at the ceiling. “Not a goddamned clue about who killed her.”

“So it was a professional hit,” Barnes said. “We’ll just have to dig a little deeper.”

“Shit,” Danny said, and ran a hand through his hair. “I had a run-in with Kathleen.”

“Oh well, that says it all, don’t it? You’re always in such a cheery mood after you see the ex.”

“She told Kaycee about my family,” Danny complained.

Barnes narrowed his eyes. “Did she tell her anything else?”

Danny looked across the desk at his partner. He knew what Jack was really asking. “No.”

Barnes visibly relaxed. “Okay then. So you do some damage control.”

“Kaycee was upset,” Danny explained. “I mean really upset, Jack. Kathleen had no business telling her.”

“When has that bimbo ever stopped to think before she flaps her mouth?” Barnes questioned. “I hope you let her know it would not be in her best interest to say anything else.”

“I told her if she went anywhere near Kaycee again, I’d kill her.”

Barnes’ left eyebrow shot up. “Oh, that was a smart move, exlax.”

“I meant it,” Danny said, straightening in the chair. “I’ll fucking strangle her if she upsets Kaycee again.”

“What if she calls the old man?” Barnes asked.

“Let her!” Danny snapped. He shot out of the chair. “I’m outta here. You need me, call me at home.”

“Nice you can go and come whenever you like, your highness!” Barnes called out to him as Danny stalked from the squad room.

Danny flipped his partner the bird as he exited the room.

All the way home, Danny pushed the sports car faster than was legal or safe, but his mind wasn’t on the people who jumped out of his way at intersections or who blasted their horns at him when he cut them off. His mind’s eye was filled with the hurt look on Kaycee’s face and the way she had pulled back from him—as though unwilling to have him touch her.

“Damn fucking Kathleen,” he said, pounding his fist on the steering wheel. The woman had been nothing but trouble since the day he’d first met her. To drown out his murderous thoughts, he leaned over and switched on the radio, cranking the volume up as high as he could stand it. The blaring sounds of Nine Inch Nails rocketed out at him.

He couldn’t imagine what he would tell Kaycee about his involvement with the family business. He damned sure couldn’t tell her he had taken his father’s place as the family’s enforcer, doing occasional wet work when it was needed. Without a doubt he’d lose her if she ever found out the deep, dark secrets that ran through his veins. She was a good woman, an honest woman—a little unsure of herself and far from being assertive—but a damned good woman who sometimes allowed people to walk all over her. A good, decent woman with morals and scruples and grace.

“And one you sure as hell don’t deserve, Gallagher,” he mumbled to himself.

No, perhaps he didn’t deserve her, he thought, but he needed her desperately. She completed him in a way nothing and no one ever had.