Page 51 of Colin (The Doherty Mafia)
It was dark by now and as I drove, the only images I saw were of Marley lying in the dark somewhere. In the woods. Her face in the mud. Aldo standing over her with a bleeding gun.
He was capable of doing whatever he needed to do to get to us, even if it meant taking the life of an innocent woman who practically had nothing to do with my family.
And if something happened to Marley—I would be directly responsible for it.
Just like I had been responsible for my mother and Tina’s deaths too. I didn’t know how, but there had to be a connection. The lives of none of these women would have been in danger if they weren’t connected to me.
And now Marley was gone.
Nobody had seen her. Nobody knew where she was. And the only explanation was that she was dead.
I growled wildly as I drove.
I drove erratically, racing down the highway as I got further out of town.
The tires screeched on the tarmac.
I lit cigarette after cigarette and barely smoked them. I needed a drink. I needed several drinks, but I didn’t have any.
The wedding ring on my finger shone every time a headlight fell from oncoming cars. A constant reminder of Marley and what I may have lost.
She didn’t deserve to be hurt.
She didn’t deserve to be dead.
I shouldn’t have brought her to New York. I should have left her in Vegas where she was safe.
I cursed myself aloud.
I was the one who didn’t deserve to live.
How many lives could have been saved if it wasn’t for me?
And just then, as that thought entered my head, my headlights fell on a figure on the side of the road.
It was Marley. She had her bag on her back and her thumb sticking out. She was hitchhiking.
Or at least trying to.
My car nearly spun out of control as I tried to screech to a stop on the side of the road.
She jumped backwards, narrowing her eyes to look. She saw me as I threw myself out of the door. And instead of running towards me, she turned and started running away from me.
“Marley! Stop!” I shouted and the wind carried my voice to her.
She stopped in her tracks and slowly turned back around to me.
The headlights of my car illuminated her. And even in that blinding yellow light, I knew nobody had ever looked as beautiful as she did right then.
Twenty-Seven
Marley
I didn’t want to be found—and least of all, by Colin.
My hope was that somehow I would get to sneak out of town, all out of New York and nobody from the Doherty family would find me again. Aldo Baron included.
I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to plot against him or his family. I didn’t want to work with Aldo, despite what he told me Colin had done. And creeping out of town was my only escape.
I took every care and precaution I could to sneak away. Every training in stealth I had was put to use that day in trying to get out of town unseen.
And it seemed like I was going to be successful.
I had been walking for ages, and the darker it got, the more certain I was of not being found. I hoped Colin would have lost interest too.
After our fight that morning, it didn’t seem like he would come looking for me.
But he did—and he was standing right there in front of me. The headlights of his car blinded me but still I stared at him.
At his tall strong frame. His shoulders heaved. His green eyes were narrowed at me and dark. He didn’t look pleased. In fact, he looked like a man I ought to have been scared of.
What did he know?
Maybe he came after me because he found out the truth. Maybe Aldo told him everything. Maybe Colin was there because he wanted to make me pay for all the ways I had deceived him.
“Please, let me go, Colin,” I said when he drew closer to me.
I felt like I lost all the air in my lungs. My hands shook.
In all the time we had spent together—I had never actually been afraid of Colin before. I had trusted him. I had felt safe with him.
But now I was sure the tables had turned. He was the one who knew more about me than I did about him. I could see it in his eyes. He wasn’t there because he wanted me back. Because he wanted me to be his wife. He was there because he wanted me to pay my dues.
“You thought you’d just leave without saying goodbye?” he asked in a deep voice.
A shudder ran down my spine. I tried to keep still but I was shaking all over. What did he mean by that?
“I just wanted to leave you alone. Let you get on with your life. I promise…I won’t…I won’t tell anyone anything,” I said.
