by Kathryn Shay
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November 17, 2020—Ronan Casella left home twenty plus years ago, abandoning his beloved sister and brother—until now. The mystery as to what’s happened to Ronan in the intervening decade is revealed in book six.
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Excerpt
* * *
Take a look at the next book in the series,
ALESSIA
As soon as Alessia finished her afternoon class, she raced out of the classroom, down the hall and to the exit. She’d just reached the door of the building when she heard, “Alessia, wait up.”
She turned. And gave a half smile. Any other time, she’d be thrilled that Derek Davidson, the dark-haired, blue-eyed heartthrob of the class had come after her. “I can’t—”
“Talk, I know. I saw you leave class in a hurry. Did something bad happen?”
“No. It’s good. I have to get home for a Girl Power Party and I don’t want to miss dinner.”
He pushed open the door for her. Once outside, her dark hair blew all over the place in the November wind. “My car’s right out here. I’ll take you to Hidden Cove. You can tell me on the way what a Girl Power Party is.”
Still startled at his offer, she said, “Thank you so much for the offer. But I don’t want to put you out.”
He peered over at the busy traffic, honking horns and shouts of drivers filling the air. “What would you do? Try to get an Uber at four o’clock on a Friday afternoon in lower Manhattan?”
She checked her watch. “Or walk to the train.”
“Which will be mobbed. I’m free the rest of the day.” His mouth crooked in a delicious smile. “Let me do this for you.”
“I’m honored you want to, Derek. All right. And thank you.”
They walked to a lot not too far way and stopped at an older, gray Honda Civic. He unlocked the door and opened the passenger side. She slid in, he got behind the wheel then pulled out into the traffic, keeping an eye in the rearview mirror.
“This will save me tons of time.” She uttered the words once he got going.
“To get to a Girl Power Party.” His voice was deep and husky.
She chuckled. “It used to be called a bachelorette party but none of us liked the name. This is for my soon to be sister-in-law, who’s marrying one of my brothers, and my cousin, whom I’m very close to.”
“Two brides?”
“We have an interesting family.”
“Being there for family is important.” He winked at her. “You said that once in a group work session.”
“So, did you. You’re from Brooklyn, right?”
“We were both paying attention.”
Ali struggled not to sigh. Or stare at him. Derek Davidson was movie-star handsome with an always-intense gaze and quick smile. That he also had a quick wit made him even more attractive. When they were asked to relay some of their interests in the Interpersonal Communication Class, a required course, he said he’d done some acting. All the other eight females in this particular class of twelve had fawned over him. Not Ali, though. Why bother? She wasn’t his type. Word had it he dated around, but never stayed with anyone too long.
As he got on the expressway, he said, “Tell me about your brothers.” He knew about them because they’d shared in a group their family makeup.
“The first one, Rafe, has a doozy of a story.” Doozy. What a stupid word. “He’s a firefighter captain, and lost the love of his life seven years ago. She…abandoned him. But she came back, with his five-year old boy in tow. They got together a year ago, and she’s pregnant again.”
“Wow. Girl or boy?”
“This one’s a girl. She named Tomaso after my father even when they were split.”
“That’s nice.”
“What are your twins’ names?”
“Hell on Wheels and Holy Terror.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I got a Hurricane Peter.”
Now he laughed.
“Any other siblings? Anything dramatic like the first one?”
“Uh-huh. My little brother, Seth, the one who’s getting married, got stabbed last year where he works at Legal Aid by the disgruntled husband of a client.”
“Was it serious?”
“Yeah, but he recovered. He got back together with his long-lost girlfriend while he was recuperating, and they worked things out. An interesting thing about her is the fact that she was being stalked, so they’d both been in danger. Their double jeopardy kind of threw them together again.”
He gave her a sideways glance. “Alessia, are you making this up?”
“Nope. My other brother’s a cop.”
He waited. “A hard profession.”
“Yeah, he’s hard in some ways, especially since he got divorced.”
“I’ll bet he’s a softie with you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I can’t imagine anybody being mean to you. You’re so sweet.”
“How would you even know that?”
“Remember when Mary Jane started crying when Professor Jolson yelled at her? You told him she had a right to be chided respectfully.”
“Yeah. I couldn’t help myself.”
“Word had it you bought her a coke after class and talked to her. What’d you tell her?”
“That not all men were jerks.”
“You said you were lonely after your husband died.”
“God, I said a lot.” Too much.
“What about him? Was he one of the good guys?”
“Absolutely. Do you have any siblings?”
“Nope, an only child.”
“Spoiled?”
“Yep. Tell me more about your cousins.”
“Not yet. I’m doing all the sharing. You have to tell me three things first.”
“Okay, I’m widowed, too.”
“You didn’t mention it.”
“It was too hard to talk about in class.”
“I’m so sorry. Two more things.”
“I spent some time in community theater here in New York.”
“Yeah?”
“It was a release from my job.”
“What do you do for a living?”
“Actually, I quit my job to get my teaching degree faster. I want to work with kids. Okay, that makes three. The cousins?”
“Remember when that guy shot up the Literacy Gala last summer?”
“He’s your cousin?”
“No, his fiancé is. Hayley. She’s the one getting married. I’m in the wedding.”
“How do you keep all this straight?”
“My other cousin owns Fitzgerald’s on MacDougal Street and knows the famous O’Neils.” She grinned. “Last one: my oldest cousin was a famous movie star twenty years ago.”
He shook his head. “No kidding?”
“Nope.”
“What was his name?”
“Ronny Case?”
“As in the Rebel movies?”
“Yep.”
“What an interesting group.”
“Not me, though.” The comment just slipped out. She kept her lack of uniqueness to herself usually.
“Why do you say that?”
“Nothing dramatic ever happened to me. I’m an ordinary widow, mother and sibling.”
“Alessia Benatti, you’re anything but ordinary.”
“What a nice thing to say. But I’m okay with who I am. All I want is an ordinary job teaching.”
“Teachers change the world one kid at a time. That’s far from ordinary.”
“Is that why you went back to school?”
“It’s one of the reasons.” He looked ahead. “I need directions to your house.”
“Are we here already?”
“Yeah.”
They drove out to the lake, and Derek swerved around to the entrance. By now it was getting dark. She turned to him. “Thank you so much, Derek.” Spontaneously, she leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. “You know, you’re sweet too, to have don
e this for a stranger. I’ll never forget it.”
A quirky smile. “I wanted to do it for you.”
“That makes it even more special. What’s your favorite cookie?”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ll make you some.”
“Chocolate Chinese Noodle Cookies.”
“I’ll bring them to the next class we share. Take care.”
“You too, Alessia. Have fun, but stay safe.”
* * *
As soon as he was out of sight from the house, Derek hit the steering wheel with his fist. “Fuck!” Grant would kill him if he knew what Derek just did. He’d been working this case for six months, and the task force was in it even longer, and hadn’t once broken any rules. But he’d come to like Alessia Benatti from the classes they shared over the summer and now this fall semester. She had a quiet strength about her, an unassuming personality and—very important to him now--totally disconnected from the mess at the college.
Besides, he was lonely, too.
He’d happily listened to her bubble over about her family and her concern for her sons. For the hundredth time, he wished his life was that simple. Instead, he joined the bureau at twenty-two, right out of college, and started undercover work at thirty. Grant, who would eventually become his handler, had warned him and a female operative when they were about to go undercover…
You have to lie to nice people, maybe even hurt them in finding answers.
You can’t have a social life because you could slip up in the heat of your actions, if you get my drift.
You might even have to sleep with someone to get answers.
The female agent didn’t flinch.
Derek did. He cringed inside. But he’d pursued this life despite that. It wasn’t too bad until this assignment. The case was slimy.
Or maybe he’d burned out. Grant warned about that, too.
For God’s sake, he told himself. Forget about Alessia Benatti and her family. Forget about that luscious black hair and eyes as dark as midnight. Just do the job. Catch the criminals involved, then when it’s over, decide whether or not to stay undercover.
He wouldn’t leave the organization, though. Derek Drake, aka Derek Davidson, was an FBI agent through and through.
* * *
“They glow with joy, don’t they?” Kate Cassidy, her brother’s wife, grinned. She and Ali stood in the kitchen of the lake house and observed the group.
“Just like you do, honey.”
She patted her stomach which stuck out adorably in a knit gray dress. “Me? I’m a beached whale already.” She angled her chin toward the women. “Even wearing that little veil with lace, Hayley’s stunning in that green one-piece suit.”
“She’s only two months into her pregnancy. You’re in your seventh.”
“I know, and love the evidence of Rafe’s and my commitment. I shouldn’t joke about myself.”
Ali watched Julianne, bride number two, as she crossed to the other guests. Jules wore a slinky gold top with white dressy pants. “Who’s Julianne talking to?”
“Anabelle Sanders. The cop. Remember, during the stalking, they got pretty tight.”
“Man, I didn’t even recognize her. She the one Gideon always complains about?”
“They’re both up for the same job. It should be decided this week. I hope he gets it.”
Kate took Ali’s hand and led her to the sofa by the front window. “Sit with me a bit and tell me what’s going on with you.”
They both dropped down. “My life is very boring.” She couldn’t help but smile. “But I did have a gorgeous guy sweep me off my feet and into his car to drive me up here.”
“Seriously?”
“It’s true. I know, I don’t usually have men like that even talk to me.”
“Because you send out a Stay Away signal.”
“Do I?”
“Really, Alessia, you’ve been doing it since high school. Guys sniffed around you all the time, and you made it clear Billy was the one for you. Since I got back, I saw men approach you at Finn’s birthday party, at dinner parties. Even when we’ve caught lunch together, the waiters are so happy to see you and devastated when you shut them down.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“Who was the guy that got under your shell?”
“It was only a ride.”
“Spill the whole story.”
Ali told her what happened.
“Hmm, that sounds promising. He was looking out for you.”
“He left the building when I did, so he saw I was in a hopeless position.”
“Yeah, could be. But he didn’t have to drive you an hour up here.”
“I saw that he wanted to. But he’s a player.”
“Is he?”
“Yeah, he dates women at the college for a bit then drops them.”
“Maybe he hasn’t found the right one.”
“Maybe. But I’m not nearly as pretty or as young as his former dates. I wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“Chicken.”
“What?”
“You’re a chicken if you don’t.”
“We’re not fifteen, Kate.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “I stand by my assessment.”
“Well, I did say I’d make him cookies.”
“Please. At least invite him for dinner as a thank you.”
“Maybe coffee.”
“And wear a dress. You have the best legs of all of us.”
“I think I have the best legs.” Hayley had come up to them and fell into a chair.
Julianne sat in the other one. “I take offense. I do.”
Ali shook her head. “You know who has the best legs here?”
Together, they all said, “Anabelle.”
* * *
When Derek took the steps up to his fifth-floor apartment and opened the door, he knew someone was in the place. Reaching for his gun in the drawer in the entry, he crept into the living room and scanned the area. His gaze landed on a man seated near the window.
Shit!
“Put it away, Drake. It’s just me.”
“Damn it, Grant. You could warn me when you’re gonna show up.”
“You were in Hidden Cove.”
Didn’t take him long. “How did you know that?”
“There’s a tracker in your car. And one in your watch.”
“Yeah. I forgot.” He plunked down on a lumpy chair. “What does it matter where I was?”
“There are rules, Derek. One is not getting close to anybody, especially a woman.”
“I’ve dated women this whole time.”
“Only those who knew the identified victims.”
He was getting pissed off. “Maybe Alessia Benatti is involved.”
“With her background? Gimme a break.”
“How do you know about her background?”
Grant held up his phone. “There’s such a thing as the Internet, which I’ve been scouring in the time it took you to get there and back.”
He sighed. He knew he was wrong, so he shouldn’t be upset. He needed to focus on why he was at City College: to track down the on-campus organizers of a human trafficking ring.
About the Author
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A NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY bestselling author, Kathryn Shay has been a lifelong writer and teacher. She has written dozens of self-published original romance titles, print books with the Berkley Publishing Group and Harlequin Enterprises and mainstream women’s fiction with Bold Strokes Books. She has won many awards for her work: five RT Book Reviews awards, the Bookseller’s Best Award, Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year and several “Starred Reviews.” One of her firefighter books hit #20 on the NEW YORK TIMES list. Her novels have been serialized in COSMOPOLITAN magazine and featured in USA TODAY, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL and PEOPLE magazine. There are over ten million copies of her books in print and downloaded online. Reviewers have called her work “emotional and heart-wrenching.”
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