“Where what?”
“Where’s his arraignment?”
“Why?”
She heard his huff of breath through the phone. “Because I’m coming with you. You shouldn’t have to do this alone.”
“No way, Marcus. You don’t have to do that. You’ve got a game. This isn’t my first arraignment for him. I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t argue with me. Where’s the arraignment? Come on, Annalise. Let me help. Let me be there for you. It’s what boyfriends do, and make no mistake. I am your boyfriend.” Annalise hesitated, and she heard Marcus sigh. “If you don’t tell me I’ll call the court houses, starting in Queens, until I find out.”
“Fine,” she huffed out through clenched teeth. “If you really wanna see how pathetic my life is, sure, come along.”
“Your life is not pathetic, baby. You’ve had a rough time of it and haven’t gotten many breaks. So let me help you. Let me give you some of those breaks.”
She told him where the arraignment would take place and then went to hunt for her most respectable-looking clothes. It probably wouldn’t make a difference. It wasn’t like her brother could be un-arrested, but she always felt better dealing with authority figures when she was dressed nicely.
Annalise arrived at the courthouse to find Marcus already there. He was dressed in a suit and sitting with another man who was poring over papers. She walked over and raised her eyebrows. Marcus looked up and smiled. “Hey, honey. This is Simon Summart. He’s a criminal defense attorney. My lawyer recommended him.”
“And what’s he reading?” She jerked her head toward the papers.
“The charges against your brother.”
“How did he get the information?”
“He told them he was representing Hector and they gave them to him.”
Her mouth fell open and she wanted to be annoyed at Marcus just coming in and railroading the situation, but had to face the fact that with some high-powered attorney representing him, Hector’s chances for leniency were much higher. She needed to swallow her pride for her brother’s sake, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t express her feelings. “May I speak with you for a moment?”
Marcus glanced at the lawyer, who waved them away, and then Marcus tried to take her elbow to lead her to a bench. She wrenched out of his grip and he let her go, a frown pulling down the sides of his mouth. Sitting down, she crossed her legs and looked at him.
“Okay, I know you’re gonna yell at me,” he began, “but I swear I’m just trying to help.”
Annalise rubbed her temples. “I know. It’s just—” She bit her lip. “I don’t know what to say.” Marcus remained silent, apparently giving her time to form her thoughts. “I know if Hector has some fancy lawyer he has a better chance, but I feel like you’re taking over my life, like you think I can’t handle anything. I’ve been handling things for myself and for Hector for a long time. I can’t start relying on you for everything.”
“Why the hell not?” He looked genuinely confused and part of her wanted to kiss him senseless.
The other part wanted to box his ears, though, and that’s what she clung to. She couldn’t lose herself in him. She’d worked too hard to carve out a life for herself. Yes, it was hard and it sucked sometimes, but it was hers.
“Because what if I do and then you leave?”
Shit, I didn’t mean to say it like that…
“Why would I leave? I’m sorry, you’re totally confusing me, honey.”
“Everybody leaves.” She couldn’t keep the bitter note out of her voice and watched as Marcus’ eyes widened. “Why should you be different? You’re a big-time famous athlete. I can’t figure out for the life of me why you’d want to have anything to do with me. I’m poor, Marcus. I’m uneducated. I have a shitty job and a good-for-nothing brother. I have nothing going for me.” She reached up and hastily swiped at a tear before chancing another look at Marcus.
His face softened. “Oh, baby. You have a lot going for you. First of all, I don’t care if you’re poor, other than that I want to help you. I have the money to help you and having it sitting in my bank account doing nothing when I could be doing stuff to make your life better doesn’t sit well with me.” She started to speak but he held up his hand. “Let’s see, what else did you say? Oh, yes, uneducated. So am I. I assume you finished high school. So did I, but that’s as far as I made it, too. I can’t do much about your job, but I can help you with your brother if you’ll let me. And as far as you not having anything going for you, well, that’s where you’re dead wrong. You’ve got a ton going for you. You’re beautiful, and you’re smart, and you’re independent, and about a million other things I’d be happy to expand on when we have more time.” He glanced at the lawyer, who’d stood and was waiting for them. “But right now we need to go get your brother out of jail.”
Annalise chewed on the inside of her cheek for a minute and then nodded. “Okay.” Marcus held out his hand and she took it. As they walked into the courtroom, she couldn’t believe how good it felt to have someone else there, someone on her side for a change. Another tear leaked out.
“Hey, none of that. You need to be strong for your brother.”
Annalise nodded, too overcome with emotion to speak. A few minutes later her brother was led into the courtroom in cuffs and she bit her lip until she tasted blood. He’d screwed up so many times, but he was all she had left. Marcus’ lawyer stepped forward and Hector’s head snapped around to stare at the guy and then back at her, his mouth agape. The lawyer spoke to the prosecutor and the judge for a bit and then motioned to Marcus. Annalise was afraid to breathe. Finally, after another conference the judge nodded.
“After speaking with Mr. Alonso’s attorney, the state is willing to release Mr. Alonso on ten thousand dollars bail. Mr. Alonso, you are not to leave the state. Mr. Mitchell has agreed to take responsibility for you. I suggest you don’t let him down.”
Hector cleared his throat. “I won’t.” His voice was thick with emotion and Annalise put her hand over her mouth to stifle the sob. Her other hand was still wrapped up in Marcus’s, and he wasn’t letting go. She felt anchored for the first time in a very long time.
“Once bail is posted you’re free to go, Mr. Alonso.”
Annalise turned to Marcus. “I’ll pay you back for this.”
Marcus’ eyes narrowed. “You’ll do no such thing.” Before she could argue he tugged on her hand. “Come on, I’ve got my credit card with me and Mr. Summart said I can post bail with it. Let’s go get your brother.” He stopped for a second and put his heavy hand on her shoulder. “You aren’t alone anymore. I’m going to take care of you, whether you like it or not.”
They posted bail and then waited for Hector to be released. When he was, Marcus took him aside and they went far enough away that she couldn’t hear the conversation, but it mostly consisted of Marcus talking and Hector nodding. Returning to Annalise’s side, Marcus said, “Now let’s go look at your apartment. I want to make sure it’s safe, and if it’s not, I’m going to do something about it. Call me overbearing or heavy-handed, call me whatever the hell you want, but I will not have my girlfriend living somewhere I don’t think is safe.”
Hector still looked shell-shocked as he and Annalise followed Marcus out of the courthouse. Marcus hailed a cab and when it came, he ushered them inside before getting in himself. They arrived at the apartment and Annalise winced, looking at it from Marcus’ perspective. The building was three stories high with a total of twelve tiny, run-down apartments. Graffiti colored the brick exterior and the intercom system hadn’t worked the entire time Annalise had lived there. Marcus got out of the car, buttoned his suit coat, and looked at the place from roof to street, his brows drawing further down the longer he stared.
He jerked his head toward the door. “Let’s go inside.”
Knowing she couldn’t put him off, she led the way up to the front door, then up three flights to their apartment. It was like she could read Marcus’
mind. He no doubt didn’t approve of a third-floor walk-up with her leg issues, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. Unlocking the multiple locks on her front door, she then pushed it open and both Marcus and Hector stepped inside.
“Would you like some coffee or something?” Her heritage demanded she at least offer him a drink, though her fingers positively itched to hunt through her pantry for something to feed him.
“No, thank you, baby.” Marcus turned to Hector. “Can you leave us alone for a few minutes?”
Hector glanced at her and then nodded. Once he’d left Marcus spun to face her. “You know I want you to move, right?”
“I’d suspected as much, but I can’t afford to. You know that. And before you go saying you’re gonna buy me a penthouse in midtown Manhattan, consider that my job is close to here, as well as my friends.”
“I don’t like it. I don’t think you’re safe.”
“It’s not the safest neighborhood. I’m not gonna lie to you about that. But I can’t afford to move.”
“Then make me a deal.”
Annalise frowned. “What kind of deal?”
“If you can’t move at least let me bring in some guys to make this place safer. They can install a security system, put some bars on the windows—”
“You think my landlord is gonna go for that?” She was incredulous. Her landlord had had a hissy fit when she’d wanted a peephole in the front door.
Marcus’ mouth set in a straight line. “He’ll go for it.”
“What are you planning to do, bribe him? He’s a slumlord, Marcus. If he knows who you are and that you have deep pockets he’ll find reasons to keep coming to you for more.”
“That’s fine, as long as you’re safe.”
Annalise groaned. “You are the most stubborn man I have ever met.”
“Like I said, as long as you’re safe, I don’t care what I have to do. I wish I could convince you to live somewhere else, which yes, I would pay for, but I know you won’t do that. You’re too independent for that, and I admire that quality in you, really, I do. But baby,” he came over and took her hands, looking into her eyes, “if I don’t think you’re safe I’ll go crazy. I need to know that the woman I’m falling in love with isn’t in danger.”
She felt her face flaming as her mouth dropped open. Finally she managed to croak out, “Love?”
Marcus smiled and her heart skipped a beat. “Yes, love. I’m falling in love with you and I hope you’re at least falling a little bit in love with me too.”
“I am,” she admitted. “I shouldn’t be, but I am.”
He let her hands go and then plunged his into her hair, taking her mouth. Annalise melted into the hard planes of his body and his grip on her head tightened as he moved her to the angle he wanted. His tongue demanded entrance and she opened for him, moaning as he swept inside and explored her depths. Marcus was everything she wanted. Forever.
The End
Casting The Die
By Isabo Kelly
To Stacey, who started this, and to Cassandra, who pushed us forward
Chapter One
Nathalie Jane Mendez stared at the small TV screen in her kitchen, waiting for the residuals of the vision to wear off, knowing what she had to do and hating it.
She had to warn him. She could practically hear her grandmother telling her she had a responsibility to tell Alexander Semenov, star goalie for the New York Empires, that he was going to be shot and killed. Soon.
She pushed away from the support of the counter and started taking dishes out of the drying rack and putting them away. Anything to keep her hands busy and her mind on the present, rather than that future picture of violence and blood.
There were many very good reasons not to say anything to Semenov.
“I could warn him and he’ll make things happen because of the warning.” She spoke aloud to her empty kitchen, adding to the sounds of the game on TV, all of which grounded her in the here-and-now. “He could think I’m involved in the shooting and have me arrested. He could have me fired for being a crazy person.”
That idea stung. The possibility of being fired argued more with her sense of responsibility than any of the other excuses. She loved her job as a physical therapist. She’d worked so hard to get to this place in her life, and she didn’t want to throw it away on something she wasn’t involved in.
“Except Yaya would say you are involved now, thanks to the vision.” Her grandmother and father had trained her. They wouldn’t let her ignore her duty just because she was scared. No matter what excuses she came up with.
She stared at the screen, watching as Semenov blocked yet another shot on goal. The arena erupted in cheers. The man was nicknamed The Wall for a reason. He was on a streak and hadn’t given away a goal in twenty-one games in the net. Not only did that make for an individual record-breaking season for Alexander, it meant the Empires were on the fast track to the playoffs. So long as nothing happened to their star goalie, they were a shoo-in.
Except Nathalie had just seen something happen to him. Something bad. And she knew deep down in her soul she had to warn him.
“He won’t believe me,” she told the color commentators discussing his latest save. “Normal people don’t believe in visions.”
Full of nervous energy, she wandered into the living room and set a series of candles up on her altar; green and brown to ground her, a single silver and a single gold to honor the goddess and god, and three black candles to ward against negative energy. She added some frankincense incense too, to help with the cleansing. She always felt the need for a short cleansing ritual after one of these rare but powerful visions.
Snapping her fingers over the candle wicks, she lit them one at a time, then she touched the tip of her finger to the charcoal brick inside her incense burner and slowly heated it until it glowed. When enough of the brick was red hot, she dropped the loose incense onto it and leaned back to breathe in the scented smoke.
How the hell was she going to tell him? She didn’t dare bring something like this up at work. She was already risking her job just considering speaking to him about her vision. Lord and Lady help her if her boss, Joanne, overheard that conversation!
Glancing at her coffee table, she squinted at the invitation half hidden beneath other mail. The team was holding a charity event, Vegas Night, on Saturday. Because she was one of the PTs assigned to the team when they came into the private physical therapy center where she worked, she’d received an invitation. She hadn’t intended to go.
She faced her altar. Alexander was a good man. She’d always admired him. He was all focus and concentration on the ice. Off, he was quiet, serious, and very, very private. Outside of the charity work he did with kids, he seemed to have no other life beyond hockey. At least no life that the newspapers could find.
Even while she massaged his teammates’ sore muscles and listened quietly to the chatter, the only thing ever said about Alexander was that he was too quiet and private. As far as anyone knew, he rarely even dated. The players all respected and liked him, but no one seemed to know much about him, though he’d been with the Empires for three years.
After the many hours she’d spent working on his aches and pains, even talking to him some, she didn’t know him either. His dedication to his own privacy and his self-contained confidence really drew her, though. The need for privacy echoed her own life, making it difficult for her to dismiss him as just another athlete. Despite her best efforts.
She couldn’t just let him die. Not when she might be able to stop it.
“Hell,” she muttered, and knelt down to try to gather the strength she was going to need, desperate for some sense of calm but afraid even the peaceful meditation she planned wouldn’t bring her true balance. There was too much at stake. And, oh, so much that could go wrong.
*****
Nathalie stood a few feet from the craps table, watching while Alexander carried on a friendly patter with the gathered gamblers as he pushed the dice
back to the shooter. He was hard not to watch.
A handsome man, he was tall enough to beat her five-foot-nine height by a few inches, had dark hair and blue eyes and that lean, Russian look coupled with an intensity that was impossible to resist. Tonight he seemed even more magnificent. Wearing a tuxedo did remarkably sexy things to him. And she’d seen him in nothing more than a towel. Which also did remarkably sexy things to him. But she couldn’t think about that right now. If she did, she was likely to turn into one of the fawning women surrounding him, and she’d never tell him what she needed to.
She’d been watching him for more than half an hour, waiting for him to be relieved so she could have a moment of privacy to pass on her message. She couldn’t very well tell him while so many people hovered around. And the women in slinky dresses flanking him didn’t look interested in giving up their spots at the table.
Unfortunately, having him at the table was bringing a lot of bets, so she doubted he’d be relieved any time soon. Craps indeed, she thought with a groan. The whole night had been a lot of crap so far.
Needing something to do with her hands, she snatched a glass of wine off a circulating platter, thanking the young woman doing the serving. She took a sip, but it did nothing to stop her from continuing to consider her predicament.
The man hadn’t been alone for even a minute since he’d entered the room. And she was getting desperate. The whole Vegas Night thing made her tense. All the flash and formal glamour made her feel out of place and awkward. Despite the height she’d gotten from her mother, the rest of her looks came from her dad’s side of the family. And while she personally loved her curves and Spanish features, she would never consider herself in the same league with the gorgeous women sauntering through the room. She felt as if they could see through her, as if they knew she didn’t belong because she was weird and different.
Shaking off the old insecurities, she focused on her reason for being in that room. To save a man’s life, if she could. A good man, she reminded herself, who didn’t deserve to die.
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