Page 89 of Coff

She steps back out of my arms. “I told you. My dad forced me to. He said it was the only way to save Duke’s life. Apparently, he’d done something, and the only way to fix it was for our families to merge.”

I clench my fists as anger bubbles up inside me. “Did your father know Nelson was an asshole?”

She wraps her arms around herself. “He knew his whole family was, so he probably figured Nelson was, too.”

I clench my jaw as I take a steadying breath. “I don’t understand how your father could do that.”

While I have never liked her father, I at least thought he would protect her.

“I told you; we had no choice. If we didn’t marry, they would have killed Duke.”

I take a few steps away. He sacrificed one child for another. I turn back. “And how long were you supposed to stay married?”

She shrugs. “There was no end date.”

“Did you have kids?”

She shakes her head. “He wanted them, but I stayed on the pill. I lied and told him I had stopped. He decided I’m infertile, which is good because he went elsewhere for sex.”

Ah, her marriage wasn’t sexless at first. The thought of that asshole touching her is too much. I take several steps away. I need to get control of myself. It’s not like I’ve been some kind of celibate saint all these years.

“I didn’t like having sex with him,” she says.

I whirl back to her. I’m going to lose it if I hear anything more. “Stop. I can’t hear anymore.”

She nods. “Sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize. I asked. Just no more. Not now.”

She nods again.

“Ms. Manzia? Your brother is asking for you,” a nurse says.

I follow her and the nurse to the room, then stop outside next to Ozzie.

“Do you have a plan?” he asks.

“Not yet.”

“They’re sitting ducks here,” Ozzie says.

“I know.” Somehow, we have to get both of them out of here and somewhere safe until we can figure out what is going on.

And I also have to deal with my brother. I need to figure out which side of the law he is actually on. If it’s not the right side, I’m not sure what I’ll do. But if he is working with the man trying to kill Delaney, he’s going to have to answer to me.

CHAPTER18

Delaney

The hotel roomdoor slams shut, and I sit straight up, looking for Logan.

“I got us coffee,” he says as he sets two cups on the table. “Did you sleep well?”

I stretch and get out of bed. Logan rented us a room for the night with two beds so we could get some sleep.

“I did. Thank you. How about you?”

He shrugs. “Not too great, but I’ll catch up later.” He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

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