Scott stood on the other side of Kelly, like no feud stood between them. Except when you looked at it from my point of view, I was the center. They each stood on a different side of me.
My eyes connected with Scott’s before he looked me over from head to toe. I thought I’d see hurt, but I only found disgust. He moved closer after the judgment, stopping when he was next to me. “Marrying him is one thing,” he said, his voice a hot whisper. “But coming here to support a murderer? Who. The. Fuck. Are. You?”
I didn’t respond, but I refused to move my eyes from his. He stared at me for a minute longer, the disgust even thicker, before he stormed off.
* * *
Kelly helpedme into the back of Harrison’s car, taking care to move my veil from the seat and setting it on the window behind us, and then he slid in next to me.
I looked at my shiny new husband as my brother started the car, heading toward Hell’s Kitchen. “Scott’s disgusted with me,” Isaid.“He hates me.”
Kelly laughed a little, and Harrison looked at him from his rearview mirror.
“How’s this funny, if it’s going to ruin your plans?”
“Not funny,” he said, shaking his head. “Amusing.”
“Amusing. Funny. Same damn thing.”
“Harry Boy,” Kelly said, hitting my brother’s seat, “is it disgust you feel for Mari when you see her with Macchiavello? Or is it pure hate for what you want the most and can’t have?”
I met my brother’s eyes in the mirror. He said nothing.
“There’s your answer,” Kelly said, sitting back and relaxing in his seat. “No answer is still an answer. Love does strange things to people, darlin’. It’s like a disease—it affects everyone differently.”
True, so I didn’t argue.
We all became quiet as we drove down the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. My new home. The closer we came to Kelly’s place, though, the thicker the crowds became. Music thumped from outside. Tables had been set up, lined with food. Clumps of people were talking and laughing. Kids ran around like it was the fourth of July.
The crowd was diverse, made up of many different faces, all coming together to form a party.
My brother, acting like a chauffeur, parked the car in front of Kelly’s place of business, and after getting out, opened the passenger side door so he could help me out. Kelly slid out behind me and put a hand to my lower back, urging me forward.
“What’s going on?” I said.
“A party.” Kelly nodded at a man in passing as we came closer to the thickest part of the crowd.
“Yeah, I can see that. What’s it for?”
“Us,” he said.
Ooh. On his face, was that…not thankfulness, not humbleness, but something close to both of them that wasn’t actually either one of them? Did I dare think something I never expected? Pride, but not for himself.
“You stare at the devil for long periods of time, darlin’, and it does wicked things to your face,” he said.
I laughed a little. “It’s not that I’m staring at you because I like what I see, Marauder. I’m staring at you because I had no idea this many peoplelikedyou.”
“Like is a strong word. I’d call it respect and then call it a day.”
“Mr. Kelly!” A man who didn’t look much younger than Cash, holding a baby on his hip, came up to us. A woman stood next to him, holding a little girl by the hand. I assumed she was his wife and the two kids were theirs.
The man and Kelly shook hands, and then he introduced me as his wife, full name and all. The man worked for Kelly, though I wasn’t sure in what capacity. He didn’t seem like the marauding type, so maybe he legitimately worked for him. Harrison had told me that Kelly owned legitimate businesses.
I smiled at the little girl, who was staring up at me. I didn’t give a shit if adults stared at me, but I drew the line at kids. Most of them were too cute to ignore. “Hi,” I said to her.
“Hi,” she said, and then she started swinging her mom’s hand back and forth while she sang, “Keely Kelly. Keely Kelly.Oooh.Keely Kelly.”
Her mother told her to hush, but she kept on. Harrison stood close and started laughing so hard that he had to excuse himself from the conversation he was in. Raff did the same.
