He smiled at me with a menacing twist to his lips. “I am Reverend Brown of The Brown Foundation for Morality.”
My knees began to shake but I stood my ground. “I have heard of your organization.”
“I am sure you have. We are working diligently to implement morality in our neighborhoods and save our children from sinners like Moran who want to corrupt their innocent minds.” The fanatical gleam in his gaze sent chills along my spine.
“I wish you luck in your cause.” I made to push past him but he stepped in front of me.
“I bid you rethink returning to your job. You have five sisters, four of impressionable ages. You need to tend to their welfare.”
“Are you threatening me?” Outrage sparked my temper, replacing my fear and I glared at him.
“I am merely telling you what will happen if you continue to work for that degenerate. He might have escaped the law because of his new title. You, my dear, are a different story.”
Had he found out the truth? I stared at him, and shook my head, gripping my bag. If he had, he wouldn’t have called me Mrs. Worth. Would he? “I have to work for a living to provide for my family.”
“It will be hard for you to provide for your family when you are behind bars.” He rocked back on his heels and looked over at the crowd of people before returning his gaze to me. “You seem like sensible woman. Leave and don’t come back.”
“I have four younger sisters to feed. Do you intend to pay me to stay at home and take care of them?” These self-righteous, narrow minded hypocrites infuriated me.
“If you teach a man to fish, h—”
“Oh balderdash. You blanket your bigotry behind scripture, yet you don’t live up to the spirit behind the words.” I settled my hands on my hips, earning several sidelong glances from the women with the signs.
“You have a feisty spirit.” Brown moved closer and lowered his voice. He reeked of spirits and ill intentions. “Perhaps we can come to an arrangement?”
I recoiled, opening and closing my mouth several times. Was he truly propositioning me? Surely not. “I beg your pardon?”
“You are a very comely woman. Moran might be above the law, but you aren’t anymore. Keep that in mind before you say no.” Brown leered at my bodice, his broken toothed smile projecting a lewd air. The man had some nerve preaching morality when he, himself, was immoral.
“So youarethreatening me?” Shoulders back, I placed my hand on my chest, breaking his concentration. I wanted him to look me in the eye and address me like a lady. Except in his eyes, I wasn’t a lady and I wanted his ignorance of my identity to remain intact.
“I can make your life easy, or miserable Miss Namath. You have two hours to decide whether you wish to continue down the path of immorality, or become one of my flock on the path to righteousness.” Brown turned on his heel and returned to the group, calling them to attention before I could ask more.
Shaken and unable to think of anything but fleeing his company, I retraced my earlier steps until I reached the street corner. I ducked into the alley, and went through the back entrance. My legs were shaking, tears streaming down my face.
I fumbled with the keys, unable to keep my fingers steady. The second the door shut behind me, I ran up the stairs to the office. I needed to see Moran and warn him. Although we had a falling out, he was still important to me. I knocked on the back office door before entering. My dread at seeing him again was set aside in my need to speak to him.
Moran was hunched over his desk and looked up as I entered, my heart swelling for a different reason before I reminded myself we were on the outs.
“Good morning, Birdie.” Dark circles rimmed his eyes, the haunted look he carried when I picked him up at police headquarters more pronounced. I curled my fingers into fists, my need to comfort him warring with my new determination to keep him at arm’s length.
“Have you looked outside?” I moved to the window to peer out. My focus resting on Brown, I tried to fight the ongoing dread that continued to hold my body enthralled. What an evil man.
Moran joined me, staring at the group. The heat of his body permeated the sleeve of my coat, the faint scent of cinnamon reminding me of the intimacy we’d shared the night before. A scowl marked his brow, a tiny muscle ticking under his skin. “Bloody hell.”
“It’s Reverend Brown. He, well, he...” I couldn’t finish, my pulse thundering in my temples. Panic had settled in and I wasn’t sure I would ever feel safe again. While I longed to lean against Moran, I couldn’t allow myself to yield to the weakness.
“What did he do to you?” He twisted to look at me, outrage and fear reflected in his eyes.
I shook my head, unable to speak. Moran drew me into his arms, his familiar strength and gentle hold welcome after my encounter with the reverend.
“He threatened me and my family.” I clung to his warmth, my knees shaking. It had been ages since someone had offered me comfort and it was tempting to reveal everything. Distancing myself from him would be difficult under the best circumstances. “He is horrible. Simply horrible.”
“I know.” He kissed the top of my head, his heart beating in a steady rhythm against my ear. “What exactly did he say to you?”
“He knew me by real name...”Oh God! Any ounce of comfort I had gained in the past few minutes disappeared. I fought the wave of nausea. How much more had Brown discovered about me? Surely not about my father?You have two hours to decide.“He told me that while you were above the law, I wasn’t.” More importantly, if he dug deeper into my past, he would open Pandora’s box. “He also said I had two hours to make the decision.”
“I was afraid of this.” Moran released a pent-up breath, his arms a continued comfort to my jangled nerves. “Ash warned me this might happen. I am sorry to have gotten you into this mess.”
