Chapter One
Halligan Nelson ran his fingers through his hair and shoved the keyboard away. How the heck was it so hard to find one woman?
You’d think for the amount of money he’d paid a private detective to find her and get her contact information, he’d be able to get somewhere. He’d hired a lawyer outside his family, even though his brother was a phenomenal one. The tiny bit of guilt he had about that was outweighed by his desire not to let anyone in his family know what he was doing. Quinton would never be willing to keep it quiet. They might be siblings, but it would be too juicy for Quinton not to share with someone in their large family. Client confidentiality only went so far with what he’d done.
And how the hell did he share that with his family? He could just imagine the conversation.
“Hey, so remember that trip to Las Vegas that you all teased me about to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid? Well, turns out that I might have drank a little too much, married a woman who turned out to be a virgin. At least that’s what her note said when I woke up alone. I don’t remember much. Now, I’m trying to get her to sign divorce papers before she figures out how much we’re worth. Now, who’s ready for supper?”
Yep, he’d never hear the end of it. His family was close, but they loved to rib each other, and he deserved it. He was head of the family’s oil and gas division. He signed contracts every day and never signed before he did his due diligence.
He wasn’t sure what all had happened in Las Vegas and why he’d done something so outside his normal personality. He had flashes at different times—sights and the incredible sounds she made—but nothing concrete. He remembered her laughter from when they were out drinking—a deep, husky sound he wanted to hear more of.
But he didn’t know her, and his ultimate responsibility was to protect his family from his own stupidity. He’d learned at a young age not to trust women. His mom had never stuck around after he was born, and let’s face it, every woman who he’d ever dated had only wanted what he could give them: the status when he was quarterback for their high school football team or the status of his family’s companies.
Why didn’t he listen when his cousins and brothers had told him to play responsibly in Las Vegas? He knew the reason. He kept a tight hold on his emotions when needed. Sure, he joked around, but securing their family’s future in oil forced him to keep his temper leashed and to stay on guard.
He stared at the email that his detective had sent. All he’d sent was the name—Apollonia Rossellini. Well, Apollonia Nelsonnow. He pinched the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes, and hoped, really hoped, that she would sign the divorce papers. The only address his detective could find was a suite in the hotel he’d stayed at. She had zero social media presence, which was interesting but not unusual. Not everyone lived every little second online.
“Hey, Halligan, can you cover Whiskey’s shift tonight? He forgot that Ezra and he have a father-son event tonight,” Hennessy asked, standing in the doorway of Halligan’s apartment. Hennessy must have used his key because Halligan was positive he’d locked his doors.
“Sure,” Halligan said, clicking out of his email. He wondered how Vivi had taken it that Whiskey had forgotten their son’s event. She was fierce and not afraid to speak her mind. Too bad someone hadn’t recorded the smackdown. If they had, it would already be in their text thread, and nothing new had popped in recently.
“Are you okay?” Hennessy asked.
Halligan needed to work on his game face if he was going to keep his cousins and brothers from figuring out what was going on.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” Halligan asked.
“You seem different. Did something happen in Vegas?” Hennessy asked.
Halligan thought about how to answer that. He didn’t like lying to his brothers and cousins, but growing up with nine boys together had been trying. Halligan wasn’t quite ready to share about his dilemma yet. Maybe if he had clear feelings about it, he could share but right now, he was operating on instinct to protect the family. He wasn’t examining if he had any feelings about that night.
“I’m good. Just stayed up late last night going over reports. I can cover it tonight. I didn’t have any other plans,” Halligan said.
“Thanks, man. Six o’clock,” Hennessy said as he left.
Well, at least working in the bar on a Friday night would keep his mind off his troubles. Even in a small town, Friday nights had the bar his family owned hopping. Nelson’s Honkytonk Saloon & Bar was a hometown favorite in Dodge City, Kansas. They also picked up people who came from the surrounding towns or were traveling through. Good food, music, dancing, pool, and darts provided a great place for people to gather.
Halligan didn’t mind working the bar. It let him catch up with the locals, though tonight he wasn’t in the mood to fend off overeager women. Most of the ladies were great, but living in a small town had advantages and disadvantages. Having one of those girlfriends from high school who still lived in town had been annoying but bearable. Since in the last four weeks, she’d decided he was her perfect husband number four, it wasn’t making his month.
He had his cousins to thank for keeping her away from him on Valentine’s Day. Heck, he’d barely avoided her trying to push him into the bathroom for a quickie that night. She didn’t understand the word no. Maybe he’d luck out and she wouldn’t be hanging at the bar tonight.
Halligan had decided that marriage might not be for him. Maybe he was more like his dad and his uncles than he’d thought. He’d get his so-called wife to sign on the dotted line and have his divorce. Marriage wasn’t on his preferred bingo card this year, and he was going to be a free man again soon.
His job overseeing their oil and gas rigs didn’t come with overeager indiscretions from high school. Traveling the mid-continent region to check in on their sites and possibly obtain new ones was the culmination of his dream from the first time he visited an oil rig with his dad and brothers.
When he was home, he used the third bedroom in his apartment across from the bar as his combo office and gamingroom. He still had two other bedrooms available in addition to his master bedroom if someone wanted to stay over. Calling it an apartment was a misnomer because his apartment took up half of the top floor and included rooftop access that he and his brother Dillon had renovated in November. They’d added an enclosed area with a gas-heated fireplace. It was a great place to relax without everyone around. With some of the guys getting married, the common apartment over the bar didn’t offer any privacy from the kids or women. The roof had become the guys’ place to gather.
Most of the time, his office was his truck. He was forever grateful that his dad and his dad’s brothers decided to diversify their holdings. Between the oil and gas money, the trucking company, and rentals, they were set for life. They were millionaires many times over. The bar just provided an added benefit. Halligan got to do what he loved. He wore a suit when he needed to, but he felt most at home in his jeans, boots, T-shirt, and chambray shirt with the company logo. He might enjoy the things money could bring, but he’d never be the man who needed a mansion.
He sent another email to the private detective asking if he could obtain more information regarding his wife and her family. He authorized another sum to give the private detective a little more incentive. He needed this chapter closed in his life, and the only way to do that was to obtain a divorce.
Loni Rossellini glanced at the road sign. Dodge City, Kansas, and the Nelson’s Honkytonk Saloon & Bar were only two more miles. She breathed deeply, trying to calm her swirling stomach.
When she’d started this journey, she’d been cool, calm, and determined. There had been no room for mistakes. Mistakes in her world could get people killed.
For a second, Loni worried that this could all blow up in her face, but there wasn’t another option. She needed to be away from Las Vegas and somewhere she could hide.
