The Boss's Love (18 page)

Courtney

After fourteen days in the hospital Courtney Murphy was discharged with very specific instructions regarding her health along with a laundry list of follow up doctors' appointments.

She decided not to return home with Darren but
also refused to stay with her parents. Talk about stressful. Her hovering mother and cranky, retired Marine father would go behind her back and encourage Darren to visit. Luckily, her cousins, who were employed at the hospital immediately upon returning from their Navy Seals duty, had extra room in the home they shared. They offered her a comfortable stay, more than happy to take her under their care. The bonus was her older cousin, Sean, was a cardiologist and her cousin Ryan a pediatric NICU nurse. While she'd been in the hospital, both cousins visited her often and spent as much as their breaks allowed.  

Sean helped
Courtney into his SUV. They had managed to sneak her out a side employee entrance, not wanting to be accosted by her husband or his henchmen. She counted on her two cousins to pull off the escape. If any two members of her family could handle Darren and his staff, it was those two.  

Before they successfully drove her away from the hospital undetected, Sean and Ryan gave specific orders to the nursing staff to wait forty-five minutes before informing Darren his wife had been discharged.  

A short trip later Sean parked the car in his driveway. Ryan dutifully helped Courtney climb out of the vehicle. Both cousins gingerly helped her into the house and onto the sofa. She was unable to keep from laughing at the two men who were like mother hens. How odd was it to be treated so tenderly by two oversized military men? Her memories of them consisted of being picked on, bullied, teased, beat up, and tortured. She'd missed them like crazy. 

"Get some rest, Court. I'll make you some soup,” Sean said. His deep blue eyes shined
with love. He cocooned her with a blanket and pushed a pillow behind her head. 

"Sean, can you stop
." She chuckled.

He laughed. "I could, but no. My job is to nurse you back to health right now and that's what is going to happen." 

Ryan strolled into the room. His six feet two inch frame held that military lethal posture even in his relaxed state. "Yeah, so get used to it, sis." 

Their pet name for her. Sis. They'd been as close as siblings growing up. Ryan and Sea
n had adopted that term as they had grown into their teen years.

Rolling her eyes
at him, he smirked, his matching blue eyes of his brother sparkled with mischief. Sean continued to chuckle when he left the room and went to the kitchen to make her homemade chicken noodle soup. Courtney silently mused that one day he'd make some woman mightily happy with his culinary skills. She adored the fact Darren excelled in the kitchen.
Wait...she couldn't think about Darren. No pleasant thoughts. Nope. None. Not allowed
. 

Ryan nudged his
large frame onto the sofa and placed her feet on his lap. His tight black Hanes tee shirt didn't hide his bulging biceps and V-shaped physique. What the hell did they feed men in the Navy?  

"So, tell me, Court, what the hell happened?" he bluntly asked. 

"Ryan!" Sean scolded from the kitchen.

"Hey, we're getting to the bottom of this sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner," Ryan barked
in return. He focused on her. "Well?"

"I caught Darren with another woman, kissing her," she said ashamed.

Sean stepped into the room and leaned against the doorway.

"What the hell do you mean?" Ryan gr
owled, his eyes flaring.

She sighed
. She did not want to discuss her failure as a woman and wife. How embarrassing. But if she was going to spill her guts to anyone, it should be to her cousins. They had an uncanny ability to look at all points of view, take a problem and work through every scenario. She wished she possessed that capability. 

She explained the
entire nightmarish events of that evening, starting with Darren and her lying in the moonlight on the back porch, then the phone call.

Sean and Ryan glanced at each other, each with a raised eyebrow.

"Wait," Ryan interrupted. "Some guy that bought a house from you calls you randomly to tell you that you needed to get to your husband's bar? And you didn't question it?" 

She went to reply but clamped her mouth shut. Opened her mouth, shut it again. She sunk back farther into the sofa. "No, his call was cryptic and it sounded as if he knew where Darren was and that something was wrong. I didn't question it at all. I was too worried and frightened."

"How did you meet this guy?" Sean asked. 

She explained how she met John, though s
he didn't see a problem. It wasn't unusual for her to pick up clients randomly from overheard conversations.  

Sean and Ryan shot one another a glance again, along with that damn silent conversation thing they did between each other. She hated it. They’d done that since they were
young.

"Go on," Ryan ordered.

She relived the entire humiliating ordeal aloud. A pain developed in her chest over the memory now permanently burned into her. She unconsciously placed her hand between her breasts to take the pain away. Ryan grabbed her hand and squeezed in support. 

"Your blood pressure." Sean scowled. "Did Darren try to explain himself?" he asked.

"He said there was an explanation, but I was too worked up. I was screaming and yelling. I hit him,” she said.

Ryan snorted. "And you haven't talked to Darren since?" he asked.

"No, I can’t right now. I need time, Ryan. This is a nightmare." Tears swelled in her eyes. "Derrick said there's an explanation for all of this. That it isn't Darren's fault, but I don't want to hear the excuses they came up with."

Courtney watched Ryan study her. His knowing
, perceptive eyes delving deeper. "Courtney, we know about your husband. Hell, everyone knows about Darren Murphy. He's the head crime boss in the Northeast. I'm positive he has an entire, separate life you know nothing about. He's kept you sheltered from that part of his world, right? But from all the intel we’ve gathered, he’s totally in love with you." 

Sean nodded and ran a hand through his
longish blond hair. A habit when he was frustrated.  

"Your parents told me how Darren wouldn't leave the hospital even though you refused to see him. A man who has a mistress wouldn't be holed up in the hospital, hoping you’ll change your mind. He would go home, get sleep, and visit the woman he’s having the affair with, then come back to the hospital and try to see you again," Ryan bluntly explained.

She gasped.

"Hey, just telling you how men are, sweetie." He held up his hands defensively. 

"Ryan's right, honey. From everything we've been told by anyone we've asked, Darren is obsessively in love with you,” Sean agreed. He stood up straight, pushing off the frame. "Everyone I speak with says the same thing‒Darren's head over heels infatuated with his gorgeous wife. Of course, then they push it by going on about the hot Courtney Murphy and piss me off to the point where I have to hold back from throwing punches."

"Man, that's annoying. The same thing happens to me." Ryan rolled his eyes and s
nickered. "It sucks having a bombshell of a cousin that I have to defend." 

"Oh, yeah, it's soooo hard," she said. 

Both men laughed. 

“Court, you married a crime boss. There are certain aspects of his life that you're going to have to come to grips with, for both of your sakes,” Ryan said.

"Honey, you should talk to your husband. At least get his side of the story. Your eyes could have been deceiving you. I would hate to see your marriage end over a misunderstanding. Haven't you lost so much already?" Sean asked.

She broke down into a sob and buried her head into her hands. "I never wanted the baby in the first place, but once Darren convinced me to have the child, I couldn
't wait to have a baby that held a part of Darren and a part me."

In a flash, her cousins knelt down on the floor beside her. 

"Calm down, Court. You can't get upset, take it easy,” Sean insisted. 

"Deep breaths,” Ryan demanded. 

It made sense she needed to come to terms with her marriage and the loss of her baby at some point. But at the moment, she was too damn tired to deal with anything.

****

Darren

Seated on the back deck of his home, Darren drowned himself in tequila. It had been a damn long time since he decided to get piss drunk. His world was falling apart. The FBI was on his shit, his wife left him by sneaking from the hospital, and he lost his son. Yeah, things were pretty fucking bad. 

The sliding glass door opened and Derrick stepped outside. "If you're getting drunk then I'm joining you." 

Darren poured his brother a shot and himself another. They both held up their glasses and downed the tequila as if it was water. 

"She'll come back," Derrick said. 

I don't think so."

"Have you found out where she went?" 

"No," he snorted. "Can you believe it? My wife managed to sneak out from under my nose.
Me
of all people." 

Derrick snorted as well. "Got to give her some credit."

"Oh, I do." He poured them both another shot. 

Jack joined them on the deck. "We have Jamie. She's back at her place. You want to visit?"

"Come up with a plan where she isn’t being watched,” Darren snapped.

"Yes, Boss,” Jack said. He turned and left Darren alone with his brother.

"Jamie?" Derrick asked.

"The agent bitch that has ended my marriage,” Darren snarled.

Derrick held up his hands. "Don't say another word to me."

***

Three days later, Darren met Jamie for lunch at his bar. For days he had the bar under constant surveillance and protection to set up their rendezvous. He decided on lunchtime. Murphy's was never busy that time of day.

Stewing
in a far corner booth for the bitch to arrive, Darren understood he needed to perform the best acting job of his life. His first instinct was to kill this woman on the spot. It took every ounce of willpower not to take out his pistol and place it on the table to scare the shit of her. 

Jack and Carl conveniently placed themselves at the bar while two men, Smith and Derk, sat in the next booth over
. The parking lot was also littered with his men.

Jamie sauntered into the bar at precisely twelve-th
irty, looking bright in a barely contained pink sundress that screamed fuck me. She beamed when she saw Darren, who stood with clenched fists. He tried to maintain control and plastered a smile across his face.  

She rushed
towards him, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him hard on the lips. He literally forced a returned kiss. In that gesture, he broke his wedding vows. Even though it was only a kiss, it was more than enough for him. Particularly after all that had happened. He put himself into Courtney’s shoes. If she kissed another man it would more than devastate him. He'd have to kill something. Or someone.

Jamie pulled away. "I'm so sorry about getting caught by your wife, Darren. How is she?" 

He motioned for her to sit. When she slid into the booth, she made a show of pushing her curvaceous ass into the air. The woman made him sick. Courtney would never act that way. His wife was too high class for such obnoxious behavior. He forced himself to slide in beside her.  

"She's doing better," he answered. He needed to act as if he knew about his wife's condition. "Though she still has a long recovery."

"That's too bad. I hope she feels better," Jamie said, astoundingly, sounding remorseful. "From working your case, I know how much of a great person she is. She's also quite beautiful. All the men at the agency think she’s gorgeous. I think they’re all smitten." She snorted unattractively.  

Darren stiffened. So the agency assholes have a thing for his wife? Well, how very
high-school-crush of them. Bastards. 

"Well, I can't disagree with them. Would you like something to drink?" he asked.

"Sure, I'll take a beer," she said. 

He motioned to Jack, who retrieved Jamie a bottle of beer and brought Darren a bottle of water. 

"Aren't you drinking?" she asked.

"No, I've been on a sort of bender for the past few days," he said. 

Jamie took a long swig of her beer and peeled at the label. 

"So, before my wife rudely interrupted us a couple weeks ago, you told me you were willing to leave the agency to become my mistress. Does that offer still stand?" he asked, turning on the charm. He became the
old Darren Murphy. The man that women would drop their panties for in the past. He wrapped his arm around the back of the booth to make her feel more relaxed.