Tangled Web: A Small Town Romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 6) Read online

  Tangled Web

  A Small Town Romance

  Giulia Lagomarsino

  Copyright © 2021 by Giulia Lagomarsino

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Design courtesy of T.E. Black Designs

  www.teblackdesigns.com

  Created with Vellum

  I lied in the last book. I think this is my favorite story. I have never laughed so much when writing a book. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I have. It has been such a pleasure to escape the security world for just a while and write about the sexy Cortell brothers. As much as I would like to tell you that it’s time to move on to Owen’s Protective Services…it would be a lie!

  My next series is a spin-off of this series, and will focus on some of your favorite secondary characters that still need their own stories. The series will be titled A Good Run Of Bad Luck. I look forward to getting started on this series, and hope you’ll all be back with me when the series begins. Thank you for reading!

  Contents

  1. Lorelei

  2. Andrew

  3. Lorelei

  4. Andrew

  5. Andrew

  6. Lorelei

  7. Andrew

  8. Lorelei

  9. Andrew

  10. Lorelei

  11. Andrew

  12. Lorelei

  13. Andrew

  14. Lorelei

  15. Andrew

  16. Lorelei

  17. Andrew

  18. Lorelei

  19. Andrew

  20. Lorelei

  21. Andrew

  22. Lorelei

  23. Andrew

  24. Lorelei

  25. Andrew

  26. Lorelei

  27. Andrew

  28. Lorelei

  29. Andrew

  30. Andrew

  31. Lorelei

  32. Sofia

  33. Andrew

  34. Lorelei

  35. Andrew

  36. Lorelei

  37. Andrew

  38. Lorelei

  39. Andrew

  40. Lorelei

  Also by Giulia Lagomarsino

  Lorelei

  There was something freeing at a cemetery, the knowledge that the dead would never rise again. I found peace here, and as I stared up at the sky and watched the crows circle above, I couldn’t help but wish they would circle down and peck out the eyes of my late husband.

  Given my appearance, wearing a modest, black dress with the appropriate matching hat and veil, I was everything a mourning woman should be. My shoulders were slightly slumped, as though the weight of the world was pushing me down. I shed a tear or two, but that was in happiness, not that anyone needed to know that. Those thoughts were mine and mine alone.

  What happened between my husband and I was our business, and now that he was about to be lowered into the ground, I was the only person that knew what truly happened behind closed doors. I had erased the security tapes and destroyed them for good measure. All the listening devices had been confiscated from around the house and smashed. I had even visited dear Arlen’s security team and paid them handsomely to forget anything they might have witnessed at the house. By all accounts and purposes, the rest was smooth sailing from here.

  The minister said a few final words and then motioned for me to step forward. I had nothing good to say about the man I was married to, but given the nature of his demise, it would not be wise for me to divulge my hatred to the audience of grievers. If they knew him, they came to spit on his grave. If they didn’t, they were hoping to benefit from his death. But the one thing I had ensured going into this marriage was that all of his money would be transferred to me at the time of his death. I knew going in that I might have to wait for a very long time. It turned out, a year was all it took.

  I slowly made my way to his casket, touching it lightly as I peered out of the corner of my eye at the onlookers. Heartbreak filled their faces at the gesture and I internally grinned, then swiped at a fake tear. I heard a few sad sighs and cleared my throat for added measure. This earned me a few more tears from the audience— I mean, the mourners.

  “Thank you all for coming today.” I looked down at my paper and squeezed my eyes shut, pressing a hand to my chest. Suckers. They were all falling for my act. “For anyone that knew Arlen, you probably remember a tough businessman, a hard headed man that demanded the very best from everyone around him. And you would be right,” I smiled. “Arlen was a tough man to work for, but he was also very generous. Arlen pushed those around him to succeed so that others could benefit as well.”

  That was all bullshit. Arlen only cared about the size of his own wallet. We had once passed a little boy on the street that obviously needed some food. Arlen sneered at him and pushed him to the ground, demanding the kid move out of his way. No, Arlen was not a good man at all. Which was why this was all so satisfying.

  “When I met Arlen just over two years ago, I immediately ran the other way,” I laughed, earning a few chuckles from the crowd. “He was this big man that always had a scowl on his face and was quick to anger. But when he chased after me and took me out to dinner, I soon realized that he was so much more than he appeared to be. Under that tough exterior was a man that cared deeply about those around him.”

  I droned on and on about the man for the next fifteen minutes, listing all his qualities, which were all bullshit, and talked about his generosity. And the whole time I did it, his funds were being transferred into my name. Mrs. Arlen Henning. I now had all the money I would ever need. It was all there waiting in my bank account, and I couldn’t wait to go spend it.

  When I was done, I quietly took my place beside his oldest son. Yes, Arlen was older than me by a good twenty years. His oldest son, Bartholomew, absolutely hated me. Well, I hated him too. The kid was a spoiled, entitled brat that needed to be smacked down in life. Luckily, his father already knew this, and it took no convincing on my part to make sure that his son received none of his fortune. His sister, Elena, was right beside him. She looked about as devastated over the loss as I felt. At least I was playing my role. Elena was currently examining her nails, as if this whole thing was boring. And finally, beside her was the youngest son, Oscar. He was the only one that I felt bad for in this whole situation. I would be sure to provide for him throughout life. He was currently in college, and he had a good head on his shoulders. He was the only one out of the kids that his father asked me to make stipulations for with the money.

  I stared up at the sky as the leaves fell from the trees, and I smiled happily, thinking of my husband in hell. My mother always told me that when life gave you lemons, you made lemonade. Well, I’d had far too many lemons in my life. It was time I finally got to drink the damn lemonade.

  Andrew

  Now that Joe and Sofia were off in fairy land with their new baby and all things wonderful in the world, I was ready to find my own place. There was no rush, of course. But I definitely had to move out before the baby came. There was no way I was dealing with a screaming kid day and night.

  Walking into the diner, I nodded to the cute waitress behind the counter. Sammi was her name, I think. I couldn’t see her name tag from here, but I could definitely see those gorgeous blues. Damn, that woman was hot. She was wearing black pants and t-shirt, but damn, the way that t-shirt stretched across her chest was enough t
o give me a woody.

  Pulling my gaze from her, I picked up the newspaper and found an empty table. Opening the newspaper, I scanned the paper for any rental ads. I could technically buy something. I had enough money set aside. But renting was so much easier for a guy like me. I didn’t want to worry about dealing with the yard or snow shoveling. I just wanted someone else to take care of it all for me.

  A mug was placed in front of me and the waitress started pouring coffee. I quickly glanced up at the name tag, glad I had gotten it right. “When are you going to let me take you out, Sammi?”

  Her eyebrows lifted and she grinned. Leaning forward on the table, she moved in until she was just close enough for me to feel her breath on my face. “When are you going to learn to keep your dick in your pants?”

  I titled my head in confusion, but she just smiled at me. “Wait, you don’t want to go out with me?”

  “Oh, you’re quick,” she grinned. “Andrew, you know I love you, but I’ve seen the women you bring home. That’s too many diseases for me to compete with.”

  She turned and walked away from me, leaving me speechless. “Did she just say I was dirty?” I asked no-one in particular.

  “I believe she was telling you that she’s afraid that if she goes near your dick, she’ll catch a venereal disease,” a deep voice said from behind me. It was quiet enough that only I could hear it.

  I turned at the familiar voice and then stared into the eyes of the cute little boy across the table from him. Flicking my eyes back to Jack, I gave a nod. “Jack, I see you’re getting comfortable as the town sheriff again.”

  “You know me,” he said quietly. “I’m just out here protecting the town, waiting for you and your brothers to fuck up so I can drag your asses down to the station.”

  “What on earth would you ever arrest us for?” I asked in mock shock. “Brody, this is what your daddy and the rest of law enforcement would call entrapment.”

  Jack snorted at my little talk with his kid. “In order for it to be entrapment, I would have to try and get you to do something illegal. There’s no need to coerce you to do anything. I just have to sit back and wait for one of you to do something.”

  “You know none of us has done anything illegal in years.”

  He shook his head with a grin. “Not from what I understand. It seems that Will was stalking a woman,” he said, like he could hardly believe it, but I knew he was fucking with me. “And Joe kidnapped a woman and held her at his apartment.”

  “Right, like Joe could ever do anything like that,” I snorted. “You know he’s the most womanthetic of all of us.”

  “Womanthetic?”

  “Yeah, you know, he sympathizes with them the most out of any of us.”

  Jack grunted before taking a sip of his coffee. “I would have assumed that was Eric.”

  “Nah, Joe’s a big puppy dog. He fell hard for Sofia the minute he had her locked away in his apartment.”

  “So he did kidnap her.”

  My eyes went wide and I shook my head. “Uh…”

  “And then there’s a story circulating that all of you went to her house in the city and kidnapped her for a second time.” He tsked as he shook his head. “Two kidnapping charges would not look good.”

  “Alright, I get it. You’re pissed at all of us and you want to ruin our lives. Look, I’ll do you a solid and make sure to beat them up the next time I see them.”

  “Now you’re threatening others,” Jack sighed. “Well, I think I’m going to have to take you downtown.”

  My jaw dropped. “You can’t be serious.”

  “You just admitted to a police officer that you were going to go out and assault not one, but six other men. Now, I just can’t let that happen.”

  He stood and pulled out his cuffs, tapping them from one hand to the next.

  “Are you gonna do something about this?” I asked the kid, like he could actually do something.

  He shrugged and pulled out his own little set of handcuffs. “Can I do it, Daddy?”

  “You want to cuff him?” he asked his son.

  Brody nodded excitedly. Jack waved him over with a grin. “Well, let me show you how it’s done.”

  He looked at me and I just knew he was waiting for me to resist. The fucker wasn’t actually arresting me, but he wanted to have some fun with his kid, and he would no doubt walk me the four blocks to the police station, letting everyone see me handcuffed.

  But I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction. I grinned and stood, folding the paper before setting it on the table. “Sure, kid. You want to do the cuffs yourself?”

  “Can I?” he asked excitedly.

  “Of course!” I grinned, much to Jack’s dismay. If he thought he was going to anger me, he was wrong. I could do this all day. Well, if I didn’t have to work. But I didn’t have another meeting until tomorrow, so I was good for an overnight stay, if that’s the way Jack wanted to play this.

  I turned toward the diner window and nodded to the people around me as Jack explained to his kid how to put the handcuffs on. I winced when he closed them just a tad too tight.

  “Yeah, you want to make sure they’re extra tight so the perp doesn’t get away,” Jack said, pulling on my shoulder to back me up. “What do you say we walk him back to the station?”

  Brody nodded excitedly.

  “Hey, Brody.” He turned and looked at me. “Now, when we get out there, you have to start telling the whole town how you took me down. Make it a good story, huh?”

  He nodded excitedly, but then frowned. “What should I say?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe I was robbing a bank when you caught me. Ooh, or I was stealing all the pies of the day out of the bakery cabinet!”

  Jack shoved me forward, growling in my ear. “Don’t make friends with my kid.”

  “Then don’t put me in the position to do it,” I retorted.

  “You know, I think I liked it a lot better when I couldn’t understand what the fuck you said.”

  “Ah, well, you’ll have to thank Eric. Yeah, he got me this great book—“

  “A dictionary?”

  I frowned. “No. Why does everyone always think that?”

  “Because it doesn’t seem like you’ve ever seen one.”

  “Hey, now. Let’s keep the low blows for the ring.”

  He shoved me through the door and Brody immediately started spinning a tale of how I showed up at the diner to steal a pie, and when he approached, my fangs came out and he had to drive a stake through my chest to stop me from stealing the pies. Then his dad came and arrested me.

  I nodded to the people as we passed, glad they were all getting some joy out of this. Yeah, it was a little humiliating, but if I kept thinking about how much fun Brody was having, it didn’t bother me so much. By the time we got down to the station, Brody’s story had manifested into me being an alien that had crash landed on top of the diner, and he had been the one to drag me from my spaceship. The kid had talent.

  “Would you mind getting the door?” Jack said from behind me, then laughed. “That’s right. Where’s my head? You’re handcuffed.”

  I looked over my shoulder and fake laughed. “You know, I think I like asshole Jack better than friendly Jack.”

  “Well, be happy he’s sticking around then.”

  I was shoved into a cell, still handcuffed, as Jack sat down at the desk. Sighing, I took a seat on the wooden bench. “Are you going to allow me a phone call?”

  Jack looked up at me, and then down at the phone. “Sure.” He shoved the phone off the desk and it crashed to the floor, scattering in pieces as it broke apart. “Oops,” he said, grinning up at me.

  “That’s okay. You can use Daddy’s phone,” Brody said, snatching the phone off the desk before Jack could grab it. He was already shoving it through the bars before Jack could get to me. Grinning, I stepped away from the cell doors and looked at the passcode screen over my shoulder. A guy like Jack, didn’t like technology and didn’t want to
waste the energy on coming up with a password, that was easy to guess. I typed in one, two, three, four, five, six and watched as the screen popped up.

  “Jack, seriously? Too lazy to come up with a good password?”

  I angled my body awkwardly so I could dial Robert’s number. I screwed up twice before getting it right. Then I waited for him to pick up. I couldn’t actually hear him since I couldn’t get my hand back in position to put it on speakerphone, so I just started shouting.

  “Hey! Jack hauled me down to the station. I need you to come bail me out.” He said something, but I couldn’t hear. “I can’t hear you! Just get your ass down here!” He kept shouting, which was just pointless, so I handed the phone back to Jack, watching as he practically growled at me.

  I grinned up at him, pissing him off even further. He snatched it away from me and stalked back to his desk.

  “Shouldn’t the kid be in school now?”

  Something flashed in Jack’s eyes before he looked down at his paperwork again. “Day off of school.”

  And normally he would be with his mother, but his mother was dead now, because of my family. I sat down on the bench and tried to figure out something to say, but I was a jokester. I had no clue what to say to him. At the funeral, sure, I could be sympathetic, but now? It had been months. What did you say to someone that hated you so much?

  Robert came storming into the police station ten minutes later, looking pissed as hell. “What the hell is he in that jail cell for?”