Danny Carmody has lived life privileged but lonely. He has always sacrificed his own needs to meet the demands of his family. Now he is faced with an arranged marriage intended to reunite the Carmodys and the Dwyers, the city's two most powerful families. Out of his sense of duty, he agrees. But always a romantic at heart, he secretly nurtures hopes of finding love within this sterile business arrangement. Once he meets his intended groom, Evan -- a talented, attractive architect -- those hopes soar.<br><br>Evan Dwyer has grown up reviled by his family. Before he was even born, his mother was blamed for breaking up a planned marriage between the Carmodys and the Dwyers. As a result, both Evan and his mother have lived their lives in virtual exile. But now he has suddenly been deemed of use to the families, and they are blackmailing him into participating in the arranged marriage.<br><br>Furious, he reaches out to the FBI for help and finds only more complications. Too many people want to use him to advance their own agendas. By the time Evan realizes Danny might just be the safe harbor he's looked for all his life, it may well be too late. Evan has set in motion forces that threaten to destroy any hope they have for a future together.

Family Ties

The surface of the track was mostly mud and weeds with the remnants of what had been cinders. The yard was surrounded by a rusted chain link fence that sagged in several places and was just totally gone in one corner. Crumbling wooden bleachers still stood on one side of the track, their paint mostly peeled off, planks cracking from the elements. The morning sun glinted off the needles scattered in the bleachers. Debris was everywhere—cartons, plastic sheeting, food wrappers, cigarette butts and used condoms.


Danny looked in disbelief at Evan, who had started his warm up exercises. “Tidy up? This place needs a bulldozer to tidy it up.”


Evan calmly replied. “Mike does his best. He tries to get out here each day and pick up the needles and the condoms so the kids don’t get hurt. The rest…,” he opened his arms wide, “…is just beyond him.” Gesturing towards one of the few remaining sections of metal railing surrounding the track, he asked, “Are you going to stretch?”


Chapter 26