Marina: A Kelly Family Novella

By Lashell Collins

Marina Kelly is sick to death of cops! That’s all she’s known her entire life - her father is a cop, her uncle was a cop. All of her cousins are cops. Even her two brothers and her big sister ... all cops. So Marina decided early on that her life would take a much different path, taking her as far away from that lifestyle as she could get. And dating a cop? Well, that is totally out of the question!

Levi Hawks is well aware of Marina’s ‘no cops’ dating rule, so when a supposed chance meeting brings him face-to-face with the sexy shop owner, Levi is determined to hide the fact that he’s a police detective from her for as long as he possibly can. Or at least until he can get her to agree to go out with him!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lashell Collins
• Release date: Apr 30, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310135224

Lashell Collins

Lashell Collins spent the last twenty years of her life working in Veterinary Hospitals and Garden Centers. But whether she was surrounded by the adorable puppies and kittens she helped to care for, or by the beautiful flowers, trees and shrubs, she constantly pursued her favorite pastime – reading romance novels and imagining herself as the heroine in each and every one of them!After losing a few people who were important in her life, she began writing in her grief and found it to be very cathartic. She started several stories in various genres, but none of them seemed to click for her, and they remained unfinished. Finally, a light bulb went on over her head! Since she really enjoyed reading romance novels, perhaps she would enjoy writing them too! Her first attempt was an epic love story, chronicling the rise and fall of a major rock star. It was full of sex, scandal and intrigue. And it was complete and utter crap. She closed her laptop and hung her head in shame.Then one day, after she had finished rereading one of her favorite romance novels for about the hundredth time, she opened up her laptop and tried again. And she hasn’t stopped writing since! All of Lashell’s stories are full of heart and romance, with smart dialogue and spicy sex scenes. She still loves writing about sexy rock stars. But she also loves writing about hot cops and hunky business men as well!When she’s not writing, Lashell enjoys reading, shopping, eating Chinese food, and riding on the back of her husband’s Harley-Davidson. She loves watching General Hospital and Grimm. She is a huge music fan and is completely obsessed with Slash. Lashell is a member of the Romance Writers of America. Drop her a line; she loves to hear from readers.

Book preview

Marina

A Kelly Family Novella

By Lashell Collins

Copyright © 2014 Lashell Collins

Smashwords Edition

Marina

Book Four of the Kelly Family Series

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author. This book contains content that may not be suitable for young readers (under age 18).

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this eBook may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Dedication

For Gary, for believing in me.

Thanks

I'd like to thank the following people for their support:

Gary: for the laughter and the support. And for being a wonderful technical consultant on all things police related.

Mom: for everything. Always.

Willa: for all you do. Your friendship and assistance are invaluable to me.

Erika: for helping to plant a seed and spark a dream.

Ann: for the beautiful covers.

Jason and Marina: for the formatting.

All of you: for taking the time to read my stories. I hope you enjoy this one!

Chapter 1.

Marina was still fuming about it twenty-four hours later. She just could not believe that he had actually said it. She rolled her eyes as she ran the brush through her wavy brown hair. Why couldn’t she believe it? Her father was always saying hurtful things to her. To all four of them. And Marina sometimes believed that he did it on purpose. To what end, she wasn’t sure, but in her mind, he actually enjoyed knocking the wind out of his children’s sails – taking them down a peg instead of building them up. Their mother, Julia, was always insisting that Mike Kelly simply had no filter. He said what was on his mind at the moment, and he was always brutally honest. Tact was never something he concerned himself with. He didn’t mean anything by it; that’s just the way he was.

Marina believed all of that was bullshit. The man was an adult. He could learn how not to hurt other people’s feelings like everybody else. The thing was, most other people thought Michael Kelly was one hell of a guy. Highly decorated cop on the job for over 35 years. Greatly respected by his fellow police officers and the community he served. Hell, ordinary citizens and criminal dirtbags alike all loved and respected him. Most of them knew him by name. He was a real, true blue, local celebrity – or was the word hero? Whatever it was, Marina was sick of that false narrative.

The truth of the matter was that the great Mike Kelly wasn’t nearly as great as most people thought. He may have been one of the best cops to ever walk the earth - at least to hear his fan club tell it - but in his home life, he was the biggest son of a bitch in the world.

Okay, maybe she was exaggerating a tiny bit, but only a teeny tiny bit. Her dad was one of those people who made loving them no easy task. And sometimes Marina felt like he purposely went out of his way to keep his kids off kilter, and to keep them at arm’s length. When they were growing up, Mike Kelly had ruled their home with an iron fist. Not that he was ever physically abusive or anything, but he sure as hell ran a strict ship, always keeping her and her brothers and her sister on four very short leashes. Especially her and her sister, Frankie. Talk about a double standard. She and Frankie got treated like nuns in a convent until they were both 18 years old, while Storm and Ethan got to go to parties and out on dates at the age of 16. But they were men so it was different, according to their father. Still, even with all the testosterone-fueled bonding that should have been taking place, all four of Mike Kelly’s kids found it difficult to live up to his impossible standards, even in adulthood. That’s why she still couldn’t believe that all of them had made the decision to follow in the man’s footsteps and become cops themselves.

As Marina dressed for the day, pulling on a comfortable pair of skinny jeans and a plain white tank top, she couldn’t help but wonder, as she did so often, what in the world had possessed them. Storm, Ethan and Frankie had all joined the Eastwood Police force! The family business, literally. Her Granddad. Her Uncle Mitch, and each of his five sons. All cops. She shook her head as she thought about it. All her life, all Marina ever wanted was to get away from the whole cop environment. She wanted nothing to do with it. It was like their whole family ate, slept, and breathed police work. She was surprised they didn’t shit blue turds! Although, she had never actually investigated that possibility, so who could say for sure?

But she had made up her mind as a teenager that she would not be going down that path. She was going to get as far away from law enforcement as she could get. And once that decision was made, Marina felt freer than she ever had in her life. She may have still been under her parent’s roof at the time, but she knew that wouldn’t always be the case. So, she chose an activity that she truly enjoyed and then pursued it with abandon.

Julia Kelly had been delighted that her youngest daughter had taken such an interest in cooking, and she eagerly taught her daughter everything she knew. And when Marina had begun to show some real talent for baking, her imagination took flight. Never content to just be ordinary, Marina wanted to do something wonderful and unexpected with her passion. So she did. And she was proud of the business she had created. She worked her butt off every single day, and it was really beginning to pay off. Her store stayed busy, and her products were now in not just one, but three local stores. And if her dad didn’t understand what an amazing accomplishment that was for her, then screw him!

She pulled on her white dress shirt that was embroidered with the store’s logo, leaving it