by Livia Grant
His recollections shifted to his last visit with his grandfather. It was at his grandma’s funeral. Lukus had never seen his grandfather cry before that day. He remembered feeling helpless and hating it. Even now, almost twenty years later, he could still remember his grandfather’s shocking advice while they’d stood at the casket together almost word for word. At the time, Lukus had thought it was just the elder man’s grief talking, but having fallen in love with Tiff, he now understood the truth in his grandfather’s words for the first time.
“Don’t feel sad, Gramps.”
“I’m not sad. Not really. I had fifty-one wonderful years with the woman I loved more than life itself. We had three children, eleven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. I’ll see her again when I leave this earth.”
It was then that the older man had turned to look Lukus in the eyes, saying words Lukus had forgotten until today. “I almost lost her once, you know. Did something stupid. I was lucky she forgave me. She was my other half. Don’t ever settle for anything less in your life, Lukus. Keep looking until you find that one woman who makes you light up when she walks in the room. The woman who may drive you crazy, but you know you don’t ever want to go to sleep without her lying next to you. When you find her, grab on, and never let her go.”
Lukus had never been particularly religious, but in that moment, he felt the presence of his grandfather there with him, reminding him of his poignant advice. Reminding him of the importance of family.
“So, you decided to stop hiding. I had you pegged for a lot of things, but a coward wasn’t one of them.”
The venomous tone in Aiden’s voice behind him pulled Lukus from his memories. Before he could turn around, accusations from the other O’Sullivan men started flying.
“I can’t believe my little girl would hang around with a felon who gets off on hurting women. I want you off my property in the next three minutes, before the women return.”
Lukus was in the process of standing to confront them when he was pushed to the dock, Aiden’s stocky body determined to do harm. Lukus wrestled free of him, trying valiantly to avoid a real fight, knowing how much it would hurt Tiffany. Still, he was not going to sit by and get his ass kicked without defending himself.
He tried to defuse the situation. “I think everyone should calm down. Let’s go back to the house and talk about this, man to man.”
Colin surprised him by jumping into the fray. “I think my dad and Aiden are right. You should leave now. We’ll make sure Tiffany makes it home safely, although maybe it’s best if she stays here for a while where we can take care of her better than she’s been taking care of herself.”
Lukus took a deep breath. “Tiffany isn’t taking care of herself. That’s my job now.”
“All the more reason for her to stay. She obviously doesn’t have enough sense to avoid abusive criminals. I’m going to move her in with me when we get back to Chicago—and if you even try to get near her, I’ll have you arrested.” Aiden’s voice was threatening.
Lukus choked out an angry laugh. “Arrested for what? Falling in love?”
Aiden was up in his face. “Don’t pretend with me. I know what kind of sick and depraved shit goes on at that club of yours. I read the police report of the innocent women you abused and raped, and those are just the ones brave enough to report the crime. I’ve interviewed others who talk about how you beat women nightly. As soon as Tiffany learns what kind of a man you are, she’s going to dump you anyway. I’m just saving her from having to experience your flavor of abuse firsthand.”
Lukus had had enough. Grabbing Aiden by the scruff of his shirt, he lifted him completely off the ground, slamming him against the wall of the nearby boathouse, bringing their faces to the same height. “I think you’d better get your fucking facts straight,” he snarled.
Aiden didn’t flinch. In fact, he was getting madder by the minute. “So, you deny being arrested?”
Through all of his legal troubles, Lukus had never felt angrier at the charges against him than he did at this minute. “I don’t deny being arrested, but if you’re gonna tell the story, tell the whole story. My business partner and I were arrested, but the criminal case was thrown out almost immediately for lack of evidence against us. Then, six weeks ago, the civil suit was also thrown out when the court found in my favor. I’ve been fully exonerated.”
“Are you denying that you beat those women?”
“Hell yes, I’m denying I beat them.” Lukus wished he could leave it at that, but knew he couldn’t. “What I did to them was punish them according to the contract they signed with their Doms when they joined the club. I did to them what they had witnessed me do to dozens of other women before them—things they had even enjoyed watching.”
It was Tiff’s father who spoke from behind him. “So, it’s true. You’re a sicko who owns a sex club where you hurt women?”
Lukus lowered Aiden’s feet to the wooden pier so he could turn to address Tiffany’s father. “I do own a sex club, yes. And I guess you’re allowed your opinion on if I’m a sicko or not. All I can say to you is that I love your daughter, sir.”
It was Aiden in his face, shouting again. “Men like you don’t know how to love a woman like my sister. You use women. I don’t know what you have over her, but you need to walk away from her before she gets hurt.”
“You don’t think me just leaving her here without even saying goodbye is going to hurt her?” Lukus asked.
“She’ll get over it, and you know what the hell I mean. She needs to get away from you before she gets hurt, physically.”
Lukus was so close to throwing punches he took a deep breath to remain calm. “I would rather cut my right arm off than ever let anything bad happen to Tiffany.”
Colin, the voice of reason, stepped into the fray, pushing the two men apart. “All right, I think everyone should calm down. Let’s try to sort this out like civilized men.”
Aiden almost spit in Lukus’s face. “That assumes he is a civilized man. From what I’ve dug up, he’s more like a monster, hurting women on stage and trying to call it entertainment. Tiffany is going to freak out when she learns the truth.”
Lukus knew he should keep his mouth shut. She’d be upset if she were here, but he had no choice. He couldn’t allow Aiden to stay in the dark. “Tiffany has known the truth about the club from the very first day I met her. Our first night together was at the club. She’s been to many shows with me and is intimately aware of what happens there, both on and off stage.”
The blood drained from Aiden’s face. He looked like he was going to be sick, and Lukus immediately regretted his outburst.
“I don’t believe you,” Aiden could only whisper.
“Listen, these are private matters between Tiffany and me. You’re just gonna have to believe me when I say that I love your sister and I would go to my grave to keep her happy and safe. That needs to be good enough.”
It was her dad who piped in next. “You’ll never be good enough for my Tiffy.”
Chapter Sixteen
Tiffany
After the shocking conversation with her mom, the afternoon dragged on for Tiffany. In all, they’d been gone for three hours by the time the women were pulling back into the driveway. Tiffany had tried to call Lukus several more times with no answer. She even resorted to calling Aiden’s cell—but it, too, was going straight to voicemail. She had shared her concerns with her mom and sisters, and all the women found none of the men were answering their phones. All occupants of the van were silent, each anxious to find out what the men had been up to while they were gone.
The young girls bounded out of the van first, running to the house. By the time Tiffany, her mom, and sisters made it to the back door, the girls were returning.
“No one’s in there.”
Tiffany’s panic took hold. “What do you mean, Jill? No one is in the kitchen?”
“Nope. I called out, too, and no one answered.”
Just then, a s
hout could be heard from down by the lake. Tiffany and the rest of the women rushed around the end of the house to search the area. In the distance, down by the boat dock, Tiff saw all of the men standing in a semi-circle. She couldn’t see what they were looking at, but the shouts of, “Knock it off you two,” gave her a hint.
She took off running and heard her mom shouting behind her. “Stay calm, Tiffany.”
She wanted to scream at her mother for her naiveté. She never should have left Lukus alone with Aiden.
As she neared the beach, her high heels sunk into the sand. She stopped long enough to whip off her shoes, running the rest of the way to the dock barefoot. The shouts of the men got louder as she got closer, and she wasn’t happy with the snippets she was hearing.
“For the last time, just get in your car and get the hell out of here. I’ll drive Tiffany home.”
“Over my dead body.” She heard the strain in Lukus’s voice.
“Don’t push me. That can be arranged.” Aiden’s voice was full of fury.
Her other brothers were trying to break it up, but she heard her dad weigh in and her heart sank. “I’m not going to let some hoodlum with a record corrupt my baby girl.”
Tiffany was relieved to hear Colin, a voice of reason. “Dad, you need to settle. The criminal and civil cases were dismissed. That means he’s innocent.”
“Don’t spout your legal mumbo-jumbo at me, Colin.”
“It’s not mumbo-jumbo. It’s the law. I think everyone needs to calm down.”
None of the men had noticed the women’s return before Tiffany ran into the middle of the group to push Aiden back away from Lukus, standing in front of him as a mother bear might to protect her cub. She was relieved to feel Lukus hugging her from behind, claiming her visibly for all to see. She could feel him trembling as he hugged her tight against his chest, struggling to remain calm.
He really does love me… because he’s working so hard not to let things escalate out of control with my family.
Tiffany faced Aiden and her father. She was both relieved and saddened to see the rest of the family lining up behind her and Lukus. It was turning out exactly as she had feared. The two men she had loved the most in her life up until meeting Lukus were going to fight the hardest against letting her go.
It was then that she realized it didn’t matter who she brought home. They’d be fighting against letting her go no matter who was holding her, because they still felt like they were her protectors. They weren’t ready to give up their positions in her life to another man. She even remembered times where Aiden and her father had butted heads, vying for the number one spot in Tiffany’s heart.
The clarity of the moment helped Tiff know the path forward. The wives and kids had all arrived at the beach. She glanced up to see a confused Liam and Lisa joining them. Every single member of her family was there now, with the exception of Declan. A pang of sadness at his absence hit her, but she had to ignore it to deal with the crisis of the moment.
“Daddy and Aiden. I know you think you’re helping to protect me, but you aren’t. The only thing that can hurt me right now is if you make me choose between you and Lukus. I love you both, and I know this is going to be hard for you to hear, but I love Lukus, too. I need him.”
Aiden retorted, “You deserve someone so much better, Tiff.”
“Really? And just who would that be, Aiden? I’ve dated lots of guys, and let me tell you, none of them—not one—made me feel like Lukus does. I don’t just love him. I’m in love with him. If you love me, you’re going to accept that, and welcome him into the family.”
Her father joined the fray. “The last time I checked, he wasn’t asking to be part of our family. He’s just taking advantage of my little girl, and plans on using you, and tossing you aside when he’s done with you.”
Surprisingly, it was Tiff’s mom who stomped forward to confront her father. The entire family watched in stunned silence as Isabella dressed down her husband. “Patrick O’Sullivan, that’s enough.” When he looked to argue back, she raised her hand to shush him. “Not another word. I’m ashamed of you.” She stopped to glance at her son next. “And I’m even more ashamed of you, Aiden.”
She stopped to place her hands on her hips before her lecture continued. “Tiffany is twenty-seven years old. She is an intelligent woman, who is more than capable of picking out the right man for herself. I’d begun to worry she was being too picky, but now I understand she was just waiting for the right person.”
“But Ma, you don’t understand what kind of a man he is. He’s no good for her.”
“I know what I need to know. He makes her happy. It’s all I can hope for, for all of my children.” Turning to her husband, she continued. “Need I remind you, Patrick, that my father didn’t like you overly much at first, either? He never understood why a nice Italian girl would fall in love with an Irish hothead. Should I have listened to him and walked away from you when he wanted me to?”
Tiffany had never seen her mother stand up to her dad like this. She was both horrified and impressed in equal measure. She was relieved to feel Lukus still holding her tightly as they watched the emotions flit across Patrick’s face before he buckled under his wife’s steely stare.
“Bella, you know how grateful I was that you didn’t let your family run me off, but this is different.”
“How is this different, Patrick?”
“Because I loved you.”
Lukus surprised Tiff by releasing her to step around and approach her father and favorite brother.
“If I can, I’d like to say something here. I understand your concerns. Honestly, I’m not nearly as close to my younger sister as you are to Tiffany, but if she brought someone like me home, I might be worried about her too. But here’s the thing: I love Tiffany like I have never before loved another human being on the face of the earth. I didn’t even know I was capable of feeling the way she makes me feel. Believe me when I say I would never put up with the kind of bullshit I’ve put up with from you two today if I didn’t love her.”
Aiden fired back. “So why are you? Fucking leave already.”
Tiffany choked out a cry. “No!”
“Why are you still here?” Aiden prompted Lukus again.
“Because it’s not enough for me and Tiffany to love each other. She loves all of you, too. That means that the only way for her to be happy is for us to all get along. Her happiness is my responsibility. So, like it or not, you’re stuck with me.”
Aiden shot back. “Fine. I can wait you out. I’ll be there to pick up the pieces after you break her heart, and leave her broken when you move onto your next easy target. Men like you don’t commit.”
Tiffany wanted to scream, but her brother knew her so well. Aiden had struck too close to her own fears. He’d described what she still feared more than anything.
Men like Lukus don’t commit, do they? How long until he tires of me?
She felt light-headed. Unwanted tears streamed down her face. She wanted to turn the clock back to the beginning of the day and never bring Lukus here. As each long second of silence stretched on, she was more sure he was going to leave.
He was facing away from her. Lukus’s answer came so quietly, she was sure she’d heard him wrong. She heard Aiden’s, “Oh, Jesus Christ,” loud and clear.
It was her mom who asked Lukus to repeat his words. “Can you repeat that, Lukus? I think Tiffany missed it.” Her mom glanced at Tiff, tears now streaming down her face, too.
Lukus turned and Tiffany was blown away by the tears threatening in his eyes. Her family crowded closer, anxious to see how the drama played out. Tiff glanced across to see that even her teenage nieces and nephews had put their cell phones aside to watch the excitement.
Everything moved in slow motion as Lukus approached Tiff before dropping to his knee, reaching to grasp her hands in his. Time stood still as they stared into each other’s eyes. She was relieved to see his love shining back at her.
�
�Tiffany. I love you more than I’ve ever known it’s possible to love a woman. You’ve turned my life upside down, and yet I’ve never been happier. Would you please marry me and be my wife?”
Her family didn’t give her a chance to answer before all hell broke loose. There were whoops and cheers, mixed in with expletives and nervous laughter. Tiffany didn’t miss her father’s, “Jesus, Joseph and Mary,”—his favorite curse. The one he saved for big occasions.
Aiden was less poetic. “Fuck.”
Her mother admonished them both. “Patrick. Aiden. That’s more than enough.”
Her father retorted, “This is ridiculous. He’s just doing this to spite me.”
Isabella set him straight. “Are you kidding me? Any idiot just needs to watch them together for five minutes, and you can see how much they love each other.”
“I saw that look too, Bella. That isn’t love. That’s lust. He just wants to have sex with my baby girl,” Patrick snapped.
Tiffany saw the corners of Lukus’s mouth curl up into a slight smile. She enjoyed watching his reaction to the surrounding ruckus.
“Well, of course he does, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love her too,” Isabella argued.
Her father was about to butt in again, but Bella cut him off, glaring at her husband. “I will remind you that we had been married for six years by the time I was Tiffany’s age, and we already had three children. Spare me the lecture on her not being old enough to have sex. I think I can speak for every woman here when I say that you men could learn a thing or two about how to look at your wife by watching Lukus here. You all might have happier marriages.”
It was Angelina who was scandalized by her mother’s outburst, not because she disagreed, but because she had to put her hands over the ears of her teenage daughter, who was now much more interested in the juicy conversation going on around her than her cell phone. “Mom, please. The kids are here.”
