He’d love that. It’d give him a chance to use all his lawyer training to keep her tethered to him in litigation forever.
Anna groaned as he snatched the pictures back from her.
“Why are you even doing this?” she asked. “The divorce is finalized. We are no longer together. This is none of your business.”
Jason’s face reddened with rage. His jaw clenched as he stepped even closer to her.
“If you don’t recall, I didn’t want a divorce,” he said. “You are my wife. You will always be my business.”
Something snapped inside of her. He thought he could get away with talking to her like that after all the shit he put her through? Not a fucking chance.
“Now you want to be my husband?” she said and took several steps forward. Anna poked him hard in the chest. “You fucked around on me, and I’m supposed to be your loyal wife? Hell, you hit on my friend and boss! Give me my boxes, or I’m coming back with the police, and I’ll make sure your whole firm knows about it. I’m tired of messing with you. I’ll do what I want, when I want, and who I want.”
Jason breathed in hard. She could tell he was struggling to keep control.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. She frowned as he did so.
“All your stuff is in a storage unit,” he said. “20B on Main Street.”
Jason placed the keys in her hand.
“You’ll regret this,” he said. “You’ll regret getting involved with a man like him.” He sneered. “When you lie down with dogs, you wake up with flees.”
Anna grabbed the pictures out of his hand. “The only thing I regret is getting involved with you.”
She stomped over to the elevator and punched the lobby button once inside. As she rode down, she ripped the pictures into tiny pieces.
The idea of some creep watching them kiss made her stomach turn. Even more so, Jason had taken the time to have her followed. Maybe next time Finn offered to have him rubbed out, she should take him up on the offer.
She made her way out of the elevator and stomped over to the trashcan. She tossed the torn shreds inside. The security guard raised an eyebrow at her, but stayed quiet. She figured he probably wasn’t paid enough to deal with that level of anger.
Anna got into her car and slammed the door behind her. Stirred up by the incident, she put the music on loud.
Only when safe inside the confines of her own car did she let all the emotion she’d been holding out. Sobs racked her body as tears flowed freely down her face.
She’d had such a nice night. And all it took was just a few minutes of seeing Jason to ruin it all. She was so sick of that man and the hold he had over her. Was he going to punish her forever for his own sins?
Anna wiped the tears from her eyes and took in a shuddered breath. Right now all she wanted was a nice hot bath to wash away Jason’s bullshit.
Hot bath and maybe some ice cream. That ought to fix things.
Chapter Six
Riley shifted the sack he was carrying over to his other hand and knocked a few times on the door. It was dark out, but he knew Anna would still be awake. He needed to see her, be with her, or even just near her if she’d let him.
He let out the breath he’d been holding when she opened the door. She’d already changed into a pair of black pajama shorts and a black tank.
“What are you—” she started.
It was time for action, not words. Riley stepped up to her and placed his mouth against hers, invading her mouth with his tongue. He’d hungered for her the entire day, a gnawing and distracting feeling.
The kiss was greedy, but he didn’t care. He missed her all day. His mind constantly returned to thinking about her. It was hard to focus or care about anything else with her out there and away from him.
He debated calling ahead, but he knew she would run before he arrived. Anna was good at keeping him at arm’s length, and he was tired of being there.
After last night, he knew they could be explosive together. He just needed to show her that. He needed her to believe.
He pulled his mouth back from hers and stared down at her face.
“I missed you,” he said softly. “More than you know.”
A small blush came to her cheeks. It warmed him that he could have that effect on her. When he brought his hand up to her cheek, he noticed how puffy her eyes were.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, concern creeping in.
She nodded and stepped out of his arms. For a moment he worried that he had been the cause of her tears. A man who couldn’t keep his woman happy was no man at all.
“I had to see Jason today,” she said. A long sigh followed.
His muscles tensed, and he bit back a grunt. He hated that bastard, and everything he had put Anna through. The fucker wouldn’t leave her alone.
The only reason he hadn’t paid the man a visit was because Anna had made it clear to Finn that she didn’t want the Kellys further involved.
Still, he wondered. It’s not like he had to even do anything to the guy. Just a quick visit and a few choice words would probably be enough.
Jason was a chicken shit control freak, after all. He wouldn’t know what to do with someone like Riley.
He stepped over to Anna. “Did something happen?”
He watched as she took in a deep breath and let it out. She shook her head.
“Just the same old thing,” she said. “You’d think it would have stopped getting to me at some point.” She brushed some hair from her ear. “But every time I talk to him…”
Riley wrapped his arms around the back of her neck and pulled her in for another soft kiss. She stepped willingly into his arms and molded her mouth to his. He continued to kiss her for a moment, before he pulled back again.
Anna looked up at him, her eyes half-closed. “Why are you even here?”
Riley lifted the sack in his other arm. He watched as she looked over to the sack. Her eyes widened with shock.
“Thai food?” she said, a hint of excitement in her voice.
He gave her a smile. “It is.”
She looked back up to him with pure wonder on her face.
“I love Thai.”
Riley nodded and smiled before placing the bag on the table. “I know.”
He pulled out the containers inside, then waited as Anna walked over and stood next to him at the table.
“You know?” She continued to stare at him for a moment before she spoke again. “Just how do you know that it is my favorite?” A faint look of suspicion crossed her face.
Riley continued to pull the containers out of the bag and looked over to her.
“I pay attention to everything that has to do with you,” he said softly.
“Oh.” Surprise replaced the suspicion on her face.
Anna grabbed some bowls from the cabinet and brought them over to the table. She handed him a spoon, and they filled their bowls with rice and curry.
She returned to the cabinet and grabbed a wine glass. She took her food over to the couch and sat down.
Riley brought his bowl of curry over to the coffee table and took off the two guns on his belt before sitting down. When he looked over, he was surprised to find she was watching his actions.
“Do you always wear them?” she asked. She gestured toward the guns with her fork.
Riley shrugged and took a bite of the curry. The flavors exploded on his tongue and hit the spot after the exhausting day he had.
“I never know when I’m going to need them,” he said. “Better to be safe than sorry.”
Anna took a couple of bites of her curry and then took a sip of her wine. He could tell she wanted to ask more.
“And what do you do for Finn exactly?” she asked slowly.
Riley stilled. He assumed she might ask at some point but still wasn’t sure what to say. How much should he tell her? It wasn’t exactly like the family business was a secret, but he wasn’t really certain how much she wanted to know abo
ut his past. Or, for that matter, how much he wanted her to know.
He’d done some bad things. Sure, he could argue he’d done bad things to bad people who deserved it, but in the end, he’d been working as an enforcer for an organized crime family that had only gone straight recently. His hands were far from clean. They weren’t even in the same ZIP code as clean.
Riley settled on the fact that if they were going to have a relationship, Anna deserved to know the extent of his job, no matter if it made him look bad or not.
“I’m a good shot,” Riley said. He watched her as he spoke, worried with each word he might run her off. “I know how to find out things, and I’m loyal. Finn knows he can count on me and that I’ll have his back.” He shrugged. “Sometimes I help take care of things when stuff gets messy.”
He watched as Anna took several sips off her wine. Her hand shook a little, and it killed him that she was afraid.
Of course she was, though. Even if he wasn’t being explicit, she wasn’t an idiot. She knew exactly what “messy” implied.
He cursed himself inwardly. He wouldn’t blame her if she told him to get out and that she wanted nothing to do with him.
Still, he had to try.
Riley took her other hand. “Things are different now. Finn is trying for a better life. One where we don’t have to always wear a gun. It’s taking some time and effort, but we’re getting there.”
Relief flooded him when she timidly gave a small squeeze. His answer seemed to be enough for now at least. He dared to cling to that hope.
She pulled back her hand to continue eating.
“Is that what you were doing today?” she asked. Anna shook her head. “You don’t have to tell me. I don’t really have a right to—”
Riley placed his hand on her bare thigh and gave it a small squeeze.
“I will always tell you what I’m doing,” he said. “I want to be honest with you.” He sighed. “But don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to.”
Anna’s lips parted, and she gave a small nod. He raised a brow to ask if he should continue, and she nodded again.
Riley pulled his hand back to take another bite of curry. “We’ve had movement with the Russians. Nothing big, but we can’t just ignore it either. They might be gearing up for something.”
He heard a small gasp from Anna. He knew just how terrified she had been when the Russians had attacked her and Claire at their office. She knew all too well how ruthless the Russians could be.
“Are they coming for you?” she asked and leaned into him, worry on her face.
Riley shrugged. “At some point the score will have to be settled,” he said. “But for now we’re waiting to see what happens.”
Anna nodded and set her empty bowl on the table. He watched as she downed the rest of her wine, and he finished his own curry.
Riley stood and gathered her bowl in his own and brought them to the sink in the kitchen. Then he gathered the leftovers and placed them inside the fridge. When he returned she had poured the rest of the wine between their glasses.
He liked knowing she wasn’t trying to rush him out. He sat back down on the couch next to her and wrapped his arm behind her as he did so. Anna turned in the crook of his arm and placed her head against his chest. When her hand stretched out against his stomach, he felt the lower half of him jump to attention at her touch.
“Why do you have to have such a dangerous job?” she said quietly.
Riley ran his hand along her long soft blonde hair absently and shrugged.
“Part of the family,” he said. “When you grow up with it, it becomes a piece of you. A part of everything that you are.”
Riley looked down at her and waited for her to look up at him.
“Finn wants to change that,” he said softly. “He wants to give us a chance for a different sort of life. Something that none of us have ever known or even hoped for.”
Anna nodded. “It just seems like it’s going to be hard for you all to step away from all the trouble that life can cause.”
She wasn’t wrong. It was something that the men had spoken about before. Because they had led the life that they had, it meant they would always have a tie to that world.
But maybe, just maybe, their children would have a different sort of life. One where they got to be the men and women they wanted to be versus what role they could fill in the family.
Riley shrugged. “Our past will always be there,” he said. “The best thing we can do now is to make a better future.” He took a deep breath before he finished what he wanted to say. “Like a future with you.”
He watched as she opened her mouth to say something but cut her off before she could protest. He couldn’t hear it. Didn’t want to.
For him, there was always just going to be Anna. She was the woman for him, he could feel it in his bones. She just had to see it, too.
Riley placed his mouth on hers to silence her protest. With ease he deepened the kiss, and the mood changed completely.
Chapter Seven
Anna couldn’t believe how much she wanted Riley. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since they had been together, and yet she was desperate to be with him again, aching for it. It was like being a horny teenager.
She spread her legs over his wide thighs and nestled herself against his hard length. Riley deepened the kiss and groaned against her mouth. She moaned in return.
Anxious to feel his hard bare chest against her fingers again, Anna pulled the shirt he was wearing over his head and tossed it across the room.
Riley raised a brow about her actions, and she shrugged.
“You look better without it,” she said. “And it was in the way.”
He grinned.
She ran her hands over his solid chest and down his chiseled stomach. She wondered how often he had to work out to get muscles like that. Visions of him covered in sweat as he strained to lift huge weights filled her mind. The mere thought was making her wet and soaking her panties.
Anna shook her head and filed it away as something to remember and enjoy later on.
His hands ran up and down her back, and she loved the way he cherished her as he plundered her mouth.
No other man had ever made her feel as special as Riley did. The man made her break every rule she’d ever set for herself by exceeding every expectation she’d ever had.
She pulled away from his mouth and slid her body onto the floor between his legs. She placed open-mouthed kisses along his chest and slid her tongue along his nipple. Slowly, she kissed and licked down each delicious ripple of muscle until she reached the button on his jeans. Her eager tongue swirled around the hair lining the area.
Anna looked up to Riley and found his gaze fixed on her, watching to see just what she planned to do.
Just having him watch her ignited her insides. His simple look almost undid her. She pressed her legs together to ease off the burning for him. She wanted to stretch out the experience, make it last, but her center was all but crying for release.
Anna popped the button on the pants and slid the zipper down. She should have been surprised to find there was no barrier between him and his jeans, but she was more excited than anything.
His thick, hard head jutted out of the top opening. Anna leaned down and licked the slit with slow deliberation. She savored the salty taste in her mouth, his taste.
Riley reached down and grabbed the hem of her shirt. He tore it over her head. He popped her bra and ran his fingers along the soft flesh there. She moaned as he tweaked her nipples.
“Yes,” she moaned quietly.
“Take the rest off,” he said, his quiet tone in contrast with his actions just a second earlier.
Anna stood and turned around as she slid her shorts and panties down her legs. She bent over in front of him, exposing her dripping center directly to him. Oh, how she needed him.
Riley groaned and leaned forward. She could feel his hot breath right on her center. She gave a small yelp of
surprise as he nipped her left cheek with his teeth. That was the first time she’d ever experienced anything like that.
Anna stood up and turned around to glare at him, but the look vanished when she found Riley groping himself, stroking his hard length as he stared at her.
“Suck on me,” he said, his voice full of promise.
Anna got down on her knees and was somewhat surprised when Riley stood up in front of her. He kicked off his pants and stared down at her; his thick, hard cock pointed directly at her, eager and throbbing.
He waited as she positioned herself in front of him. Anna lifted her hand to grip him, but Riley shook his head.
“Just your mouth.”
She leaned forward and opened her mouth wide. Her mouth closed around the head as she licked it a few times and pulled back out. She dipped the head back inside, going a little farther each time, pulling him farther and farther into her mouth until he was hitting the back of her throat. She still hadn’t taken his impressive length in all the way, and she wasn’t really certain she’d be able to.
“Touch yourself,” he said. This time, there was no quiet calmness. His voice was hoarse and strained as he spoke, as if he was doing everything he could to hold himself back.
Tentatively, she reached down to her aching center. She spread herself open and ran her middle finger back and forth along the seam, putting pressure on her clit as she rubbed her juices along her.
Anna pushed Riley deeper into her throat and moaned as her fingers sank inside her. She was surprised when his hand gathered her hair at the back of her head. Somehow having him control her mouth filled her with excitement she didn’t know she could feel from just sucking on him.
Riley bobbed her head over his length, never pushing too hard. but each time he slipped deeper back into her throat. She could feel her muscles there work as she tried to swallow around him.
“Jesus, Anna,” he grunted, twitching inside her mouth.
Riley: #4 (Kelly Clan) Page 4
