by Ree, Loni
Max is where he belongs. If he survives and is released from the South American jail where he's being held on murder charges, he will be sent back to the US to stand trial for all the crimes including embezzlement, extortion, and kidnapping. Needless to say, he will either die in a South American prison or North American prison. I'm happy either way.
We were able to recover three point five million dollars of my money. Having my wife and babies alive is well worth the one point five million not recovered.
The unscrupulous competitor who started the whole theft of corporate secrets has also gotten his punishments. He was charged with multiple felonies and is now serving ten years in prison. When he is released, he owes his , and creditors which includes us hundreds of millions in restitution. We'll probably never see it, but he'll never live high and mighty again.
Several of his accomplices within his organization are still in various phases of prosecution. I barely even pay attention anymore to how the cases are progressing. I pay Drew's company and my company lawyers so much money to pay attention and worry for me. They take care of Sterling-Ryan's interests, and I now take a more active role in my marriage.
My brothers have really stepped up and turned Sterling-Ryan into a real family business. When Max betrayed me, I had no idea how I was going to be able to keep our company at the top. My brothers have shown me how capable they are of taking on significant roles within Sterling-Ryan. All these years, I have sheltered them and run myself ragged trying to do everything all on my own. I was alienating my brothers by refusing to trust them with more responsibility. All I saw was spoiled, overindulged playboys who lived off of their trust funds. When I was the one holding them back because of my inability to give them more responsibility at Sterling-Ryan.
Max was brilliant, almost too bright. He always fed the illusion that they weren't responsible enough to take on more responsibility so that he stayed indispensable to me. I was too blind to see it. Meeting Madison and wanting to have more out of life than eighteen-hour days in the office finally woke me up. I am now happier than I could ever imagine being, those days of working from sunup until late at night and forgettable, meaningless hookups are a thing of the past. I still work hard for my family business, but nights and weekends are all dedicated to my wife and your family. I'm a dedicated family man. Who would believe?
Bradley has taken over the position of CEO of Steele Co. with Aiden as his CFO. Steele Co. is now back at the top and is no longer under threat from competitors. Bradley, as it turns out, is a much better businessman than either his father or older brother ever were themselves. There was a bit of tension at first between Bradley and Aiden because of Aiden's close relationship with his twin, Annie. Bradley now acknowledges that he dodged a bullet when his relationship with Annie ended. But I believe he will always feel hurt and betrayed at the way the situation occurred.
After the whole kidnapping incident, Bradley and I have become good friends, what has the world come to? I laugh when I think about it, yet I have actually never been happier. I hope Bradley finds the same happiness someday.
Over the last several months, Drew has had an incredible transformation. The gruff, beyond arrogant asshole, is now something completely different. His relationship with Annie has put a strain on the entire family, but the change in Drew has been unbelievable.
Lucy and Blake welcomed a baby girl, Lillian Margaret David, several months ago and adjusting to life with a new baby has been very difficult for the family. Drew has agreed not to assign Blake on long, international assignments he feels are unreasonably dangerous. I believe Blake is having a harder time with his new duties than he is letting on, but I hope with time, his love for his new family will overcome his desire for danger and excitement.
I have back to back meetings scheduled all day long. José is helping me to try to get everything arranged so I can take off several weeks when the babies are born. He is someone else who has stepped up and become very important to Sterling-Ryan.
Madison is due in three weeks, and we are ready to meet our new babies. We should have them within the next week. I texted her to see how she was doing, and she sent me a :-), so I guess things are okay. Every morning when I get up, I dread leaving her to go to work. I sit down to start the second meeting of the day and Brayden throws the door open. "Luke, I'm going to take over the meeting for you, you need to get to the hospital."
I realize when we get to the hospital, the whole ride over is a blur. Wyatt drops Nikolas and me off at the front door, and we run up to the front desk, and I say, "My wife, Madison Ryan, has been brought in to labor and delivery to have babies. I need to know what room she's in."
The lady looks at the computer and then asks me, "May I please have your drivers license sir? I cannot give out any information without proof of identification."
I hand over my drivers license, and she gives me instructions on where I can find Madison. By the time I get to the room, Madison is settled into the bed and hooked up to monitors and wires, and she looks a little nervous and stressed. I tell her everything is going to be okay, but I'm nervous and stressed myself. The whole family is gathering in the waiting room to support us. I pray our babies are born quickly and safely.
Twelve hours later, I looked down at my adorable daughter, Harper Michelle Ryan, and my handsome son, Christopher Lawrence Ryan, I can, at last, take a deep breath. I am finally sitting down to enjoy them after I kicked the entire Ryan and Steele circus out. I allowed them all in for a few minutes to come and see our new additions and to see for themselves that Madison is all right. They had all spent the last twelve hours waiting patiently, so I felt I owed them some time with my girls and my little man.
Now, daddy gets to spend time with his littlest angel baby and his little buddy. She's got my dark hair and has a perfect miniature version of Madison's beautiful face. It even looks like her eyes may be the same unique blue-purple as her mother's. He looks just like me, he also has my dimples and a head full of dark brown hair. I think he is going to have my blue eyes, too. I lay him on the bed next to his mom, so I can hold his sister for a little while. As I sit here holding her in my arms, I am amazed yet again at how small they both really are. Her tiny fingers are grasping my finger in a surprisingly tight hold. She, her brother and their mother have the same hold on my heart.
I feel love so deep for my family; I can barely contain the feelings. I look over at my gorgeous wife, snoozing in the bed, after all the hard work she did today, and I realize how lucky I am. I found my love, my wife, the mother of my children, my everything. The best decision I ever made was keeping My Angel.
The End
Thank you so much for reading Lukas’ Angel (Ryan Family Book 1). I hope you enjoyed this book and will consider leaving a review. My second book Blake’s Bombshell (Ryan Family Book 1.5) will be available on Amazon soon.
Coming Soon
Drew’s Undoing (Ryan Family Book 2)
Annie
I'm so glad to be home after the business trip from hell. I was trying to get new designs for La Femme, but it seems the universe was working against me. I only have a week to catch up on everything I am behind on before the Autumn Ball. After I pick up my cat, Mr. Whiskers, original I know, from Bradley's place, I plan to go home, down a bottle of wine, drown myself in my jet tub and then fall into bed for at least twenty-four hours of uninterrupted sleep. When I get to Bradley's, I go from room to room, and the dumb cat is nowhere to be found. I'm about to give up and go home without him when I have the bright idea to check the kitchen, and I see the old, utility elevator that should be closed at all times is actually wide open. My little furry baby is curled up in a ball in the back of the elevator, I hate this elevator and do not want to step foot in it since I was stuck in an elevator as a child. I stand at the edge and call him repeatedly, but he just ignores me. It becomes apparent that I'm going to have to bite the bullet and go into the elevator and rescue my baby.
As soon as I reach Mr. Whiskers and pi
ck him up, I hold him up to my face and tell them, "You are not going to get a treat when we get home because you have been a naughty boy." I just about have a heart attack when I hear a deep voice behind me. "Do you always talk to your cat like he's human?" Standing right behind me is Drew Steele.
"What are you doing here? You scared me to death. Oh my God, don't let the door close." Right as I say that, the elevator door creaks to a close behind him. He turns and tries to stop it, but it's too late. After the door closes, we are in the complete dark, Mr. Whiskers starts squirming to get down, and I let him go. "Do you have your cell phone on you so we can call for help and use the flashlight?" Drew asks from the dark. I'm shaking so hard and hyperventilating, and I can't even answer him. "Annie, do you have your cell phone? Fucking answer me so I can find you in the dark."
I start crying loudly, and I can hear him reaching across the wall looking for me in the dark. I shakily tell him, "I hate the dark, and I hate enclosed spaces. This elevator is supposed to be sealed. It doesn't work properly. I don't know why it's opened but being stuck in here is my worst nightmare. I don't have my cell phone, I put my purse on the hall table when I came in. What about you, do you have your cell phone?" He finally reaches me and pulls me into his strong arms. We both slide down to the floor, and he holds me rocking back and forth.
"I just got out of the shower, and I haven't had a chance to take my cell phone off of the charger. But, don't worry, I'm here with you nothing bad is going to happen to you. When Bradley gets off of work, he will find us. We will all laugh about this later, I promise you." I feel him kiss the top of my head and he keeps rocking me back and forth. I concentrate on my breathing and the feeling of his muscular body holding me from behind. Slowly, I start to relax, and I realize that I'm running my hand back and forth along his forearm which is wrapped right under my breasts.
I don't know who makes the first move, but suddenly my head is back on his shoulder, my chin is turned to the side, and we are kissing. His arm that was wrapped around my chest is now running under my blouse and is cupping my breast. He suddenly picks me up and spins me around so that I'm facing him and starts devouring my mouth. My shirt is ripped up over my head, and my bra is gone before I know it, and both of his hands are roughly grabbing and pinching at my breasts. It's like we are absolutely frantic for each other, I had no idea I like sex this rough. I keep rubbing myself harder and harder on the insanely large bulge in his pants and each time I do, he groans and squeezes a little harder. For a second, his hands leave my chest, and I feel him unbutton my pants and quickly push me off of his lap. He then drags my pants, underwear, and shoes off. He then pulls me right back onto his lap, and I feel him unzip his pants and the next thing I know he pulls me down onto his big dick and impales me. He has a bruising hold on my waist and keeps pulling me up and down while his hips hammer up into me from the bottom. He is so big I feel stretched to limit, and I have a hard time catching my breath. I keep chanting, "Oh God, Drew." Over and over again until my voice is hoarse. The only sounds in the old elevator are my chants, his grunts and the wet sounds of flesh smacking together.
When his movements start to get erratic, one of his hands moves between us, and he starts to roughly rub my clit in circles and then he leans up and bites one of my breasts hard. I come so hard, my screams echos all around the elevator. He thrusts two more times, and then he holds me down in a bruising grip, and I feel the warmth of his come filling me. I hear him grunting out, "Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, so fucking good." Then his head falls back against the elevator wall. I fall against his chest and stay in his lap with his dick deep inside of me while our breathing returns to normal.
After a few minutes, I feel Drew's body stiffen beneath me, and I know reality is setting in for both of us. I feel him reach up and run his hand down his face and whisper, "What the fuck was I thinking?" I whisper back to him, "I'm sorry."
"Sweetheart, I'm not the one you have to apologize to." I climb off of him and start feeling around in the dark for my clothes. I feel him press something into my hands and I realize that it's a handkerchief. "Doll, we didn't do a lot of talking first, and I didn't use a raincoat, I'm clean; I know for sure, but are you on birth control?" I clean myself up in the dark with the handkerchief, and then I find my pants and put them on; I stuff it into the pocket. "Yes, I'm on birth control, and I'm clean as well. I want you to know, I don't sleep around. I'm ashamed that I had sex with you while I'm supposed to be engaged to Bradley, but I haven't had sex with Bradley in many years. The last time I had a sexual relationship was a couple years ago, I've been so busy getting La Femme up and running, I haven't had time to date."
Drew and I sit on the floor for God knows how long waiting to be rescued. Mr. Whiskers crawls up in my lap, and his purring soothes me. I go over and over in my mind what is going to happen after my fuck up today. How can I still marry Bradley after I screwed his uncle? Should I tell him? Oh my God, I'm going to need two bottles of wine when I get home. Finally, there is a noise and light suddenly peeks through the elevator doors. Bradley is standing there with Mr. Craig, his handyman, he takes one look at us and asks, "How long have you been stuck in here?"
Drew immediately yells at him," Bradley, you should have gotten this elevator fixed before now. There is no reason for anyone to get stuck, this elevator is a serious hazard. Annie is terribly claustrophobic and had I not been in an elevator with her, this could have been a horrible tragedy."
Bradley steps into the elevator and grabs me and hugs me. He has a frown on his face when he tells me, "I'm so sorry you were stuck in here, I will have the repair service over tonight and it will either be fixed or completely sealed, I promise."
"Thank you, Bradley, I really appreciate you taking this seriously. Now, all I want to do is go home, have some wine and go to bed." I let him know. I turn to Drew and tell him, "Thank you so much, Drew, for keeping me calm the entire time we were trapped. I can't thank you enough. I'm going to grab Mr. Whiskers and get going." Drew turns and offers me a ride but I politely refuse and let him know that I have my car. I cannot get home fast enough and forget this day.
Even though my apartment is on the fifth floor, I take the stairs up when I get home. I'm not ready to ride in another elevator. Maybe tomorrow, I'll try. I turn Mr. whiskers loose and grab the bottle of wine I have chilling in the refrigerator, not even bothering with a glass. I put the wine on my marble bathroom counter, and get the hot water running in my tub. After I get undressed, I walk up to the bar and go to grab the wine and almost dropped the bottle on the floor when I look in the mirror. Oh my God, there is no way that Bradley and Mr. Craig could have possibly missed the fresh hickeys on my neck and chest. What the fuck am I going to do? Needless to say, the wine and the bath aren't very relaxing.
Drew
I'm a hard motherfucker, and I usually don't give a shit what other people think. In business, I'm known as hard but fair. There is nothing fair about fucking my nephew's fiancé. It isn't a love match, and I don't believe either one of them is genuinely looking forward to being married, but she is still engaged to him. The first time I met her, I wanted to throw her gorgeous ass on the desk and fuck her right there. I knew there was a discussion of arranged marriages, so I told myself she was off-limits and tried to avoid her as much as possible. I have failed spectacularly at avoiding her. It's a bitch that my new house is still under construction, and I have been staying at Bradley's. When I got out of the shower after my workout, I ran right into temptation.
After she left last night, Bradley seemed distracted and upset, but we did not have a chance to talk because of the elevator repairmen and Craig. I have a feeling he noticed the bruises on her neck and chest, there was also a faint smell of sex in the air. I will have to talk to my nephew, soon. Before I do, I want to talk to Annie and see how she wants to proceed. I called her this morning and asked her to come to my office at noon, a time when most of my employees are out for lunch so we can talk privately.
I'm so busy trying
to decide who I'm going to send to California to protect some airhead starlet, I don't notice the time. Jessica, my assistant, knocks and lets me know that Annie is here. Annie walks in wearing a gorgeous short, blue dress that stops mid thigh, it shows off her fabulous long, tan legs especially with the matching blue high heels. When I start to have thoughts of those legs wrapped around my hips and those heels digging into my ass, I think maybe this meeting was a bad idea. I take a couple deep breaths to try to get my thoughts under control.
I'm a little short with my assistant when I tell her, "Go ahead and take your lunch now, Jessica, when you get back, I'll need you to text out assignments for me." She leaves, and I signal for Annie to have a seat on the couch. I walk around the front of my desk, sit on the edge of it and run my hand down the front of my face. I do not even know where to start, "Bradley is suspicious, you have bruises all over your throat and chest, and the elevator smelled like a sex club. I don't believe in running from my problems, but before I talked to my nephew, I wanted to talk to you first. This situation isn't going to go away, so we are going to have to face it. I want your input."
"Drew, I have no idea what to do, I feel terrible because other people may think I cheated on Bradley. But the truth is, I never agreed to marry Bradley, and I have never felt like I was engaged to him. I should have spoken up and stood my ground but it all happened so fast, it's like 'proof,' I'm engaged. Before the Autumn Ball, I plan to talk to Gramps George, Bradley and Lukas about waiting until later to announce our engagement so that I could come up with a way to convince them of what a horrible idea this engagement is." I walk towards the sofa to stand over her, and her unique scent reaches me at the same time she leans forward, and I get a peek down her shirt. I feel my cock get hard in my pants and I growl in the back of my throat. She looks up, and her eyes widened when she sees my monster tenting my pants.
