“Eh?” I was the confused one now.
“After what your father threatened, Cole gave me an opportunity I couldn’t say no to. He said he’d take care of Carrie.” My ears pricked up then. “I must admit I was surprised you left, I really thought you’d have stood up to him.”
“What the fuck are you on about?”
“Cole and Carrie.”
“What about me and Cole?” Carrie cut in, shaking her head in bewilderment. She wasn’t the only one who was confused.
Gabe swung his eyes to Carrie and sighed. “I honestly thought you were better than that, Carrie. I know our dad was a fucker, but hell, I thought you were better.”
“Gabe,” she growled, making Gabe and me stare at her. “What – the – fuck – are – you – on – about?”
His eyes snapped from Carrie to me then back to her. “You know,” he dropped his voice to whisper. “Your… thing with Cole.”
“My thing?”
Gabe sat a little straighter, blinking at his sister like she’d gone completely mad. “Your affair with Cole, the reason he helped me get out, because you were having his baby and he couldn’t bear for you to be over-ridden with grief while you were pregnant.”
Carrie choked on her water as I flung upright, spluttering at Gabe like it was his turn in the mental asylum for an hour. “What the hell, bro? Who the fuck told you she was screwing Cole?”
He stared from me to Carrie, his brow pinched in the middle. “Cole did. He said she was pregnant and it was all about to come out. He said you would leave when you found out and he couldn’t bear to lose me too so he helped me get out before your father managed to keep his promise,” he explained.
The silence was deafening for a moment before Carrie stood up and in one swift movement, slapped Gabe across his cheek, his head snapping to the side with the force of the blow. “You fucking idiot!” she bellowed. “And you believed him?”
“I had no reason not to!” he argued. “I thought I was a dead man, Carrie. My stupidity cost me my family and nearly my life. When Cole told me the change of plan, who the fuck was I to argue. He told me he would take care of you, watch over you and take care of you and the baby. It was either leave or have a bullet in my forehead.”
I couldn’t hold my sanity for much longer. “Cole is a dead man,” I seethed as Gabe stared at me.
“None of this was Cole’s fault, he helped me get out as quick as possible.”
“ALL OF THIS IS COLE’S FAULT!” Carrie screamed. She swung round to me. “He’s mine, Joel’s father or not. I want his blood on my hands, Adam.”
My eyes widened on her as my heart stilled. “Carrie…”
“Oh no, that man ruined my fucking life. Apart from Joel, all he has given me is lies and deceit. You both left me because of him and his fucking stupid imaginary relationship!”
“What’s going on?” Gabe asked quietly when Carrie stormed from the room, snatching up my bottle of lager on her way out to the garden as she left me to explain the last thirteen years to her brother, including his fake death.
***
“Hey,” I smiled at Carrie as I sat beside her on the bench in Gabe’s garden, the honeysuckle from the tree above in her hair making her appear quite angelic.
“You won’t change my mind, Adam.”
I shook my head at her. “This isn’t you Carrie.”
She laughed, her head flinging back. “That’s where you’re very wrong.” She turned her face to mine slowly. A shiver raged through me when I caught the look in her eye. I hadn’t seen that since we were kids and she’d taught Kimberly Lomas a lesson when she’d lied to everyone in our school and said Gabe had raped her, not that anyone had believed the skank. “I was born and brought up to be this Carrie. For me, it’s not a case of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’.” She held my gaze, her eyes darkening with the skies when it seemed to sense her fury. “For me, it’s a case of ‘If you can’t leave it, accept it’. And it’s time I accepted who I am Adam, instead of trying and failing to push it away. For years and years I’ve put Joel first, tried to put my upbringing behind me and attempt to make a decent life out of all the shit.”
“And you should,” I encouraged but she shook her head again.
“No Adam. I need to accept I’m not the good girl I try to be. I lost you and Gabe for so long that I think it shocked me into some false belief about who I really was and what I wanted. But now all I can think of through the red haze is vengeance. I want him to pay for what he has done. Joel deserves better than a lying cheating bastard for a father. Through all my faults, I won’t allow that. I would rather Joel be brought up with an honest lawbreaker for a mother than lying my way through life with a man that doesn’t even deserve my spit.”
“An honest lawbreaker?” I quirked an eyebrow at the contradictory term.
“You know what I mean,” she huffed. “What’s the point anymore? Ted Michaelson is making it his mission to end my career anyway. I’d rather work in the local chip shop than lie to myself and to my son.”
I looked away, plucking at a leaf on the bush beside me. “And us?” I asked, closing my eyes as I dreaded her answer.
“Us?” she asked, “Or you and Harriet the Whore?”
I snorted at her term, but nudged her with my elbow when she turned away, a faint blush creeping up her face with her question. “Kerplunk.”
“Sorry?” She snapped her head round, squinting in confusion at me.
“Me and Harriet the Whore. We played kerplunk.”
Her mouth dropped open. Before I could move she slapped at me, her hands whacking me until I grabbed them and pulled her across the bench and onto my lap. Her hands framed my face and as abruptly as she stopped hitting me she was kissing me, her warm breath merging with my own when she poured every emotion into me. “I’m sorry,” she whispered against my lips. “I’m sorry. You could never come after my damn job, never. I love you Adam, I’ve always loved you. I was scared, for Joel, for me. I didn’t know what to…”
I kissed her, quietening her anxiety, telling her with my own emotions that I understood. At the end of the day, I left her. And then I expected her to just drop everything for me. I should never have done that. But I also knew I would never be able to let go of her ever again.
Carrie pulled away quickly, coughing and widening her eyes on something behind me. She clambered off my knee and dropped to a crouch when a little boy came toddling down the garden. He stopped in front of her, his head tipped and his eyes small as he studied her for a moment. “Hello,” Carrie greeted him softly and quietly.
Gabe came to stand beside him, resting a hand softly on his shoulder. “Nicholas, this is your Auntie Carrie and Uncle Adam.”
Nicholas’s eyes widened as he stared at Carrie. “Cawwie,” he said simply as though aware of who she was. Unexpectedly he dived for her, his chubby little arms wrapping round her neck as his eyes squeezed closed. “Cawwie,” he repeated with a huge grin.
The sound of Carrie’s weeping made me swallow and walk over to Gabe. “Where’s his mother?”
Gabe’s face hardened but he kept his eyes fixed on his son and sister. “She died a year ago. Leukaemia.”
“Ahh shit, Gabe. I’m so sorry.”
He nodded, the pain of her death still raw in his expression. I placed my hand on his shoulder, both of us still watching auntie and nephew hug and kiss, Nicholas babbling away as he picked Carrie some daisies and she started to make a chain with him. “Come home, Gabe, give Nicholas his aunt. They need each other.”
“I can’t Adam, your father…”
“Is dead,” I cut him off. He frowned at me. “Cole killed him, probably before he had a chance to tell me about your disappearance. Not that I’m bothered. Hated the bastard. Should have done him in a long time ago.”
Gabe scoffed but nodded, the feeling about his own father mutual. “And Cole?”
“And Cole is a dead man.”
“By you or me?”
I lo
oked at him then. I didn’t miss the need in him, the craving for blood in his eyes, the look that had brought us all together as kids. I smiled, patting him on the shoulder. “Unfortunately he belongs to your sister but fuck if it doesn’t feel fucking great, all of us back where we should be.”
Gabe laughed, waggling his eyebrows. “It’s time to cause some pain.”
“Hell yes!” I grinned. “Welcome to the Devine Corp, Gabriel Duke.”
Eleven
Carrie
I stared at the three men when we walked down the steps from the plane. I recognised Jake Devine when he stepped forwards, his hand reaching for me immediately as the other two men held back by the car. “Finally good to meet you, Carrie.”
I smiled and nodded. “And you. Adam’s told me a lot about you. I owe you a lot for what you did for him when…”
He shook his head, “No thanks needed, he’s been a good addition to the company, and a valued friend.” His expressed sobered when he peered at me as if sizing me up. “I need to make sure you’re up to this, Carrie.”
Adam snorted and I narrowed my eyes on him but then turned back to Jake. “Oh I’m up to it. My father was David Duke.” Jake’s jaw dropped, my father’s notoriety in the criminal world making Jake aware of just what I was capable of, the knowledge of how he moulded his children into the underworld well known in the criminal circle. “I may be out of practice but I’m sure torturing someone is like riding a bike, you never lose the touch.”
Jake’s eyes widened but he smiled and gestured towards the waiting car with a hand. “Then after you, Miss Duke. And when you’ve handed your resignation in, I have a career plan for you.”
I smiled to myself, loving how quick life could change. One minute I was dishing out justice. The next I was dishing out a different justice.
***
“Where’s Joel?” I asked when we pulled up outside a warehouse in the middle of nowhere.
“He’s with Isla,” Adam pacified me when he climbed out of the car after me. “He’s okay, just eager to see his mum.”
I nodded, my heart clenching with the need to hold my son for the first time in six weeks. “He must never find out about this, Adam.”
He took my hand, entwining his fingers in mine. “And he never will, Car. These men,” he gestured to the posse joining us, “would protect me with their lives. You and Joel are now included in that.”
My emotions were mixed when I stepped into the wide space within the metal building and saw Cole hung from a chain in the middle of the domed ceiling. A polythene sheet had already been spread out under him, ready to catch whatever… fell off him.
My teenage years came tumbling back to me completely shrouding my nerves as the darkness within me swelled inside and I had to bite down on my lip to dampen my eagerness to get started. I had always hated this part of me yet for the first time since my father had trained me up, I allowed it to consume me and give me the strength I needed to once again give in to what was in my genes.
“How could you?” I was angry at my first question but it was the first thing I wanted to know, needed to know.
Cole gazed at me for a moment and I swore he was going to cry but he shook his head and diverted his gaze to Adam. “You found him then.”
Adam sighed sadly and nodded. “Yeah, we found him. I trusted you, Cole. You were my best friend, why did you lie?”
Cole looked to me, his eyes sad and full of something I wasn’t willing to acknowledge. “I always loved you, Carrie, since we were kids and we played by the river, all four of us. But you chose Adam, why? Why did you choose him?”
“Because I fell in love, Cole.” My answer was simple but truthful. Lies were no good now.
“I knew that Adam would leave if he thought his own father had killed Gabe. That he would blame and hate himself for what he had done to you. Then Tony told me he couldn’t do it, that Gabe was virtually his flesh and blood. Fuck, it ruined everything. Suddenly everything was going wrong.”
“So you told me that my father had killed him,” Adam filled in, Cole nodding to confirm his guess.
“I got rid of Gabe, both you and Carrie thinking he was dead. You relied on me Carrie, for the first time, you noticed me.”
“I always noticed you Cole, you were my friend.”
“But you needed me!” he spat. “You needed me and I was there for you. Look how close we grew. We had Joel for fucks sake!”
“And look what you did to him!” I shouted angrily. “You took away his family and my happiness. How could you knowing I could never love you?”
“I was happy just sharing Joel with you. Then you met fucking Ben and once more you pushed me away!”
“Because I could never love you, Cole! Why couldn’t you accept that? Joel, as much as I love him, was a drunken accident, we never shared anything intimate. I can’t even remember our night together for fucks sake!”
I was angry now. I wanted to hurt him both physically and emotionally, just as much as he’d hurt me for so many years. I eyed Kris, I think that was his name anyway, stood to the side twirling a knife between his fingers as he watched things unfolding before him. Adam caught my look then turned to Kris. “She wants your blade.”
Kris narrowed his eyes on me, regarding me as he continued to flick the knife between his fingers. “I don’t want your knife,” I rectified, “any will do.”
“Why?” he asked as though a woman with a knife was something he’d only seen during PMT week.
“Trust her,” Adam pressed as he held out his hand.
Kris, thinking he was clever, pulled out a spare knife from behind his jeans and flicked it my way. Standing completely still, I snatched my hand out and caught it by the handle then flipped it quickly and embedded it in Cole’s right shoulder.
All four men, other than Adam who just grinned proudly, stared at me with open mouths as I walked towards Cole and retrieved the blade from his flesh.
“She has a thing for blades,” Adam explained. “Never could quite rival her in the knife department.” He stalked towards me, grabbed my jaw and crushed his mouth to mine, moaning loudly when I twisted my tongue around his and bit down on his lower lip, my arousal heightened when the smell of blood hit my nostrils.
How easy it was to slip back into the old me, the deep-rooted base need for depravity and violence fuelling my corrupt blood once again.
“Fuck Kris, looks like you have a new student,” Jake laughed as he leant against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest casually observing the scene.
I glanced at Kris, wary of his mood but he smiled then grinned at me. “Welcome aboard the Devine train, sugar.”
I winked back then spun and shoved the knife cleanly between two of Cole’s ribs, puncturing his lung easily. He cried out, bucking in the chain when I smiled and watched his eyes pop after I grew bored and fluidly dragged the edge of the blade across the front of his throat. “Goodnight arsehole.”
Kris chuckled as he caught the knife when I threw it back to him. “Nice and clean,” he nodded respectfully. “We’ll work well together.”
“It’ll be a pleasure,” I nodded back, appreciative of his praise.
Jake flicked his head to the side, motioning to Adam. “Get her to her son, we’ll clean up.”
Adam nodded, smiling gratefully and grabbed my hand.
“Carrie,” Jake called out making me pause and turn. “Adam will kit you out with a phone and your own set of blades. Report to Kris Monday morning.”
I smirked and saluted him. “Thanks… boss.”
He nodded and turned back to Adam. “I like her.”
I chuckled. “You’ll like me even more after I’ve spoken to your girl.”
Jake stilled and paused, his eyes dark and probing. I winked at him. “Being a judge for a few years taught me quite a bit about the justice system, Mr Devine.”
His eyebrows rose and he nodded slowly. “And I will be eternally grateful.”
“We’ll call it quits,�
� I shouted over my shoulder when Adam huffed and dragged me out.
“Babe, shut the fuck up. I need to screw your delicious ass. Watching you work brought it all back how fucking hot you are when you’re maiming and torturing.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as he shoved me into the front seat of a car, virtually clambering over the bonnet to climb in beside me before he skidded half the gravel across the forecourt with the speed he tore out at.
I gapwed at him when he pulled up about half a mile down the road. “Fuck it,” he grabbed my hair and pulled me across the centre console. “Sit on my cock and ride me, Car.”
“Bloody hell!” I gasped when he yanked at his zip and took his hard cock in his hand, his eyes begging me to hurry up. “What the hell happened to foreplay?”
He barked out a laugh as he positioned himself underneath me. “The slide of your hand across Cole’s throat was enough foreplay. Now we fuck.”
I grinned, completely agreeing as he pulled me down onto him, both of us shivering as his cock filled me to the hilt, his wide girth stretching me apart as his fingers found my arse and slipped inside.
His mouth was on my throat, the only man I would allow anywhere near my neck, his teeth biting and drawing blood as he guided my hips up and down, urging me to fuck him good and hard.
“Come on babe, I want my cum in your womb!”
I lifted a brow, slightly annoyed at how he put me off my rhythm. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“Yeah,” he growled out. “Just shush and fuck me. We’ll talk later.”
“You mean we’ll talk about me getting pregnant after I’ve actually got pregnant.”
He nodded, burying his face into the crook of my neck and causing me to groan loudly. “Yeah, that will work. Maybe we should get married first though. Although, I can cope with you fat and round in a wedding dress.”
“Jesus bloody Christ!” I cried out when he pushed hard inside me, his fingers fucking my arse just as fast and hard. “I bloody love you!”
Loyalty Page 6
