by Angel Devlin
“Are you ready?” She asks, walking into our living room wearing a pair of skinny jeans and a baby pink cashmere jumper. It’s her version of dressing down because I spot a pair of flat shoes on her feet.
“I sure am.” This afternoon we’re looking after my niece, Belle, so that Scott and Suki can go out. It’s something I try to do regularly. It’s been my attempt at having some kind of normal family, although I know I’ll never truly have that thanks to the man we’ve vowed not to mention for the foreseeable future. Because of the ongoing enquiry into his murder we’ve not been able to organise a funeral. Fine by me. Let the fucker wait in some fridge on a slab somewhere before he ends up in the pits of hell.
Standing, I grab my hoodie and pull it on. I still when I feel her eyes on me. Turning to look at her, I find her green eyes sparkling with lust and her teeth chewing on her bottom lip.
“We’ve not got time for that,” I say with a laugh but really wishing we fucking did.
“I know. It’s just… I really like this relaxed, chilled out version of you. It makes a nice change from the world dominating, suit wearing alpha arsehole I’d become so used to.”
“You saying you don’t like the alpha side of me?” I ask, taking a step towards her and delighting when her neck ripples with her swallow.
“Not at all. I’m just saying that I appreciate this side of you just as much. I feel so lucky to get to know the real person hiding under all those designer suits and bullshit.”
“I don’t talk bullshit.” She raises an eyebrow in amusement. “Okay, I think it’s time to go.”
The drive to Scott’s new place doesn't take all that long but by the time we’re pulling up in front of their modest two bed semi on the outskirts of the city, my muscles are pulled tight with tension and I’m ready to get out.
“Wait,” Mia says, placing her hand on my thigh before I’m able to reach for the handle and get out of the car. “Are you nervous, Deacon King?”
“No, don’t be crazy.”
“You are, aren’t you?”
I blow out a slow breath as I remind myself that I don’t need to hide anything from Mia. She’s on my side and I’ve just got to trust that she really means it. “It’s just… she means a lot to me. Before you, she was the only one, my mother aside, that I’d do anything for. My family has been fucked for so long, spending time with Belle… that’s my little bit of normal.”
“And it feels weird sharing it.”
“Yes and no. I’m a different person when I’m with her. I sit on the floor and sing her nursery rhymes that I had to learn especially for her. I make up stupid stories with her favourite stuffed toys. I’m just…” I trail off, not really knowing how to describe it.
“You’re just you. It’s okay to want to try to take over the publishing world by day but spend time being silly and enjoying downtime with a baby at night. Some might even say it’s normal. I can’t wait to meet her.”
With Mia’s kind smile in my mind, we exit the car and walk toward Scott’s front door.
They’re expecting us and the door’s opened before we get to it.
“Here she is, my beautiful niece.” Mia’s stare burns into me but I don’t turn to look at her as I scoop Belle up out of Scott’s arms and twirl her around, making her giggle that infectious laugh that makes me smile like a loon.
“Belle, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.” Turning towards Mia, I allow her to get a good look at the dark-haired beauty in my arms. “Belle, this is Mia. She’s kinda important to me so you’ve got to be nice. No puking or pooping on her, okay?”
Belle smiles and it’s when I look to Mia that my breath catches in my throat. She’s looking between the two of us with tears pooling in her eyes. “What?” I mouth.
“Nothing. Nothing. I’m just being silly.” I watch as she wipes at her eyes before turning to Scott.
“Nice to see you again.”
“You too. You know…” I groan out loud, dreading what’s going to fall out of his mouth next. “I never thought I’d find myself a woman, but I had even less hope for this one.”
We might not have spent all that much time together in the past but we’re still brothers and I’d no doubt he’d try to embarrass me at every turn now I’d been whipped.
“I never thought I’d get tied down, but I’d have bet my life on it never happening to him not so long ago.”
“You’re funny. Now are you going to let us in to look after your child or shall we leave?”
Scott rolls his eyes but stands aside to allow us in. I gesture for Mia to go first and trail behind her as she follows Scott through to the living room, which is basically a small toy shop. I don’t miss her glance around their small home, but she doesn’t look put out at all, she actually looks quite comfortable in this family home. It brings thoughts of our future together to the forefront of my mind once again. Is this kind of thing in store for us?
“Sorry, my shift at the restaurant ran over,” Suki calls, slamming the front door behind her and bolting up the stairs.
I sit myself on the floor in the only available space while Scott asks Mia if she’d like a drink. She agrees, as do I, and he leaves us to it.
“This kind of suits you, you know?”
I look up and she sinks down beside me and picks up a pink bunny and passes it to Belle who babbles at her excitedly and takes it in her chubby fingers.
“You think? I’m not really sure I’ve got what it takes to be a father. I didn’t exactly have the best example to learn from.”
“Sometimes learning what not to do is a better lesson than learning what to do.”
I nod, her words hitting harder than I think she even expected. Is she right? Could I successfully bring little people up not to be epic fuck ups in adult life? I guess there’s only one way to find out. My heart pounds as I basically accept that I want this for us. I look between Mia and Belle and my chest aches with the kind of love that threatens to split it in two.
“Only time will tell I guess.”
Footsteps hammer back down the stairs before Suki appears in the doorway and rushes over to her girl. Biologically, Belle might not be hers but for in all the ways it matters, she’s this gorgeous baby’s mother.
I don’t miss Mia giving Suki a double take. I get it, I did it too the first time I met her. I never would have put her and Scott together, but then I also never thought I’d find anyone out there who might love me, so who am I to judge?
Before long, Scott and Suki leave us alone with Belle.
“So what do you usually do with this little cutie?”
“Anything. She’s a pretty chilled out kid. I was thinking though, seeing as it’s nice out, do you fancy a walk to the park?”
“That sounds wonderful. Can it involve ice cream?”
“I’ll see what I can do for my two favourite girls.
We hit up the swings and take turns in pushing Belle and making her giggle so much that she ends up with the hiccups before we put her back in her pushchair and just walk. Neither of us of know the area so we just wander until we find a row of shops. As we walk along hand in hand pushing Belle in front of us, no one gives us a second look, no one recognises Mia and we get to just be us. Deacon and Mia. No surnames, no work, no pretences. Just us. I’m pretty sure it’s the best afternoon of my life.
Belle misses out on the ice cream seeing as she’s fast asleep when we stop at the corner shop. It’s probably a good thing because Scott would have my balls if he found out I was feeding her any kind of sugar. For someone who never used to give a shit, he soon became a control freak when he discovered he was a dad.
“I never would have thought you’d be such a natural at this,” Mia says, as she takes a seat at Scott’s dining room table where I’m feeding Belle homemade vegetable pasta.
“She makes it easy.”
“No, Deacon.” Her hand lands on my shoulder, stopping me from moving another spoonful of food towards Belle’s open mouth and turning my atten
tion on her. “Stop being so modest. This is all you. You put the time in, you make her so relaxed. You.”
Pride swells within me. I’ve never really thought about it like that. I just thought Scott and Suki were raising an awesome kid.
“I can’t wait to do this with our kids,” I admit, much to Mia’s surprise.
“One thing at a time, King. Maybe put a ring on it first, hey?” she says it with a laugh, but it doesn’t stop ideas starting to form in my head. She wants a ring, then a ring she’ll get because I can’t imagine anything more incredible than spending the rest of my life with this woman and giving her my name and everything I am.
Chapter Forty
Mia
It would be so easy to get carried away by all this. Deacon’s letting me see his softer side. How he is with Belle makes my heart swell and my ovaries ping, but it’s still only a short time since he hung me out to dry, and while I love him beyond words, I’m not rushing into anything beyond living together right now. From the look on his face and the words he’s allowed to flow, I know deep down inside that rings on my finger and children feature in our future, but for now I just want it to be Deacon and me. His work is incredibly busy and I’m being selfish, but I want Deacon time. Although seeing him with Belle could have me changing my mind. They are adorable together. When Scott and Suki return and we have to leave, I can see it’s a wrench for him. He adores that little girl.
When we get home there’s a message on the home answering machine.
“Hey there, it’s Ty. I didn’t want to interrupt your Belle time so I’m leaving a message on this ancient piece of shit. Reggie phoned. They arrested a guy in connection with your dad’s death. A goon who they know belonged to a loan shark. Another piece of shit lowlife who’ll now be off the streets, so two-for-one yeah? Anyway, your dad’s body will be released. You need to decide what’s next because your mum is next of kin.”
The call ends. Deacon sighs loudly and throws himself down on the sofa. “I’m gonna have to help arrange the fucker’s funeral, aren’t I?”
I sit down next to him and squeeze his arm. “Your mum needs closure. In fact, you all need closure. It’s the final thing, Deacon. I know you hate him, but you have a brother, a niece. Look at the positives. And Scott, he and your mum are getting on. He said last night that she’d asked if she could meet Belle. Your strange dysfunctional family is coming together, despite Giles Sullivan’s attempts at keeping them apart.”
“Yeah, I’ll do it, if you’ll help me. And we can all say a final goodbye.”
“Of course I’ll help you. It’s as much for me to arrange on behalf of my own mother as it is yours.”
And so we find ourselves at a crematorium a week later. A strange gathering if ever there was one. Deacon and I; my mother; Scott and Suki who’d brought Belle who babbled throughout the service making us smile; Deacon’s mother; and some of Giles’ old friends and associates. Just a handful. They nodded at us in general and left as soon as the service was over. I guess they didn’t know what to say in the circumstances. In the end Giles Sullivan’s life had been more fanciful than any of the scoops he’d ever pulled off in his career as a journo.
My mum met Deacon’s and they embraced, hugging each other and crying, I guess for the man they’d both loved. Despite the eventual truth, at some point they’d lived with a man they thought hung the moon.
“It’s all about the young ones now.” I heard my mum say to Deacon’s. “Look at them. Despite everything they’re allowing themselves to fall in love and start a new generation.” They both look at Belle with adoration.
I get hold of Deacon’s hand. “Let’s go.”
“What about Mum?”
“We can get a driver to take her home. Look at her. She’s chatting with the others. She’s going to be okay. We’re all going to be okay.”
We walk around the outside grounds of the crematorium. “So what’s going on in that mind of yours, Mr. King?”
“Absolute fucking relief that he’s gone. Does that make me a bad person, Mia? I tuned out the whole service with its lies and fake platitudes and I wanted to smile that he was dead. If I could I’d dance on top of his grave.”
“Oh, Deacon. You’re a mother’s idea of the perfect boyfriend.”
We look at each other and begin to laugh. Anyone seeing the couple bent over almost double as they belly-laugh around a crematorium grounds would find it odd, but it’s a fitting end to the final goodbye to Giles and we walk away and never look back.
Two weeks later
I wake up and I smile broadly as I remember where I am. Two days ago, we took a private jet to New York. Deacon and Tyler have work here and he refused to go without me. We’re in a suite at the Four Seasons with its amazing views of the skyscrapers around us, and yet all I want to look at is my lover, who right now is staring down at me like I’m his breakfast.
“What time do you need to meet Ty?” I ask him leaning over and trailing a fingertip down his chest. I can’t get enough of this man. I crave him.
We were here with Tyler and he’d brought Anna. I couldn’t work out whether something was going on between them, but Deacon said despite Ty’s best efforts it wasn’t happening. I’d catch one checking out the other though. There was a spark there for sure. But I’d learned of Deacon and Ty’s reputations for bedding assistants and couldn’t blame Anna for keeping him at a distance.
“We’re on no fixed timetable. Ruining Fully Loaded is a permanent agenda item,” he replies. “Why, did you have something in mind?”
“Yes.” I swipe my tongue over my top lip. “You, inside me.”
“Well, that was top of my agenda today, so let’s work through my to-do list.” He waggles his eyebrows as he dives on top of me making me giggle, and then he’s working his way down my body and my giggles become pants of desire and screams of Deacon’s name.
An hour or so later, he carries me into the bathroom and standing in the large walk-in shower cubicle, he pushes my back against the wall and thrusts inside me again as water from the shower runs over our bodies.
“I might never leave this room,” he growls as his body presses me against the tiles.
But eventually we do; mainly because Tyler threatens to break our door down and drag us out if we leave him waiting much longer.
We join him in the dining room.
“Where’s Anna?” I ask.
“She went to the ladies bathrooms. But it was a while ago now. I hope she’s okay,” Ty says, concern obvious in his eyes.
“You grown a fucking vagina? ‘I hope she’s okay?’” Deacon mimics.
“You can talk. I’ve been bored shitless waiting for you to leave your room.”
“I’ve not grown a vagina, just got permanent access to one,” Deacon announces, rather too loudly for my liking.
“Oh my god, you two. I’m going to check on Anna, while you argue about whose dick is the biggest.”
“No fucking contest.” I hear one of them shout, but I’m now too far away to know which one said it.
I push open the door to the ladies bathroom and I see Anna standing near the mirrors. She’s talking on the phone.
“I’ve told you. I have it handled.” Her tone is brisk. “No, he has no idea who I am, and he won’t. I’m not using my father’s name.” I hear her huff. “Yeah, might have been a bit obvious if I’d joined the company as Anna De Loughrey don’t you think?”
De Loughrey. Where have I heard that name before? I keep saying it in my mind until I remember the very sentence I heard it in—in Jack Chamber’s office, Tommy De Loughrey is our enemy. It’s the surname of the owner of Fully Loaded. Is she fucking related to him? I need to do some investigating on Anna that’s for sure. But for now, I exit the bathroom before she notices me and return to my seat.
“Anna not with you?” Ty asks.
“She’s here now.” I nod over to where the brunette is now heading towards our table.
“Good morning.” She smiles, taking a
seat. “Did you sleep well?”
Deacon snorts and I smack him in the arm.
“So shall we go through today’s agenda?” she asks, taking her iPad from her bag.
The men agree and I sit back watching Anna closely and wondering what indeed is on Anna’s agenda for today.
THE END
Follow Anna and Ty in RIDE, coming 11 June 2020.
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Also by Angel & Tracy
Hot Daddy Series
Hot Daddy Sauce #1
Baby Daddy Rescue #2
The Daddy Dilemma #3
Single Daddy Seduction #4
Hot Daddy Package #5
B.A.D. Inc. Series
Torment #1
Ride #2
Bait #3
Break #4
Provoke #5
About Angel Devlin
Angel Devlin is the contemporary romance penname of paranormal/suspense writer, Andie M. Long. Check out Angel for stories as hot as her coffee.
She lives in Sheffield with her partner, son, and a gorgeous whippet called Bella.
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About Tracy Lorraine
Tracy Lorraine is new adult and contemporary romance author. Tracy is in her thirties and lives in a cute Cotswold village in England with her husband, baby girl and lovable but slightly crazy springer spaniel. Having always been a bookaholic with her head stuck in her Kindle, Tracy decided to try her hand at a story idea she dreamt up and hasn’t looked back since.
